Sky Masters

LSD — large-screen display; main processed radar data display of the Aegis naval battle group air defense system; also Landing Ship, Dock, an amphibious assault ship that carries large floating dock pieces to offload supply ships during beach assaults

M61A1 — standard 20-millimeter cannon of many American fighter aircraft

MAC — Military Airlift Command, the Air Force organization responsible for most American military transport duties

MAJCOM — Major Command, the main organizations directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Command Authority; divided into specified (single-service) or unified (joint-service) commands

Megafortress — (F) unclassified nickname of the EB-52 strategic “battleship” escort aircraft

MEU — Marine Expeditionary Unit, the smallest and most responsive of the U.S. Marine Corps’ air-ground task forces; usually made up of two thousand Marines and Navy personnel and usually deployed with Navy fleets

MFD — multi-function display, an instrument screen in a modern aircraft cockpit that displays different data and performs different functions, depending on the selected mode

Mk 82 — standard five-hundred-pound general-purpose high-explosive bomb

MNP — Moro National Party, the pro-Islamic political organization active in the southern Philippines

MOA — Military Operating Area, a piece of airspace set aside for high-performance fighter activity; the military is responsible for aircraft separation

Murene NTL-90 — French-made air-launched torpedo

MUTES — Multiple Target Emitter Site, a mobile electronic threat complex used in training missions by the Strategic Air Command; simulates many different types of enemy radar-guided air-defense weapons

MV-22A — Marine Corps amphibious assault version of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft

Nansha Dao — Chinese name for the Spratly Islands National Security Advisor — coordinates activities of the National Security Council and reports directly to the President

National Security Council — principal advisory group to the President on defense matters; composed of the Vice President, Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of Central Intelligence

NAVSTAR — unclassified nickname of the Global Positioning System of navigation satellites

NCA — National Command Authority, composed of the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, who command all combat forces through the operational chain of command

New People’s Army — the Communist guerrilla forces of the National Democratic Front, a major antigovemment force in the Philippines

New Philippine Army — the name of the reorganized Philippine defense forces

NIRTSat — (F) Need It Right This Second satellites, a series of lightweight communications, intelligence, and reconnaissance satellites launched by small, quick-response space boosters such as ALARM.

NMCC — National Military Command Center, the main command- control-communications facility for senior Pentagon commanders

NORAD — North American Aerospace Defense Command, the joint multi-service U.S. and Canadian organization responsible for surveillance and air-defense operations of North America; located within Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

NSA — National Security Agency, the agency responsible for interpreting and disseminating intelligence information

NSC — National Security Council

OPLAN — Operations Plan, generally referring to the pre-planned series of military responses drawn for various parts of the world

OSO — Offensive Systems Officer, the navigator-bombardier on a B-l strategic bomber

PACAF — Pacific Air Forces, the major Air Force command responsible for all air operations from the U.S. West Coast to Africa

PACER SKY — (F) a satellite-based reconnaissance system that transmits real-time infrared, visual, and radar satellite data to a ground or airborne terminal to provide aircrews or commanders with up-to-the-minute information on enemy troop positions Palawan — the westernmost island province of the Philippines; very sparsely settled and remote

PCS — permanent change of station; generally any military assignment lasting more than 180 days

Phalanx CIWS — CIWS, or Close-In Weapon System; Phalanx is a radar-guided 30-millimeter Gatling gun used by many classes of naval vessels for last-ditch defense against antiship missiles

Powder River — a MOA (Military Operating Area) covering parts of Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, part of the Strategic Training Range Complex of the Strategic Air Command; used as a fighter-intercept area and bombing range

PRC — People’s Republic of China

PRF — pulse repetition frequency, the rate at which a radar system transmits electronic signals; faster PRF rates usually denote very high-precision radar tracking, as for gun or missile control

PT — physical training