This is a list of established military terms, meaning they have been in use for at least 50 years. Since technology and doctrine have changed over time, not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern terms. However, they are still in current use in articles about previous military periods. Some of them like camouflet have been adapted to describe modern versions of old techniques.
Administrative (all arms) Access control Base of operation Cantonment: a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters; in South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations. Chief of defence Classified information Cloak and Dagger Combat information center Command (military formation) Command center Command and control Commander-in-chief Command hierarchy Defense diplomacy Defence minister Directive control Force multiplication Force surge Headquarters unit Military facility Military genius - Clausewitz's attempt to identify characteristics of successful military commanders Logistics Materiel (also matériel) Military supply chain management Multi-factor authentication Nuclear football Operational level of war Permissive action link Plausible deniability Security clearance Situation room: a room in a government headquarters etc where senior high-ranking military officials in authority find out the latest information about something serious that is happening, and proceed to make decisions about what to do. Staff Staging area Stratocracy War cabinet
Intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) and signals intelligence in modern history Electronic intelligence (ELINT) High-frequency direction finding (nicknamed huff-duff) is the common name for a type of radio direction finding employed especially during the two world wars. Communications intelligence (COMINT) Human intelligence (HUMINT) Imagery intelligence (IMINT) Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) Open-source intelligence (OSINT)
Doctrinal Ad-hoc Battle management language COGCON DEFCON Ersatz Tactical formation Gold Codes LERTCON Multiservice tactical brevity code Rainbow codes EMERGCON INFOCON REDCON FPCON Situation awareness Alert state Combat readiness
On land Demilitarized zone (DMZ): Area that is specifically established to be free from military presence or action. Often used to create a buffer between two conflicting states to prevent accidental border skirmishes and established by treaty or a third party peace keeper. No man's land: land that is not occupied or, more specifically, land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty, or for tactical or strategical considerations. No man's land was what the Allied Expeditionary Force under the command of General Pershing would refer to the land separating the fronts of the two opposing armies, as it was deadly to be there.
Arms and services Artillery includes any engine used for the discharge of large projectiles. Artillery battery: an organized group of artillery pieces (previously artillery park). Also see below Artillery
Doctrinal These terms are used for talking about how armed forces are used. Many of the terms below can be applied to combat in other environments although most often used in reference to land warfare. Ambush: carrying out a surprise attack on an enemy that passes by a concealed position. Artillery barrage: a line or barrier of exploding artillery shells, created by continuous and co-ordinated fire of a large number of guns. Battalia: an army or a subcomponent of an army such as a battalion in battle array (common military parlance in the 17th century). Blockade: a ring of naval vessels surrounding a specific port or even an entire nation. The goal is to halt the movement of goods which could help the blockaded nation's war effort. Booby trap Breach: a gap in fortified or battle lines. Breakout: exploiting a breach in enemy lines so that a large force (division or above) passes through. Bridgehead and its varieties known as beachheads and airheads. Camouflet Chalk: a group of paratroopers or other soldiers that deploy from a single aircraft. A chalk often corresponds to a platoon-sized unit for air assault operations, or a company-minus-sized organization for airborne operations. For air transport operations, it can consist of up to a company-plus-sized unit. Frequently, a load of paratroopers in one aircraft, prepared for a drop, is also referred to as a stick. Charge: a large force heads directly to an enemy to engage in close quarters combat, with the hope of breaking the enemy line. Chequered retreat, (retraite en échiquier, Fr.) a line or battalion, alternately retreating and facing about in the presence of an enemy, exhibiting a deployment like chequered squares Column: a formation of soldiers marching in files in which the files is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation. Command and control Counterattack Counter-battery fire Coup de grâce: a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded soldier; also applied to severely damaged ships (called scuttling when applied to friendly ships). Coup de main: a swift pre-emptive strike. Debellatio: to end a war by complete destruction of a hostile state. More severe than sacking. Decisive victory: an overwhelming victory for one side, often shifting the course of conflict. Defilade: a unit or position is "defiladed" if it is protected from direct exposure to enemy fire; see also Hull-down. DUSTOFF: a now traditional call sign for US Army Air Ambulance helicopter operations engaging in MEDEVAC. Echelon formation: a military formation in which members are arranged diagonally. Encirclement: surrounding enemy forces on all sides, isolating them. Enfilade: a unit (or position) is "enfiladed" when enemy fire can be directed along the long axis of the unit. For instance, a trench is enfiladed if the