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 Military Abbreviation
 
Admiral Link
603 posts
4th
Joined
8/9/2007
Military Abbreviation
Posted: 19 Jun 09 12:10 AM
I have some questions about military abbreviation such as MIA, AWOL.

I know MIA means Missing in Action but how can soldiers become missing while fighting in a battle.

Does Awol mean soldiers abandoning their post or going against the orders of their CO?
If you're going to doubt yourself, I'll leave you here. [...] Never doubt yourself. Only let it make you stronger. - Solid Snake
DavidS
1440 posts
www.novelier.com
3rd
Joined
1/23/2006
Re: Military Abbreviation
Posted: 19 Jun 09 10:01 AM
MIA can happen in many ways, all of which involve not having bodies.

An aircrew goes down and the bodies aren't recovered.

Someone takes a direct hit from an artillery round and his body is totally disintrigated. Today, DNA can identify fragmentary remains, but that wasn't always the case.

In storming a beach, somebody goes down and his body is swept out to sea, never to be recovered.

In jungle, thick forest, or some other terrains, it's possible for someone to go down and not be found afterward. I have been in places where, if someone went down and wasn't seen, his body might never be found.

If someone gets captured, nobody see the capture, and the enemy doesn't admit that he's a prisoner, he's missing in action.

No body: Missing in Action.

AWOL is essentially desertion. Related to it is the slightly less serious offense of UA, Unauthorized Absence; taking off without permission, but probably with the intent of returning. UA is also failure to report for duty when required. It can also be returning late from leave or liberty, or failing to report to a new duty station on time.
mclark
231 posts
5th
Joined
1/27/2006
Re: Military Abbreviation
Posted: 19 Jun 09 11:01 PM

MIA also happens where during the action the Soldier or Marine is cut off from his or her unit due to the ebb and flow of the battle, when the enemy doesn't know they're there, either. This more commonly happens to multiple folks at once, and if they have no communications they are unable to notify their chain of command what happened to them.  Until they check in somehow, or are captured and the enemy notifies the Red Cross about their capture, they are MIA. 

Odd situations do occur, too, by intention.  A man I know was in the US Army in Europe and he was part of a special group of troops that nobody talked about whose job was to hang back in hidden positions in the event of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe, and after the main line of resistance pushed passed them, they were to come out at night in order to harrrass lines of supply by blowing bridges, mining roads, and destroying communications, collect intelligence on enemy troop movements to radio to Allied intelligence as means permitted, and so forth.  Such folks might be MIA for periods of time, and would probably be officially reported as such to their families.
Skink
2020 posts
1st
Joined
12/17/2007
Re: Military Abbreviation
Posted: 20 Jun 09 12:25 AM
Well thank god the Soviets never attacked Nato or the U.S. after all evryone would of been M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction) In other words everyone would of been nuked. Well save Africa and parts of South America.

Does Awol mean someone goes crazy?
The Prime Master read the message again. This time, by the time he finished reading, he smiled beatifically. The message included a great deal of information about the Earthman Army and airpower and their tactics. This was inteligence that would serve the Emperor's army well when it next encountered the Earthman Army. As it most assuredly would.......
Admiral Link
603 posts
4th
Joined
8/9/2007
Re: Military Abbreviation
Posted: 20 Jun 09 4:46 AM
 DavidS wrote
MIA can happen in many ways, all of which involve not having bodies.

An aircrew goes down and the bodies aren't recovered.

Someone takes a direct hit from an artillery round and his body is totally disintrigated. Today, DNA can identify fragmentary remains, but that wasn't always the case.

In storming a beach, somebody goes down and his body is swept out to sea, never to be recovered.

In jungle, thick forest, or some other terrains, it's possible for someone to go down and not be found afterward. I have been in places where, if someone went down and wasn't seen, his body might never be found.

If someone gets captured, nobody see the capture, and the enemy doesn't admit that he's a prisoner, he's missing in action.

No body: Missing in Action.

AWOL is essentially desertion. Related to it is the slightly less serious offense of UA, Unauthorized Absence; taking off without permission, but probably with the intent of returning. UA is also failure to report for duty when required. It can also be returning late from leave or liberty, or failing to report to a new duty station on time.

mclark wrote

MIA also happens where during the action the Soldier or Marine is cut off from his or her unit due to the ebb and flow of the battle, when the enemy doesn't know they're there, either. This more commonly happens to multiple folks at once, and if they have no communications they are unable to notify their chain of command what happened to them.  Until they check in somehow, or are captured and the enemy notifies the Red Cross about their capture, they are MIA. 

Odd situations do occur, too, by intention.  A man I know was in the US Army in Europe and he was part of a special group of troops that nobody talked about whose job was to hang back in hidden positions in the event of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe, and after the main line of resistance pushed passed them, they were to come out at night in order to harrrass lines of supply by blowing bridges, mining roads, and destroying communications, collect intelligence on enemy troop movements to radio to Allied intelligence as means permitted, and so forth.  Such folks might be MIA for periods of time, and would probably be officially reported as such to their families.



What happens if you were late to report to your station? Do you get arrested and sent to jail for it? What is Stockades then? I remember reading two sergeant airmen making fun with each other by sending one of them to the stockades.

I have some question about hand gestures too. What is the deal with pumping fist? Also what does number two then point to a location mean? Do soldiers who wave their guns forward signal the army to push forward?
If you're going to doubt yourself, I'll leave you here. [...] Never doubt yourself. Only let it make you stronger. - Solid Snake
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