tac aide- the phonetic alphabet | 25
THE PHONETIC ALPHABET
A B C
1913 Able
D E F
J
G H I
K L
M N O P
U V
Q R S T
W X Y Z
Boy Cast Dog Easy Fox
1927
George Have Item Jig
King Love Mike Nan
Affirmative Baker Cast Dog Easy Fox
George Hypo
King Love Mike
Oboe Pup
Tare Unit Vice
Quack Rush Sail
Watch X-ray Yoke Zed
1938 Afirm
Baker Cast Dog Easy Fox
Interrogatory Jig
Negative Option
Baker
George Hypo Int Jig
King Love Mike
Tare Unit Vice
Preparatory Quack Roger Sail
William X-ray Yoke Zed
Negat Option Prep
Victor
Tare Unit
Queen Roger Sail
William X-ray Yoke Zed
Charlie Dog Easy Fox
George How
King Love Mike
All military personnel are taught basic signal skills during Recruit/Cadet training and one of those areas covered is the use of the phonetic alphabet. The phonetic alphabet is a list of words that are used to identify letters in a message or call sign that is being transmitted by radio or telephone. Spoken words from an approved list are substituted for letters e.g. the word 'Army' would be transmitted in the following spoken words from the phonetic alphabet: Alpha Romeo Mike Yankee. This method of using words from the phonetic alphabet helps prevent confusion between similar spoken letters such as 'M' and 'N'. This clarifies communications that could possibly be garbled during the transmission of an important radio message.
The phonetic alphabet was first used in 1913; it has undergone a number of changes since then with the words used to rep- resent a lot of the letters. When these changes take place they have to be made by international agreement. The current phonetic alphabet in use today was adopted internationally in 1957.
The Phonetic Alphabet from its inception to present day: Letter
World War 2 Afirm (Able
Bravo
Charlie Delta Echo
Int (Item) Jig
Uncle Victor
Zebra
Negat (Nan) Option (Oboe) Prep (Peter) Queen Roger Sugar Tare
William X-ray Yoke
Hotel India Juliet Kilo
Lima Mike
Foxtrot Golf
1957-Present Alpha
November Oscar Papa
Uniform Victor
Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango
Whiskey X-ray
Yankee Zulu
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