enemy can fire down the length of the trench. May also refer to placing a unit in a position to enfilade, or the position so enfiladed. Envelope Extraction point: the location designated for reassembly of forces and their subsequent transportation out of the battle zone. Fabian strategy: avoiding pitched battles in order to wear down the enemy in a war of attrition. Fighting withdrawal: pulling back military forces while maintaining contact with the enemy. File: a single column of soldiers. Fire in the hole Flanking maneuver: to attack an enemy or an enemy unit from the side, or to maneuver to do so. Forlorn hope: a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the leading part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position, where the risk of casualties is high. Frontal assault or frontal attack: an attack toward the front of an enemy force. Garrison: a body of troops holding a particular location on a long-term basis. Ground zero Guerrilla tactics: attacking the enemy and the subsequent breaking off of contact and retreating; also referred to as "hit-and-run tactics". Hit-and-run Hors de combat: a unit out of the fight, surrendered, wounded (when incapacitated), and so on. Infantry square, pike square, or schiltron Infiltration Intent Interdiction: to attack and disrupt enemy supply lines. Killing field Lodgement: an enclave made by increasing the size of a bridgehead. Mission-type tactics MEDEVAC: the tactical medical evacuation of wounded from the field of battle by air, bringing them to a higher level of medical care and treatment, e.g. from a forward field location or a forward aid station to a combat support hospital, forward surgical team or other treatment facility able to provide significant stabilizing care or definitive treatment to the injured. Mess: A place where troops gather for their meals Mikes: Minutes. When used in normal vernacular speaker will say will be ready in X-Mikes where X represents number of minutes. Mobile columns, or movable columns (French: or ) — in contrast to stationary troops troupes sédentaire. This may be used as a bureaucratic description to describe the function for which troops are raised for example the regiments of the Highland Fencible Corps were raised for garrison duties while Scottish line regiments in the British Army were raised to fight anywhere; or it may be an operational description. No quarter given: all enemy troops are to be killed, even those who surrender. Also referred to as "take no prisoners". Overwatch: tactical technique in which one unit is positioned in a vantage position to provide perimeter surveillance and immediate fire support for another friendly unit. Patrolling Parthian shot Phalanx Pickets (or picquets): sentries or advance troops specifically tasked with early warning of contact with the enemy. A soldier who has this job is on "picket duty", and may also be referred to as a "lookout." (see also Vedette, a mounted sentry or outpost) Pincer maneuver Pitched battle Pocket: see "salient". Pyrrhic victory: a victory paid for so dearly that it potentially could lead to a later defeat ("a battle won, a war lost"). Raid Rank: a single line of soldiers. Reconnaissance Reconnoitre: to go to an area (reconnoitering) to find out information of the exact location of an enemy force. Retreat: withdrawal of troops from a battlefield (can be either orderly or unorderly; fighting or by rout). Rout: disorderly withdrawal of troops from a battlefield following a defeat, either real or perceived. Sack: the destruction and looting of a city, usually after an assault. Safe-guard: individual soldiers or detachments placed to prevent resources (often farms full of crops and livestock) from being looted or plundered Salients: a pocket or "bulge" in a fortified or battle line. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a "re-entrant". Scorched earth: the deliberate destruction of resources in order to deny their use to the enemy. Scuttlebutt: For gossip or water fountain. Scuttling: the deliberate destruction of a ship to prevent its capture and use by an enemy. Commonly used as a coup de grâce, but has also been a protest (as after the First World War). Shield wall: the massed use of interconnected shields to form a wall in battle. Shield wall (fortification): the highest and thickest wall of a castle protecting the main assault approach. Shoot and scoot: a type of fire-and-movement tactic used by artillery to avoid counter-battery fire. Siege: a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition, often accompanied by an assault in the later phase. Siege en régle: A siege where a city or fortress is invested but no bombardment or assault takes place. Instead, the besieger attempts to persuade the defenders to surrender through negotiation, inducement, or through privations such as starvation. This may be done because the fortress is too strong for the attackers to capture through bombardment and assault, or because if the fortification when captured is undamaged it immediately becomes a functional strong point for the former besiegers. Circumvallation: a line of fortifications built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards it. Contravallation: a second line of fortifications behind the circumvallation facing away from the enemy fort to protect the besiegers from attacks by allies of the besieged. Escalade: the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders, a prominent feature of siege warfare in medieval times. Chevaux de frise: sword blades chained together to incapacitate people trying to charge into a breach in the walls. Investment: surrounding an enemy fort (or town) with armed forces to prevent entry or escape. Military mining, undermining of defence positions either fortifications or enemy front line trenches (see also camouflet).