A
AD-G - pronounced adgee - Airfield Defence Guard - RAAF personel who are a bit like infantry and who guard RAAF bases/assets.
Air Sentry - lying down "watching" the sky with eyes closed aka sleeping
AJ or ajay - Army jerk - what civilians in areas with high military populations call army personal. Derogatory when a civilian uses it. Acceptable soldier to soldier.
AJAX - Army Jerk At eXercise - it was said that when soldiers were on exercise, there spouse might put a box of Ajax (a brand of washing powder) in the front windows as a sign to passersby that she wanted romantic company
Arc up
1) to start shooting at, to shoot at.
2) To start a histrionic attack, e.g to start verbally abusing someone
ARA - Australia Regular Army
ARes - Army Reserve
Arsehole of the world - the name of the local small town closest to an Army base. The Army base itself is the shit that hangs out of it. e.g. "Seymour is the arsehole of the world and Puckapunyal is the shit that hangs out of it".


B
Battle Dress - world war two uniform also used as winter weight service and ceremonial dress into at least the early 90s. Battle dress was issued at Kapooka and was what was worn for winter march outs. Service dress was only issued on posting to a unit and not necessarily issued at all for some units in tropical Australia.
Brass Up - shoot, fire at
Beautiful girl - an ugly girl
Blue Orchids - the airforce - expensive, precious and delicate
Bucket - an M113AS1 LRV, APC - because these vehicles are "buckets of shit"
Buckethead - an M113 crewman
Bunghole - tinned fruit pudding from old 10 man ration packs - immensely popular.
Bullshit Batallion - 1 Recruit Training Battalion
Buckets of bullets - 1) firing a large amount of ammunition at a single target, 2) yelled out during training exercises to simulate firing when insufficient blank ammunition has been supplied


C
Cabalah Bears - operator signals of 7 sig regt - who are based at Cabalah, Queensland.
Cammy Jim Jammies - camouflage uniforms
Ceremonial - when service dress is worn for formal functions or parades it is worn with black highly polished (or patent leather) boots, trousers bloused (for NCOs and ORs) a highly polished black belt, highly polished brass or chrome (depending on corps) buttons/buckles. This dress is known as ceremonial - i.e. parade or best dress uniform.
Chit - a form issued by the medical officer or a medic listing medical restrictions. Possessed by gimps and the sick lame and lazy.
Chokko - chocolate soldier - sweet little things that melt in the heat - term originally referring to the militia (old name for reserve forces) and now applied to the army reserve/army reservists


D
Doona Wrestling - sleeping or at least lazing around. If possible many young soldiers prefer to doona wrestle instead of undertaking compulsory sport on sport afternoons - often not appearing until post game drinks are served.
Doona bashing - see Doona Wrestling
Dropshort - mortar/artilleryman


E


F
Furphy - a rumor. Furphy was a world war one manufacturer who supplied water wagons to the Army. Water wagons moved from unit to unit, carry rumors with them, hence Furphy means rumor or lie.
Fitter and turner - cook. Fits good food into pots and turns it into shit.


G
Gimp - an injured person
Goffas - soft drinks
Green - soldier who is very green is very keen to follow the rules and regulations - to do things strictly the army way
Groundsheet - female soldier (derog.)
Gumpy or gumpies - chocolate or sweets


H
Hammer
1) noun - male genitals 2) verb - male who is copulating with a female may be said to be hammering her
Hook in - to attack, or to take to a task in a vigorous or aggressive manner
Hootchie - plastic or nylon waterproof sheet with a number of loops and clips around the perimeter usually used as a shelter


I


J
J, The J - the jungle, or more loosely the bush
Jack - refers to someone or maybe something that does not pull his weight, does not share with his mates, is selfish etc. Possibly derived from "I'm all right Jack - fuck you"
Jack Rations - privately bought food/drink intended to supplement that which is officially supplied and perhaps not intended to be shared or at least not openly fair game without an offer from the owner - hence Jack rations.
JNCO - Junior non commissioned officers - Corporals and Lance Corporals


K

Koala Bears - 1 Armoured regiment were said to be Koala bears - a protected species, destined never to leave our shores.


L


M
Mexican - someone south of or from south of the Queensland border
MLW - manual of land warfare - the series of manuals that defines the doctrine, and tactics of the Australian Army - somewhat like a US Field Manual (FM)


N
NCO - non commissioned officers - officers of the rank lance corporal through staff sergeant.
NFI
1) No fucking idea
2) No fucking interest e.g. Q: "How do you do such and such?" A: "NFI NFI!!"
Now you can't see me suit - camouflaged clothing


O
OMO - Old Man Out - it was said that when soldiers were on exercise, there spouse might put a box of OMO ( a brand of washing powder) in the front windows as a sign to passersby that she wanted romantic company
OR - other rank, private soldiers and in most contexts junior NCOs (corporals and below)
Oxygen Thief - some one whose consumption of oxygen is thought to exceed the net value of their existence


P
Pam - abbreviated form of pamphlet, refers to military manuals, e.g. Manual of Land Warfare.
Polys - the summer weight service dress and ceremonial uniform.
Pusser - member of the Royal Australian Navy


Q


R
Reg (rhymes with egg) - a regular (as opposed to reserve) soldier.
Regi - from regiment or regimental, someone who follows the rules and regulations very closely, usually very well turned out
Rio - reinforcement - a new soldier or a soldier new to a unit. Often considered to be low on the totem pole and fair game, subject to what the Americans would refer to as hazing.


S
Septic - septic tank - yank - rhyming slang for an American.
Sick lame and lazy - soldiers with injuries or medial conditions that preclude them from taking part in all military training or activities.
Snake - sergeant
Snake pit - sergeant's mess
SNCOs - Senior non commissioned officers. Ranks of sergeant, staff sergeant and for most purposes warrant officers.
Service Dress - winter weight service and ceremonial uniform
Singo Seven - The seven girls in Singleton who will do anything for infrantry trainees. They may leave the group (join wife corp) but they are soon replaced by other girls in the town. There must always be seven.
Splat cat - member of 3 RAR (when it was airborne) or parachutist generally.
Stars - the army sleeps under them, the navy navigates by them and the airforce choose their hotels by them.
Stick book(s) - pornography


T
Training Manuals - pornography - usually hardcore - i.e. books that teach young soldiers in sexual technique
Two dads - a person with a hyphenated surname, such as "Manners-Smith".
Taj Mah Hootch - three or more hootchies connected together into a very large shelter. Only constructed in non-tactical situations
Turret head - armoured vehicle crewman


U


V


W
Wanking Spanner - hand
Warrant Officers - officers who hold a Royal Warrant - not Commissioned Officers. May technically be Non commissioned officers but are separate from other NCOs by virtue of their warrant. WOs mess in the SNCO's mess. All sergeant majors are WOs, though not all WOs are sergeant majors.
"Wheelbarrow with a" - anybody with a long name is known as "wheelbarrow with a X", where X is the first letter of there name. So someone whose names is "Tsimbouklis" might be known as "wheelbarrow, with a 'T'"
WO - pronounced woe - see Warrant Officer
WOFTAM - Waste of Fucking Time and Money - often used in reference to Army reservists


X


Y


Z

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