Apache

DGSE: Direction Générale de la Sécurité – General Directorate for External Security – French Intelligence Agency

Dishdash: Loose kaftan-style outfit worn by many Afghan men

Doorman: Callsign for the British casevac Chinook

DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material – camouflaged print used on clothing and equipment

DTV: Day Television Camera – black and white TV image generated from the day camera in the TADS

DU: Depleted Uranium – kinetic bullets used by the A10

Dushka: Nickname of the DShK – Soviet built Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun – 12.7 mm (.50 cal)

Engine Power Levers: The throttles used for starting the Apache’s engines

ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival

EWO: Electronic Warfare Officer

F18: US Navy strike warplane called the Hornet – very similar cockpit to the Apache but less busy

Fast Air: Offensive military jet aircraft

FCR: Fire Control Radar – the Apache’s Longbow Radar

Firebase: Friendly Forces firing position used to cover an assault

Flanking: From the side

Flares: Hot flares fired to attract heat-seeking missiles, luring them away from the Apache

Flechette: Eighty-five-inch tungsten darts fired from a rocket travelling above Mach 2

FLIR: Forward Looking Infrared. Sights that generate a thermal picture – an image produced by an object’s heat source

Fly-by-wire: Flying the helicopter using sensors from the controls like a PlayStation control works. A Back Up flight Control System (BUCS) used when control runs are shot through

FM Radio: A Frequency Modulated secure radio in the Apache

Force 84: British Special Forces operating in Afghanistan

Formate: Aviation term for formation flying

Frag: Fragments of hot metal that break away from a shell when it explodes

Fragged: As published in the orders

Frago: Fragmented Orders – extracted part of a full set of orders

Fuselage: Main body of an aircraft

GAFA: Great Afghan Fuck All – Dasht-e-Margo – the Desert of Death

GAU8: Gatling gun fitted to an A10 ground attack aircraft

GBU: Guided Bomb Unit – smart bombs

GCHQ: British Government Communications Headquarters – Intelligence andSecurity Organisation

GPMG: British Forces General Purpose Machine Gun – 7.62 mm bipod machine gun

GPS: Global Positioning System – satellite navigation equipment

GR7: Harrier GR7 – Royal Air Force warplane capable of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL)

Green Zone: Lush habitation of irrigated fields, hedgerows, trees and small woods on either side of the Helmand River, bordered by arid deserts

Groundcrew: People who work with aircraft when they are on the ground, not technicians

Ground school: Academic lessons on flying and all to do with flying; met, law, engines, etc.

Gunship: An aircraft that has the capability of firing its cannon/s from the side instead of having to strafe head-on

Gun tape: The video tape put into an Apache that records what the selected sight sees

Harrier: See GR7

H Hour: The moment offensive action begins – first bullet, bomb or the moment troops walk towards their intended target to attack

HEDP: High Explosive Dual Purpose – 30 mm cannon rounds

Height: The height above the ground

HEISAP: High Explosive Incendiary Semi-Armour Piercing – kinetic rocket fired by the Apache

Hellfire: AGM-114K SAL (Semi-Active Laser) Hellfire II is a laser-guided Hellfire missile fitted to the Apache and Predator

Hercules: See C130

Hesco Bastion: Square metal meshed cubes lined with Hessian and filled with rubble and/or sand. Used as defensive ramparts to protect bases and platoon houses from fire

HIDAS: Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aid System – protection from SAMs

HIG: Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin – major group of the old Mujahideen with ties to Osama bin Laden referred to in this book as Taliban

HLS: Helicopter Landing Site

Hot: Air speak for clearance or acknowledgment that live bombs can be dropped

HQ: Headquarters – The nerve centre for planning and execution of operations

HRF: Helmand Reaction Force – 2 Apaches and a Chinook full of soldiers on standby at Bastion used to bolster any troops on the ground quickly

HumInt: Human Intelligence – intelligence provided by human sources; spies, snitches, etc.

I Bar: See Steering Cursor

ID: Identification

IED: Improvised Explosive Device – homemade bombs or multiple mines strapped together

IRA: Irish Republican Army – Northern Irish Para-military group

IRT: Incident Response Team – Apaches, Chinooks, doctors, medics and ATO responsible for the immediate recovery of personnel in danger or injured

ISAF: International Security Assistance Force – multi-national military force in Afghanistan

ISI: Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence – Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency

ISTAR: Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance