F-100: Single seat jet fighter manufactured by North American. Nicknamed the "Super Sabre". It was the third generation of the F series sabre fighters "so called because of their swept back wings and rear slanting tail fin" which until their time had never been used. Also sometimes referred to as "HUN".
F-105 The Republic built fighter-bomber nicknamed "Thunderchief". Also commonly refered to as "Thuds". They were bigger and more cumbersome than the F-100 and began to be phased out as the F-4 Phantom's took on more and more of a role.
F-4: The F-4s were twin-engine, all-weather, tactical fighter-bombers manufactured by McConnell Douglas, and nicknamed "Phantom" and Phantom II". They were aso called "Double Ugly". It was one of the principal aircraft deployed to Southeast Asia. Capable of operating at speeds of more than 1,600 miles per hour and at altitudes approaching 60,000 feet, the first F-4s were deployed to participate in the air war over Vietnam in August 1964 by the United States Navy. On August 6, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, five F-4Bs from the USS Constellation attacked North Vietnamese patrol boat bases. The F-4 aircraft expanded their operations beginning on April 3, 1965, when fifty F-4Bs attacked a road bridge 65 miles south of Hanoi. The first United States Air Force (USAF) F-4s were deployed to Southeast Asia in early 1965 and became involved in significant air operations during the summer.
FAC (Fack): Forward air controller. The forward air controller (FAC) had the responsibility for calling in air strikes on enemy positions during the Vietnam War. Usually flying a low-level, low-speed aircraft, such as a single-engine Cessna O-1 Bird Dog spotter plane, the FAC identified Viet Cong or North Vietnamese positions and relayed the information to attack aircraft, helicopter.
FAG: Field artillery guy.
FANTAIL: The stern or aft open area of a ship, also called the afterdeck.
FAST MOVER: Jet; usually the F-4.
FAT ALBERT: Nickname used for both the C-5 and C-130 aircraft.
FATIGUES: Standard combat uniform, green (Olive Drab) in color.
FB: Firebase.
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation.
FDC: Fire direction control center.
FEATHER: A propeller adjusted in pitch so that it will neither pull nor push air (if it must be shut down, the prop will be "feathered" so as not to 'windmill').
FEET WET: Expression used by pilots to indicate they were over water (South China Sea or Gulf of Thailand).
FIELD OF FIRE: Area that a weapon or group of weapons can cover effectively with fire from a given position.
FIELD SURGICAL KIT: Carried by medics for small surgery and suturing.
FIGHTING HOLE: A foxhole with sandbag protection and sometimes an elevated roof of sheetmetal, reinforced with sandbags. Sized for one or two troops, fighting holes might be dispersed around a company or battery area for defensive use during a ground attack.
FIGMO: State of blissful abandon, achieved after receiving orders out of Vietnam. Literally Fuckit, I Got My Orders."
FINGER CHARGE: explosive booby-trapping device which takes its name from the size and shape's being approximately that of a man's finger.
FINI FLIGHT: An Air Force pilot's last mission in Vietnam.
FINI: Slang for "the end" or "it's over".
FIRE BASE or FB: Sometimes called a fire support base. Temporary artillery firing position often secured by infantry. These bases dotted VN and usually were comprised of four howitzers with crews and a company of Infantry.
FIRE FOR EFFECT: When all ordnance was aimed at the enemy in continual firing.
FIRE MISSION: An artillery mission.
FIRE TRACK: flame-thrower tank.
FIRECRACKER: Artillery round incorporating many small bomblets which are ejected over a target area and explode in 'bouncing-betty' fashion almost simultaneously, the name comes from the fast popping sound (best heard at a distance).
FIREFIGHT: A battle or exchange of small arms fire between opposing units.
FIRST SHIRT: 1st Sergeant.
FIVE: radio call sign for the executive officer of a unit.
FLACK JACKET: Heavy fiberglass-filled vest worn for protection from shrapnel. Also called body armor. Later, 1969-70, incorporated pyroceramic plates to protect back and chest from rifle-fire.
FLAKY: To be in a state of mental disarray, characterized by spaciness and various forms of unreasoning fear.
FLARE: Illumination projectile; hand-fired or shot from artillery, mortars, or air.
FLECHETTE: A small dart-shaped projectile clustered in an explosive warhead. A mine without great explosive power containing small pieces of shrapnel intended to wound and kill.
FLYING COW: C-123 or C-130 aircraft equipped with a rubberized collapsible drum and 350-GPM (gallons per minute) pumps. Also called "Bladder Bird" or "Cow."
FNG: Most common name for newly arrived person in Vietnam. It was literally translated as a "Fuckin' new guy."
FO: Forward observer; calls fire missions to artillery and sometimes Air and Naval gunfire.
FOO GAS: A mixture of explosives and napalm, usually set in a fifty-gallon drum.
FORWARD: Directional--in, at, toward, or near the bow or front of the ship or boat.
FOURS: F-4 aircraft.
FOXTROT: Military phonetic for the letter "F"
FRAG: The common term for any grenade or other fragmentation device.
FRAGGING: The sad instance when someone is killed, usually an officer or NCO, intentionally, by one of his own men, and usually during a firefight and usually using a grenade. This is, of course, a criminal offense.
FREAK: radio frequency. Also, a junkie or a doper.
FREE FIRE ZONE: Any area in which permission was not required prior to firing on targets. Free to fire upon any forces you may come upon…Do not have to identify. Sometimes called free kill zones. Everyone is deemed hostile and a legitimate target.
FREEDOM BIRD: Any aircraft that took you back to the "world" (U.S.A.). The aircraft on which you left Vietnam.
FREQ: Radio frequency.
FRIENDLIES: U.S. troops, allies, or anyone not on the other side.
FRIENDLY AIR ASSETS: U.S. air support.
FRIENDLY FIRE: "Friendly Fire" was a euphemism used during the war in Vietnam to describe air, artillery or small-arms fire from American forces mistakenly directed at American or other allied positions.
FTA: Free the Army. Actually, "Fuck the Army;" a derogatory phrase used by frustrated soldiers. Often publically re-interpreted to "Fire The Artillery." "FTA" also referred to the "First Team Academy" where 1st Cav assignees spent their first few days getting outfitted, learning the ropes, and such Cav things as rapelling, etc.
FUBAR: Acronym for "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition," used to describe any disorganized operation. See also "Boondoggle" and "Cluster Fuck".
FUCK: Along with fucked and fuckin', the most commonly used word in the GI vocabulary other than the article 'a'
FUCKED UP: wounded or killed. Also, to get stoned, drunk, or to be foolish or do something stupid.
FUGAZI: Fucked up or screwed up.
FULRO: United Front for the Struggle of Oppressed Races. Resistance organization in the highlands of Vietnam made up of Montagnards, Chàm, and ethnic Khmer. FULRO is still conducting resistance against Communist operations to subjugate the indigenous tribal peoples.
FUNCINPEC: National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia. Prince Sihanouk's non-Communist political and military organization which attempted to drive the Vietnamese occupation forces out of Cambodia and reestablish independence. In 1982 FUNCINPEC joined the Cambodian Coalition Government and shared the seat at the United Nations.
FUNNY PAPERS: topographic maps.
FUSE: Cord filled with pyrotechnic composition, burned at a precise rate after ignition.
FWMAF: Free World Military Assistance Forces. The Allies.
