PTT: Push to talk.

PV: Photovoltaic (solar power conversion array). Used to convert solar power to DC electricity, typically for battery charging.

PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride (white plastic water pipe).

QRF: Quick-reaction force.

QRP: Ham radio shorthand for "low-power" (less than 5-watt) transmitters.

RCD: Race car dynamics.

RCG: Restoration of the Const.i.tution Government.

RCIED: Radio-controlled improvised explosive device.

Reg: Slang for "regulation."

RORO: Roll-on, Roll-off-a type of ship designed for transporting vehicles.

ROTC: Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

RPG: Rocket-propelled grenade.

RTA: Radio traffic a.n.a.lyst. See also: TA.

RTB: Return to base.

SBI: Special background investigation.

SCI: Sensitive compartmented information.

SIG: Schweizer Industrie Gesellschaft. The Swiss gun maker.

SIGINT: Signals intelligence.

SOCOM: Special Operations Command.

SOP: Standard operating procedure(s).

SRT: Security response team. Spoken "Sir-Tee."

SSB: Single sideband (an operating mode for CB and amateur radio gear).

Steyr AUG: The Austrian army's 5.56mm bullpup infantry carbine. Also issued by the Australian army as its replacement for the L1A1.

S&W: Smith and Wesson.

SWAT: Special Weapons and Tactics. (SWAT originally stood for Special Weapons a.s.sault Team until that was deemed politically incorrect.) TA: Traffic a.n.a.lyst. See also: RTA.

TA-50: Table of Allowances 50. The listing of the U.S. Army's field gear authorized for issue to individual soldiers. TA-50 typically includes a rucksack, sleeping bag, helmet, magazine pouches, MOLLE vest, canteen, etc.

TAB: Tactical advance to battle.

TAD: Temporary a.s.signed duty.

TARPS: Tactical aerial reconnaissance pod system.

TDY: Temporary duty.

Thermite: A mixture of aluminum powder and iron rust powder that when ignited causes a vigorous exothermic reaction. Used primarily for welding. Also used by military units as an incendiary for destroying equipment.

TI: Turn in (of issued equipment).

T.K.: Tom Kennedy.

TO&E: Table of organization and equipment.

UAV: Unmanned aerial vehicle.

UN-MNF: United Nations Multinational Force.

UNPROFOR: United Nations Protection Force.

UPS: Uninterruptible power source.

VAC: Volts, alternating current.

Valmet: The Finnish conglomerate that formerly made several types of firearms.

VDC: Volts, direct current.

VW: Volkswagen.

WD-1: U.S. militaryissue two-conductor insulated field telephone wire.

Former U.S. Army intelligence officer and survivalist James Wesley, Rawles is a well-known survival lecturer and author. Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com-the nation's most popular blog on family preparedness. He lives in an undisclosed location west of the Rockies and is the author of the bestselling Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse, and a nonfiction survival guide, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT.

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