Most professions or tasks come with their own words (terms or, less nicely, jargon). Human rights is full of them: habeas corpus, CAT (Convention against Torture, “internally displaced,” “disappeared,” etc.

Mark talking about current events in Afghanistan

 

Each has a specific meaning and use and can illuminate. But “jargon” words can also obfuscate (fancy for confuse or hide). I was struck by this after reading one of my brother’s journal entries from a recent visit he made to Afghanistan, where he does service as a U.S. Navy Reserve officer (he is Mark Kirk, a US senator).

From one US official’s wall, Mark noted down the following “glossary,” which defines common words used in US military and political briefings. Some are familiar, but some were new to me (“Afghan good enough”? BLUF?)

What’s your opinion? Which words shed light and which ones confuse or hide (multilateration, any one)? Which ones contain a kind of insight and which are code for skulduggery? Which are crazy (“feed the beast until it chokes”), chilling (an “uptick” in casualties) or just fun (huddle)?

Granularity: Details on an issue

Socialize: Brief key players before a decision-making meeting

Calibrate: Adjusting fire, response or language

Driving forward: Moving ahead on an issue without regard to potential delays

Mainstream: Making an idea part of the culture of an organization

Robust: Strong, or adding firepower and numbers

Ground Truth:  Judgments at HQ confirmed by front-line experience

Drill Down: Collect a large amount of detail on an issue

Low-Hanging Fruit: Easily achieved objectives

Bottom Out: Stopping the decline of an offensive, policy, direction

Takeaway: Key point to remember from a briefing

Afghan good enough: Achievable result given Afghan insurgency, education, poverty and corruption

Taking forward: Advancing a policy to the front line or to higher command

Sensitize: An early indication of a new policy or idea to those who may be involved

Forcing event:  An action that must be taken after initiating a policy, offensive or speech

BLUF: Bottom-Line, Up Front, i.e., the conclusion of a briefing delivered at its start

Fusion:  Assembling intelligence, policy or military action into a coherent whole

Bandwidth: The ability of an organization to process a very large amount of information quickly

Strategy refresh: A new look at a current operation or policy

Operationalize: To convert a strategy into actual orders for specific actions to a real unit

Multilateration: Involving a large number of actors, ministries or countries in an issue, policy or military action

Kinetic: Military action involving the firing of weapons

Grip Embed:  Welding an external player to an organization to get an assessment, report or new look, even if the unit does not want a new player

Traction: The process of an idea, intelligence or a policy to gain acceptance by many

Apply a different optic: To take a new look

Namecheck: To ensure players, targets or units are properly identified

Populate: To add targets, subjects or policies to a target sight, discussion or meeting

Load-bearing: The ability of a person, unit or command to take on the new mission, idea or action

Upskill: To increase education or capabilities

Coverdown: To seek protection

Out of his lane: Not this person, unit or command’s job

Early engagement: To launch a mission, introduce an idea or put forward a policy before it is completely ready

Left Seat, Right Seat:  (On a plane) Left seat is the commander, right seat is the co-pilot (and the reverse on a helo)

A big ask: a large request

Scratch the itch: Checking the box to do something because it is requested without caring about the result

Coming together across departments: To resist stovepiping of organizations to only work in their lane

Ramp up: to increase size, force or emphasis

Huddle: Meeting

All-weather platform: An aircraft or sensor that works in dry or wet weather, cold or hot, night or day

Deep-dive: A meeting with many details on one issue

Soft Landing: As an operation, policy or support is reduced, a gentle reduction towards the end

Uptick: Increase

Wavetops: The most important details of a meeting or briefing

Out Reach: Extension of a subject or issue beyond the normal participants

Stakeholder Analysis: The views of those involved in a issue

Plus Up: Increase

Serial Ops: Operations of the same type or against the same target

Forward Leading: Aggressive advancement of an issue or operation before all results or implications are known

Feed the beast until it chokes: A tactic to turn off too many requests with great detail or to overload an opponent’s information until he does not know what is actually happening

Target-Rich Environment: A battlefield with many enemies within range of weapons

 

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