Casualty Assistance Officer
CAOC Combined Air Operations Centre
CASEVAC Casualty evacuation
CAT Flying category (e.g. Combat Ready)
CDE Collateral damage estimate
CIVCAS Civilian casualties
CNO Casualty Notification Officer
CRM Crew resource management. The sharing out of responsibilities and tasks between the three crew members
COMMS Communications. Commonly by radio, electronic signal or secure military internet
CPL Corporal
DICKING The observation of military personnel and movements by, usually, low-level, unarmed enemy called ‘dickers’ (in Afghanistan they would often be young boys). The term was used in Northern Ireland and referred to junior, or would-be, paramilitary members
EOD Explosive Ordinance Disposal
FAST JET A generic British military term that refers to highspeed, jet-propelled, air-to-air fighter aircraft or fighter-bomber aircraft.
FMV Full motion video
FOB Forward Operating Base
GBU Guided Bomb Unit. The Reaper carries two 500lb GBU-12 laser-guided bombs
GCAS Ground close air support
GCS Ground Control Station
HME Home-made explosive
HVT High-value target. For example, an important Taliban figure
IED Improvised explosive device
IN THE BOX In the Ground Control Station, a shipping container-sized metal box
IS Islamic State
ISAF International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan
ISR Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
ISTAR Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance
JTAC Joint Terminal Attack Controller. The person who directs offensive air operations, including close air support, typically from a forward position on the ground or from a Combined Air Operations Centre
KINETIC STRIKE A missile or bomb strike
LASING Using a laser beam to mark or ‘light up’ a target for a laser-guided missile or bomb strike
LCPL Lance Corporal
LRE Launch and Recovery Element – the crew based near the operating area who launch the Reaper and land it at the end of the mission, by remote control. In between take-off and landing, control is transferred electronically so that it is then piloted via satellite link by someone in the UK or USA
MATCH EYES To train the Reaper camera on a target or area that is already being watched by another surveillance aircraft
MCE Mission Control Element
MEDEVAC Medical evacuation
MIC Mission Intelligence Coordinator
NOTAM Notice to Airmen – a standard, internationally recognised method of warning aircrew of mandatory areas to avoid and potential risks in the area where they are planning to fly
OFF DRY To pull out of a bomb or missile run without releasing a weapon
OVERWATCH To fly above friendly forces on the ground, looking out for threats and using weapons to protect those forces if necessary. Ground forces can also conduct overwatch, with one group of soldiers or marines observing as their colleagues manoeuvre into position
PAX Passengers
PID Positive identification, usually of a combatant target
PLATFORM An aircraft, which can be manned or remotely piloted, plus all of its capabilities
POL Pattern of life, built up through intelligence gathering and surveillance
PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder
QWI Qualified Weapons Instructor
RAR Remedial Action Report
RCDFCIED Remote Control Directional Fragmentation Charge Improvised Explosive Device
RCH Red Card Holder – the UK’s RCH holds and provides operational and legal authority for a weapon strike that has been delegated from the Secretary of State for Defence, via the Air Component Commander in the CAOC
ROE Rules of Engagement – the legal framework that dictates when, where and how lethal force can and cannot be used
RPAS(P) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (Pilot) – the official designation of someone recruited and trained to pilot an RAF Reaper, who was not previously a pilot on another type of aircraft
SAFETY OBSERVER An experienced Reaper crew member, or instructor, who is brought into the GCS in the build-up to a missile or bomb strike
SANGAR A fortified position
SAR Synthetic aperture radar
SMIC Senior Mission Intelligence Coordinator. Supervises Reaper missions alongside the Authorising Officer in the Squadron Operations Room
SO Sensor Operator, who controls the various cameras and other sensing equipment, and who laser-guides missiles and bombs onto targets
TECHNICAL Flat-bed truck with a large weapon bolted or welded onto the back; used as highly mobile light artillery
TIC Troops In Contact
TRIM Trauma risk management – peer-to-peer psychological support system intended to reduce the impacts of traumatic events
USAF United States Air Force
VBIED Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
VOIED Victim-operated improvised explosive device
WEAPON OFF THE RAIL When a missile has been fired or a bomb dropped from an aircraft
It was a close friend who prompted my drones research in 2011 by introducing me to someone in the RAF Reaper community. I thank him and curse him every day in equal measure for what he started.
I have a love-hate relationship with all things war and military-related. My own experience of war took place well away from where the bullets are fired and the bombs go off. I was an RAF chaplain for seven years, from 2001 to 2008. I have never
