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Allied Military Phonetic Spelling Alphabets
Allied Military Phonetic Spelling Alphabets
Allied Military Phonetic Spelling Alphabets
The Allied military phonetic spelling alphabets prescribe the words that are used to represent each letter of the alphabet, when spelling other words out loud, letter-by-letter,
and how the spelling words should be pronounced. They are not a "phonetic alphabet" in the sense in which that term is used in phonetics, i.e. they are not a system for
transcribing speech sounds.
The Allied military radiotelephone spelling alphabets were created prior to World War I and evolved separately in the United States and the United Kingdom—and separately
among the individual military services in the two countries—until being merged during World War II. The last WWII spelling alphabet continued to be used through the Korean
War, being replaced in 1956 as a result of both countries adopting the ICAO/ITU Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, with the NATO members calling their usage the "NATO
Phonetic Alphabet".
Sometime during WWII, the Allies had defined terminology to describe the scope of
communications procedures among different services and nations. A summary of the
terms used was published in a post-WWII NATO memo:[1]
Contents
WWII CCB and NATO alphabets
United States military spelling alphabets
U.S. Army radiotelephony spelling alphabet
U.S. Navy radiotelephony spelling alphabet
Joint Army/Navy radiotelephony spelling alphabet
United Kingdom military spelling alphabets
British Army radiotelephony spelling alphabet
Royal Navy radiotelephony spelling alphabet
RAF radiotelephony spelling alphabet
History
See also
References NATO Phonetic And Morse Code Alphabet, from the U.S. Navy Signalman
External links 3 & 2 training manual. This table combines the ICAO international spelling
alphabet and the ITU International Morse Code.
The NATO phonetic spelling alphabet was first adopted on January 1, 1956, while the ICAO radiotelephony spelling alphabet was still undergoing final changes.[4]
NATO NATO
Letter 1943 CCB (US-UK)[5][6][7]
(same as 1947 ICAO) Jan 1 – Feb 29, 1956[8] March 1, 1956 – present[9]
The U.S. Navy's first radiotelephony phonetic spelling alphabet was published in 1913, in the Naval Radio Service's Handbook of Regulations developed by Captain William H.
G. Bullard. The Handbook's procedures were described in the November 1917 edition of Popular Science Monthly.[15]
U.S. Navy Phonetic Alphabets 1913 to present[16]
ICAO
Letter 1908[14] 1913–1926[17] 1927–1937[18] 1938 WWII[19] 1956–present[9]
The U.S. Army used this alphabet in modified form, along with the British Army and Canadian Army from 1943 onward, with "Sugar" replacing "Sail".
The JAN spelling alphabet was used to name Atlantic basin storms during hurricane season from 1947 to 1952, before being replaced with a new system of using female names.
Vestiges of the JAN spelling system remain in use in the U.S. Navy, in the form of Material Conditions of Readiness, used in damage control. Dog, William, X-Ray, Yoke, and
Zebra all reference designations of fittings, hatches, or doors.[22] The response "Roger" for "· – ·" or "R", to mean "received", also derives from this alphabet.
The names Able to Fox were also widely used in the early days of hexadecimal digital encoding of text, for speaking the hexadecimal digits A to F (equivalent to decimal 10 to
15), although the written form was simply the capital letters A to F.
Letter Joint Army/Navy[23] CCB[5] ICAO
1941–1943 1943–1955 1956–present[9]
A Able ABLE Alfa
B Baker BAKER Bravo
C Charlie CHARLIE Charlie
D Dog DOG Delta
E Easy EASY Echo
F Fox FOX Foxtrot
G George GEORGE Golf
H How HOW Hotel
History
During World War I both the British Army and the Royal Navy had developed their own quite separate spelling alphabets. The
Navy system was a full alphabet, starting: Apples, Butter, Charlie, Duff, Edward, but the RAF alphabet was based on that of the
"signalese" of the army signallers. This was not a full alphabet, but differentiated only the letters most frequently misunderstood:
Ack (originally "Ak"), Beer (or Bar), C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, eMma, N, O, Pip, Q, R, eSses, Toc, U, Vic, W, X, Y, Z.
By 1921, the RAF "Telephony Spelling Alphabet" had been adopted by all three armed services, and was then made mandatory
for UK civil aviation, as announced in Notice to Airmen Number 107.[29] Polish Spitfire Mk Vb from the 303
Kościuszko Squadron flown by S/Ldr
In 1956, the NATO phonetic alphabet was adopted due to the RAF's wide commitments with NATO and worldwide sharing of Zumbach and showing the RF 303
civil aviation facilities.[30] Squadron codes and the individual
aircraft letter D – or, when spoken,
D-Dog
Letter 1921–1942[29][31] 1942–1955[30][28] 1956–present[9]
A Apple Able/Affirm Alfa
B Beer Baker Bravo
C Charlie Charlie Charlie
D Don Dog Delta
E Edward Easy Echo
F Freddie Fox Foxtrot
G George George Golf
H Harry How Hotel
I Ink Item/Interrogatory India
J Jug/Johnnie Jig/Johnny Juliett
K King King Kilo
L London Love Lima
M Monkey Mike Mike
a
The choice of Nuts following Monkey is probably from "monkey nuts" (peanuts); likewise Orange and Pip can be similarly paired, as in "orange pip".
b
"Vic" subsequently entered the English language as the standard "Vee"-shaped flight pattern of three aircraft.
See also
Allied Communication Procedures
International Code of Signals
Spelling alphabet
References
1. "A Report by the Communications Electronics Coordination Section on COMMUNICATIONS (SIGNALS) PROCEDURES AND MESSAGE FORMS" (http://ar
chives.nato.int/uploads/r/null/1/1/111340/SG_033_3_FINAL_ENG_PDP.pdf) (PDF).
