Military Trivia
by Carl Kurfess
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) slang
Some terms/sayings commonly used in OIF, specifically in Iraq or Kuwait.
G.I. Shower. Method of cleaning oneself when water is scarce. For troops in the field, the definition was “baby wipes”.
Good to go. Ready for action.
Oh-dark-thirty. Early in the morning; well before dawn.
Outside the wire. Outside U.S. Army authority.
Stop-loss. Policy preventing service members from retiring or leaving the service at their scheduled time.
Weapons green and clear. Guns are unloaded and empty of ammunition.
Works cited: Dickson, Paul. War Slang: Fighting Words and Phrases of Americans from the Civil War to the Gulf War. New York: Bristol Park, 2007. Print.