The military love TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms, silly), just a method  to ensure that BBB - not the credit rating of a mediocre corporate bond, or a spendthrift Mediterranean country, but Bullshit Baffles Brains. Some cynics believe they are just a means of ensuring that no one who doesn't wear light or dark blue or DPM (there we go again) understands what the hell is going on....

Sometimes they extend a bit further, e.g. 6xp (Perfect Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance). But they allow the military prose to flow a little more smoothly than if everything were spelt out in full. So where I have repeated them on this site, this page will decode them. I will add as they are used.

AAIB                                   Air Accidents Investigation Board

BEA                                    Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile

                                             [French version of the AAIB]

BOI                                       Board of Inquiry (a military accident investigation)

CAS                                     Chief of the Air Staff

CDS                                     Chief of the Defence Staff

CGS                                     Chief of the General Staff (the Army's top man)

CPL                                      Commercial Pilot's Licence

CSAR                                  Combat SAR

CWGC                                 Commonwealth War Graves Commission

DPM                                     Disruptive Pattern Material (aka camouflage)

DSF                                      Director, Special Forces

FAF                                       French Air Force

HAC                                      Honorable Artillery Company

ISTAR                                   Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition & Reconnaissance

PAR                                      Precision Approach Radar

PPL                                      Private Pilot's Licence

QRA                                      Quick Reaction Alert

PRT                      Provincial Reconstruction Team

PVR                                      Premature Voluntary Retirement

RNHF                                    Royal Navy Historic Flight

RNR                Royal Naval Reserve

SAR                                      Search & Rescue

SBS                                      Special Boat Squadron

SF                                         Special Forces

SOAR                                   Special Operations Aviation Regiment

SOD™ Some One Dear To Me