Destination: Berlin - Glossary

Arcom Army Commendation Medal
This is an award usually given for commendable service above and beyond the call of duty. In Sharon’s case, she was given this award for bravely motivating (pushing) her friend out of the airplane on Wendy’s first static line jump.


AIT Advanced Individual Training
Once a solider completes Basic Training, they go to advanced individual training to be trained on their job. In Sharon and Wendy’s case, they went to Military Police Advance Individual Training.


AWOL Absent Without Leave
If a solider fails to report to formation to be accounted for they are absent without leave. After 30 days they become a deserter.


Ausweise
This is a German word. An ausweise is a German identification card.


BOLO Be On The Lookout
A message sent through channels, be it police or another information net.


BDU Battle Dress Uniform
It is the camouflage uniform worn by the armed services today. As this story takes place in Germany 1988, the BDU uniform was of a green wood line pattern. BDU’s can also have a desert pattern to them as well and are currently worn by the services in Iraq.


CID Criminal Investigations Division
This is a branch of the MP Corps. They investigate high profile crimes and felonies within the Army.


COMSEC Communications Security
In Sharon and Wendy’s time, a higher military element like a Bridge would send codes to lower elements, such as a company instructing how to encrypt and decrypt secret and top secret messages. Only an “A” side and a “B” side working together, using the Comsec guidelines, could do this.


CQ Charge of Quarters
A duty assignment where a soldier is put in charge of an area. Normally that area belongs to a company. They are in charge of answering the phones and making any notifications necessary after duty hours. Duty hours are normally from 0630 am to 0500 pm.


ENLISTED RANKS
A solider is considered “enlisted” if they have not attended any formal officer training.

Junior Enlisted Personal
E-1/PV1 Private
E-2/PV2 Private Second Class (referred to as “Private”)
E-3/PFC Private First Class (referred to as “Private” or “PFC”)
E-4/SPC Specialist

Non-Commissioned Officer Personal
E-4/CPL Corporal
E-5/SGT Sergeant
E-6/SSG Staff Sergeant
E-7/SFC Sergeant First Class
E-8/MSG Master Sergeant or First Sergeant
E-9/SMG Sergeant Major


FLAG Orders
These were “Movement Orders” written in Russian, French, and English, the language of the four allies. The Americans called them “FLAG” orders because at the top was an American FLAG. It designed the nation the person traveling to Berlin came from.


Kaserne
Military barracks. It’s the physical place were soldiers would be housed. Osnabrueck kaserne where Wendy and Sharon lived was very small and since there were only 200 soldiers in the company. It consisted of 15- 20 buildings.


LES Leave and Earnings Statement
An itemized list of all pay and allowances which a solider receives on payday.


M203
This is the nomenclature used to describe the automatic grenade launcher that can be attached to the M16 assault rifle.


MI Military Intelligence
A branch of the service within the Army. MI specializes in gathering information about the “enemy.”


MIA Missing In Action
During a declared state of conflict, if a soldier fails to report, due to duty related occurrences and no fault of their own, their military status changes from “present for duty” to “missing in action.”


NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
An alliance of western nations. This alliance includes the USA, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and various other nations. It was initially created to prevent another outbreak of war in Europe.


NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
Unlike a commissioned officer, the non-commissioned officer has no formal officer training. The officer is a strategist while the NCO implements what the officer has planned.


PAC Personal Actions Center
This is a section of a company that handles all company administration actions, such as leaves, passes, awards, and evaluation reports for example.


POL Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants
A place to go to conduct minor fix-ups on a military vehicle. You can also gas up the military vehicle here, be supplied with oil if the vehicle needed it and any other necessary fluids.


PT Physical Training
The Army conducts physical training on a daily basis to help their soldiers keep in shape. A commander is in charge of his company’s physical training program. It should be geared to help soldiers pass the PT Test (APFT, Army Physical Fitness Test)


PT Test Army Physical Fitness Test
This is a test administered twice a year. Soldiers have two minutes to do as many pushups and sit-ups as they can and run 2 miles as fast as they can. However, they must do a minimum to pass. A female soldier like Sharon who is 22 years old would be required to do 16 pushups in 2 minutes to pass, 45 sit-ups in 2 minutes to pass and run 2 miles in 19:36 or less to pass.


SAEDA Subversion And Espionage Directed Against the Army
This is a regulation or a guideline, which all soldiers should be aware of. It talks about what to be aware of if you suspect a solider is “spying” for another nation and what to do about those suspicions.


Schloss
This is a German word that means castle.


USAREUR
This is an abbreviation that stands for US Army Europe