In addition to the classical alphabets present in all existing languages, there are also “special” alphabets. And we will talk about one of them today. The Military Alphabet is a special alphabet developed by the US military for radio and other types of communication that are often used on the ground, in the air, and in the water.
The fact is that it is not always easy to hear all the information, due to the numerous interferences, so the military had to come up with those complex designations for each letter of the English alphabet. This is why the military alphabet is also called the Phonetic Alphabet.
The first version of the phonetic alphabet was introduced by the International Telecommunication Union in 1927. Unlike the modern version, the letters in it were designated by the names of cities.
The next version was created in the 1940s and was called Able Backer Alphabet, after the first two letters: A – Able, B – Backer. It was much closer to the alphabet used by the military today. Below you can see the full 1927’s Alphabet and Able Backer Alphabet.
| Letter | The 1927’s alphabet | Able Backer Alphabet (1940’s) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Amsterdam | Able |
| B | Baltimore | Baker |
| C | Casablanca | Charlie |
| D | Denmark | Dog |
| E | Edison | Easy |
| F | Florida | Fox |
| G | Gallipoli | George |
| H | Havana | How |
| Ι | Italia | Item |
| J | Jerusalem | Jig |
| K | Kilogramme | King |
| L | Liverpool | Love |
| M | Madagascar | Mike |
| N | New-York | Nan |
| O | Oslo | Oboe |
| P | Paris | Peter |
| Q | Quebec | Queen |
| R | Roma | Roger |
| S | Santiago | Sugar |
| T | Tripoli | Tare |
| U | Upsala | Uncle |
| V | Valencia | Victor |
| W | Washington | William |
| X | Xanthippe | X-ray |
| Y | Yokohama | Yoke |
| Z | Zurich | Zebra |
You can see, that some of the letters are present in the official Military Alphabet today too. As for the current version, it was approved by NATO in 1956 and has not been changed since then.
When choosing the proper designation words for each of the letters, the experts were guided by several important criteria. First of all, the word had to be present in the vocabulary of three world languages: English, French, and Spanish and must have the same pronunciation in all these languages. Secondly, the word must be easy to read and pronounce and must be easily transmitted and understood by telephone or radio. And thirdly, the word must not have any negative associations or meanings. This is how the current version appeared in 1956, and here it is:
| Symbol | Code Word | Morse Code | Phonic (pronunciation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa/Alpha | ● ▬ | AL FAH |
| B | Bravo | ▬ ● ● ● | BRAH VOH |
| C | Charlie | ▬ ● ▬ ● | CHAR LEE |
| D | Delta | ▬ ● ● | DELL TAH |
| E | Echo | .● | ECK OH |
| F | Foxtrot | ● ● ▬ ● | FOKS TROT |
| G | Golf | ▬▬ ● | GOLF |
| H | Hotel | ● ● ● ● | HOH TELL |
| I | India | ● ● | IN DEE AH |
| J | Juliet | ● ▬ ▬ ▬ | JEW LEE ETT |
| K | Kilo | ▬ ● ▬ | KEY LOH |
| L | Lima | ● ▬ ● ● | LEE MAH |
| M | Mike | ▬ ▬ | MIKE |
| N | November | ▬ ● | NO VEMBER |
| O | Oscar | ▬ ▬ ▬ | OSS CAH |
| P | Papa | ● ▬▬ ● | PAH PAH |
| Q | Quebec | ▬ ▬ ● ▬ | KEH BECK |
| R | Romeo | ● ▬ ● | ROW ME OH |
| S | Sierra | ● ● ● | SEE AIRRAH |
| T | Tango | ▬ | TANG OH |
| U | Uniform | ● ● ▬ | YOU NEE FORM |
| V | Victor | ● ● ● ▬ | VIK TAH |
| W | Whiskey | ● ▬ ▬ | WISS KEY |
| X | X-ray | ▬ ● ● ▬ | ECKS RAY |
| Y | Yankee | ▬ ▬ ● ● | YANG KEY |
| Z | Zulu | ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ | ZOO LOO |
As you can see, the pronunciation and presence of the word in three languages here play a bigger role, than the meaning. The Military Alphabet is a huge mix of names, places, and Greek letters.
Today, these phonetic codes are used by sailors, the military, law enforcement, and emergency services around the world – anyone who needs to transmit Latin characters by radio or telephone. Also, all airlines and airports use the phonetic alphabet.
In addition to letters, the ICAO phonetic alphabet also has a unified pronunciation of numbers. The point is that some names here are slightly modified so as not to have a phonetic resemblance to any of the letters.
In addition to abbreviations and codes, more complex messages can be conveyed using Military Alphabet. The Alpha Code is used for this purpose. Alpha code is a set of three letters of the phonetic alphabet. Its meaning may be common or may vary depending on the operation.
So, for example, a message about returning to the base can be transmitted as “Romeo Tango Bravo”, while a medevac as “Romeo Mike Victor”. There are also more “edgy” codes, such as “Hotel Alpha”, which literally means “Haul ass”, and is used to add some speed, or “Bravo Sierra”, standing for “Bullshit”.
In addition to Alpha codes, symbols from the phonetic alphabet are also used to indicate direction.
North — November
South — Sierra
West — Whiskey
East — Echo
So North-East is “November Echo”, North-West is “November Whiskey”, Southeast is “Sierra Echo”, and Southwest is “Sierra Whiskey”.