PHONETIC ALPHABET AND NUMERALS
RADIO AND TELEPHONE PROCEDURES
When necessary to identify a letter of the alphabet,
Even though your primary duties are those of a
rifleman, machine gunner, or mortarman, you may be
the standard phonetic alphabet should be used. This
called upon to pick up a radio to pass some valuable
helps to prevent the receiving operator from copying
information to one of the platoons or to the battalion
your words or groups of words incorrectly. Bs, Ps, Ts,
headquarters.
and other letters that sound alike can be confusing when
heard on radio telephone nets. Learn the phonetic
The intent of this section is to provide enough
knowledge of correct radio and telephone procedures so
alphabet listed below and the proper pronunciation as
you can operate the voice radio equipment in a Seabee
spoken over radio nets.
battalion.
Phonetic
The following terms are defined to give you a better
Pronounced
Letter
Equivalent
understanding of the explanations in the following
ALFA
AL fah
A
section:
BRAH voh
B
BRAVO
1. TRANSMISSION: A communication sent by
CHAR lee or
C
CHARLIE
one station and intended for reception by another station
SHAR lee
or stations.
DELTA
D
DELL tah
2. ANSWER: A transmission made by a station
called in response to the call received.
E
ECK oh
ECHO
3. CALL SIGN: A call sign is a word, or a
F
FOXTROT
FOKS trot
combination of words, intended for transmission by
G
GOLF
GOLF
voice means, and it identifies the command, unit, or
H
hoh TELL
HOTEL
authority of the radio station.
I
IN dee ah
INDIA
4. NET CALL SIGN: The collective call sign that
represents all the radio stations operating together on a
J
JULIETT
JEW lee ett
particular radio net.
KILO
K
KEY loh
5. NET CONTROL STATION: A radio station
LIMA
LEE mah
L
appointed by higher authority to direct and control the
M
MIKE
MIKE
operation and flow of all traffic handled on the radio net.
N
NOVEMBER
no VEM ber
6. PROWORD: A pronounceable word or phrase
that has been assigned a meaning to speed up message
O
OSCAR
OSS cah
handling on radio nets that use radio and telephone. A
P
PMA
pah PAH
list of prowords and their meanings is presented later in
keh BECK
QUEBEC
Q
this section.
R
ROMEO
ROW me oh
7. ABBREVIATED PLAINDRESS MESSAGE:
A message that has certain elements of the message
S
SIERRA
see AIR rah
heading omitted for speed of handling. Anyone or all of
T
TANGO
TANG go
the following may be omitted: precedence, date,
U
UNIFORM
YOU nee form
date-time group, and group count.
V
VICTOR
VIK tah
8. RECEIPT: A communication sent by the
receiving operator indicating that the message or other
W
WHISKEY
WISS key
transmission has been satisfactorily received.
X
XRAY
ECKS ray
9. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: A separate message
Y
YANKEE
YANG key
originated by the addressee to inform the originator that
Z
ZULU
ZOO loo
his message has been received and is understood.
11-26
