The Unofficial Air Force Language: FUBAR, Sandbox, Brat, etc.

Ever know anyone in the Air Force and listened to them have a conversation and not know what in the world they were saying? This is a list of terms that your Air Force friend or family member might be using in their conversations. Have fun!

1. Dream Sheet- A list of the top ten bases, overseas and on the continent that Air Force members can list as their desired next duty stations. When it is time for an Air Force member to move from one base to another, the Air Force will look at the “dream sheet” and see if a position is open for the member at that desired location. “Eglin is on my dream sheet. I hope I get lucky because it’s right on the beach!”

2. First Shirt- This refers to the First Sergeant. A First Sergeant is the person in an Air Force member’s squadron designated by his commander to enhance the morale and discipline of the unit. If you get in trouble, the First Sergeant knows about it. If there’s an opportunity to volunteer or get some local benefits, the First Sergeant knows about it. “The First Shirt had to bail that dude out of jail. He was not happy.”

3. Brat- Child of a military member. Grown-up kids of the military don’t usually refer to themselves just as “brats”; usually they say “Air Force” brat or “military” brat. “I’m an Air Force brat. I went to 7 schools in 10 years.”

4. PCS- Permanent Change of Station. This is when an Air Force member has been reassigned to another base and will live there for usually two to four years and sometimes even longer. “We’re PCS’ing to Kadena in Okinawa, so we can’t take our brand new, solid-wood entertainment center because it’s too heavy.”

5. TDY- Temporary Duty. This is when Air Force members have to work at another base or location for a relatively short period of time. TDYs can last anywhere from 1 day to 1 year. “My wife was TDY to Turkey for 90 days. She brought back a ton of rugs.”

6. Giant Voice- The public address system used on bases to broadcast weather changes and security alerts. It is extremely loud and can be heard for miles. “The Giant Voice said today was going to be a really hot one.”

7. Short or short-timer– Someone who is due to either permanently relocate to another duty station (see PCS), separate or retire from the Air Force. “Look at the short-timer. He’s not even ironing his uniform since he’s getting out in a month!”

8. Hurry Up and Wait- Describes a specific pace of movement in conjunction with appointments, deployments and other military-related operations. You usually are told to rush to arrive at one particular place, only to wait for an extensive period of time before repeating the process. “Man, we had 10 minutes to pack our stuff to get on a plane towards Iraq, but we sat at the frickin’ airport for 6 hours. Talk about hurry up and wait!”

9. Zero-dark- thirty- Reference to a very late-night or early-morning operation, usually sometime between midnight and 5 am. “We had to get up at zero-dark-thirty to launch our planes. You couldn’t make enough coffee!”

10. Profile- When a member gets hurt and is unable to fully perform his duties, he is put on profile. Sergeant Snuffy is on profile after that horrendous water slide accident. He won’t be back to work for 3 weeks.”

11. Sandbox- The Iraq/Afghanistan area. “How long were you in the Sandbox before you got back home?”

12. Lifer- Military member that plans to stay in for at least 20 years even though they’ve only been in for a short period of time. “That guy’s a lifer. Look, he got the Air Force symbol tattooed on his shoulder!”

13. GI Party- A collective movement of Air Force members to clean one specific area or building or performance of a specific task. “We’re having a GI Party tonight at 1800 hours in the break room. Bring every mop and scrub brush you got.”

14. Dependent- Family members of the Air Force member, such as the wife and children. We had a dependent care program at our last base that had some really good references for baby-sitters.

15. Above My Pay Grade– Refers to not being able to answer a question or make a decision based on rank. “That decision is above my pay grade, but I’m sure the answer is going to be ‘no’.”

16. FUBAR- Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. Sometimes the “F” is replaced with a less-than polite word beginning with “F”. Also interchangeable with “Jacked up”. “That plane was all FUBAR when it showed up. I knew it was going to be a long night.”

17. Off Duty Supervisor or “ODS”- Spouse of a military member. “I’ve gotta ask my ODS before I buy that car. She’s got her eye on something else.”

18. Kitchen Pass- Permission from the spouse or ODS to attend an outing with friends and coworkers. “I got a Kitchen Pass for the night. Let’s hit the slots!”

19. ROK, pronounced “Rock”-Refers to Republic of Korea or other small, remote islands. Air Force members will often be assigned or volunteer to take assignments to remote bases in those locations in order to get a better assignment in exchange for one year’s service (known as a “follow on”). Members often cannot take their family members on those assignments. “I did one year in the ROK and got a follow-on to Hawaii. My wife was happy with the exchange.”

20. Stop-Loss- The action the Air Force uses to prevent people from retiring or separating due to manning issues, normally related to a major war. “I had to stay in an extra 6 months because of stop-loss.”