Dictionary of Military Abbreviations [Hardcover]

Norman Polmar (Author), Eric Wertheim (Author), Mark Warren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

This reference clearly defines the myriad of initials and acronyms used by the armed forces.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This is a new listing of military abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms compiled by staff associated with the U.S. Naval Institute. Most of the abbreviations are in current use. The listing is divided into six sections: "Military Abbreviations" (which takes up more than three-quarters of the book), "Aircraft Designations," "Aviation Unit Designations," "Military Ranks," "Missile and Rocket Designations," and "Ship Designations." This organization helps those associated with one service to more easily identify terms used by other services. Chapters concerned with designations include brief explanations for letter designation schemes, most often associated with weapons. Tables are included that outline the designation systems. The stated purpose of the dictionary is to assist U.S. military officers to better communicate and coordinate military activities with other branches of the armed services.

This selective dictionary of abbreviations complements a more comprehensive work, Dictionary of Military, Defense Contractor and Troop Slang Acronyms (ABC-Clio, 1990), by Philip C. Gutzman. Gutzman contains 32,000 entries; this new dictionary, an estimated 6,000. Gutzman is intended for military contractors, the new dictionary for military officers. The Naval Institute Press promises updated editions of the dictionary, an important consideration for libraries that do not have ready access to government publications that include these terms.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 307 pages
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557506809
• ISBN-13: 978-1557506801
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,782,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful mainly for military professionals., June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dictionary of Military Abbreviations (Hardcover)

While this dictionary is very useful for those already asociated with the military or Department of Defense, it won't be as helpful for those who are not familiar with the Armed Services. This dictionary contains listings of acronym and spells out what they stand for, and what service it applies to. This is useful for those already associated with the military who may know what the term means, but want to spell out exactly what each letter or symbol in the acronym stand for. For example, it may tell you that AMC stand for Air Mobility Command, but it won't say what that is or what it does. Thus, it's useful if you know what AMC does, and need to what the letters stand for. If you're trying to learn what these organizations and programs actually do, then pass this dictionary by. Again, if you have experience in the military, then you will probably be able to use this dictionary with no difficulty and find it quite useful.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the VERY BEST!, March 12, 2010

By 

J. Hubeny "Just JNL" (Lakeville, MN, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dictionary of Military Abbreviations (Hardcover)

Of the several book I have on military protocol, this is the one I use the most. It is laid out like the title says, "Dictionary". So looking up an abbreviation is quick, easy, and correct. What a shame this is out of print. I'm glad someone wanted to part with their used copy! I would have gladly paid full price for it.