2. "Globalization and Sea Power" (http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng=en&id=
110804). Isn.ethz.ch. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20130517065202/http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=0c54e3b
3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng=en&id=110804) from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
3. Communication instructions – General (http://jcs.dtic.mil/j6/cceb/acps/acp121/ACP121H.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110722190229/http://jc
s.dtic.mil/j6/cceb/acps/acp121/ACP121H.pdf) 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Allied Communications Publication ACP 121(H), Combined
Communications-Electronics Board, April 2007, section 318
4. "North Atlantic Military Committee memorandum SGM-217-55" (https://archives.nato.int/uploads/r/null/1/2/126367/SGM-0217-55_ENG_PDP.pdf) (PDF).
5. Myers, Capt., U.S.N., G. B.; Charles, Cdr., R.N.V.R., B. P. (1945-02-14). CCBP 3-2: Combined Radiotelephone (R/T) Procedure. Washington 25, D. C.:
Combined Communications Board. pp. 1, 2.
6. "FM 24-12,:Army Extract of Combined Operating Signals (CCBP 2-2)" (http://www.n7cfo.com/tgph/Dwnlds/sigcorps/FM24-12.pdf) (PDF).
7. Alcorn, John. "Radiotelegraph and Radiotelephone Codes, Prowords And Abbreviations" (http://www.qsl.net/wd8das/RadioCodes.pdf) (PDF).
8. "North Atlantic Military Committee SGM-217-55 memorandum" (http://archives.nato.int/uploads/r/null/1/2/126367/SGM-0217-55_ENG_PDP.pdf) (PDF).
9. "North Atlantic Military Committee SGM-156-56 memorandum" (http://archives.nato.int/uploads/r/null/1/2/127604/SGM-0156-56_ENG_PDP.pdf) (PDF).
10. "United States Army Signal Book, 1916" (https://archive.org/details/SignalBook1916).
11. "FM 24-5 Basic Field Manual Signal Communication, 1939" (https://archive.org/details/Fm24-5).
12. "FM 24-5 Signal Communication 1942" (https://archive.org/details/Fm24-51942).
13. "FM 24-12,:Army Extract of Combined Operating Signals (CCBP 2-2)" (http://www.n7cfo.com/tgph/Dwnlds/sigcorps/FM24-12.pdf) (PDF).
14. "Boat-Book: United States Navy, 1908" (https://books.google.com/books?id=dDczAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=United+States+Navy+General+Sign
al+Book&source=bl&ots=pUpnCCjDDQ&sig=awa08PCeV1toGpNnqo6CC8tNRLo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn-JP1hJ_ZAhUP42MKHfNVBsAQ6AEILTAB
#v=onepage&q=United%20States%20Navy%20General%20Signal%20Book&f=false).
15. "Popular Science, Nov 1917" (https://books.google.com/books?id=oCkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA793&lpg=PA793&dq=%22Naval+Radio+Service%22+%22Hand
book+of+Regulations%22#v=twopage&q=%22Naval%20Radio%20Service%22%20%22Handbook%20of%20Regulations%22&f=false).
16. Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags by Naval Historical Center (http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/phon
etic-alphabet-and-signal-flags.html) (five phonetic alphabets: 1913, 1927, 1938, WWII, 1957–present)
17. Bullard, William H. G. (1913). United States Naval Radio Service Handbook of Regulations. United States Naval Radio Service.
18. "Communications Instructions 1928 Part II: RADIO" (http://www.virhistory.com/navy/manuals/1929_comm_inst-ii.pdf) (PDF).
19. "FM 24-9 Combined United States-British Radiotelephone (R/T) Procedure)" (http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/ww2/fm_24-9.htm). 1942.
20. JANAP 100, Joint U.S. Amphibious Communications. U.S. Department of War.
21. "The Evolution and Rationale of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Word-Spelling Alphabet, July 1959" (https://www.governmentattic.org/4do
cs/ICAO-WordSpellingAlphabet_1959.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2017-11-01.
22. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160817083423/http://navyadvancement.tpub.com/14325/css/Material-Conditions-Of-Readiness-341.htm).
Archived from the original (http://navyadvancement.tpub.com/14325/css/Material-Conditions-Of-Readiness-341.htm) on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
23. Joint Army/Navy (JAN) phonetic alphabet from alt.usage.english (http://www.bckelk.ukfsn.org/able.html) (at the end)
24. U.S Army FM 24-5
25. "British Phonetic Alphabets 1904-1926" (http://www.oocities.org/faskew/WW1/Glossary/GW-Phonetic.htm).
26. Skiba, Richard. "International Phonetic Alphabet" (http://www.skiba.com.au/data/resources/av_art/alpha.pdf) (PDF).
27. "PHONETIC ALPHABETS - HISTORIC, ENGLISH & OTHERS" (http://www.qsl.net/ta1dx/amator/phonetic_alphabets.htm).
28. "PHONETIC ALPHABETS IN THE BRITISH SERVICE" (https://www.royalsignals.org.uk/articles/alpha.htm).
29. "Notice to Airmen" (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200862.html), Flight, Flightglobal.com, XIII (679): 862, 29 December 1921,
retrieved 11 August 2014
30. " 'Alfa Bravo' for R.A.F" (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200063.html), Flight, Flightglobal.com, 69 (2451): 63, 13 January 1956,
retrieved 11 August 2014
31. Keesing's Contemporary Archives, Volume 4, Part 2, 1942
External links
Signal Flags and the Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/helpers/sfpa.htm)—NavSource Naval History
Visual Signaling, Signal Corps, United States Army, 1910—a book at the Internet Archive
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