Can You Guess These Easy Military Acronyms in 6 Minutes?

By: John Miller
Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Can You Guess These Easy Military Acronyms in 6 Minutes?
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

The United States Armed Forces stockpiles acronyms like bullets and bombs — without acronyms, soldiers and generals would be stuck spelling out ridiculous terms like Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program all day long instead of just using HTRAP instead. And when filling out a requisition form, they ca just write “HUMMER” instead of Highly Mobile, Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. In this quiz, do you think you really know the military’s most common acronyms?

Even civilians know some of the military’s classic acronyms. Most people have a pretty good idea that AWOL and IED are generally pretty negative terms, ones that soldiers strive to avoid. But how about common acronyms like “FA” and “DS”? If you didn’t already know, they stand for “field artillery” and “drill sergeant,” respectively.

Sure, you already know your DOB (date of birth), because you needed it when you became “EN” (enlisted). But in in this quiz, we’ll find out if you really know your DFAC (dining facility) from your DEROS (date of estimated return from overseas). Take this tough military acronym quiz now!

What does AF stand for?
Air Force
Artillery Finder
Army Fun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It’s one of the simplest acronyms in the U.S. military. "AF" stands for Air Force.

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What does POW stand for?
Privates in War zones
Personal Vehicle
Prisoner of War
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Every battle features casualties, and that number includes soldiers captured by the enemy. They’ve now become POWs, or prisoners of war.

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What does CO stand for?
Colonel O’Brien
Commanding Officer
Corporal
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He is your god, your master and your guiding light. On the battlefield, your CO, or commanding officer, is who calls the shots that mean the difference between life and death.

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What does CAV stand for?
Commander of Air Vehicles
Cavalry
Coordinated Armored Vortices
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"CAV" is for cavalry. In the modern Army, the cavalry is armored vehicles like tanks.

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What does BCT stand for?
Bridge Combat Team
Border Patrol
Basic Combat Training
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

BCT is a rite of passage for all soldiers. It’s basic combat training, and it’s where you learn to stay alive when people are trying their best to put you six feet under.

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What does MIA stand for?
Missiles Incapable of Achieving Target
Morons Inside Afghanistan
Missing In Action
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

After battles, there are always MIAs. They are the soldiers who’ve gone missing in action ... and sometimes, they are never accounted for.

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What does AWOL stand for?
Arrested Without Love
Armed With Ordnance Launchers
Absent Without Official Leave
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If you just up and leave your unit without permission, you’re AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave). And when your CO finds you, you are in big, big trouble.

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What does FOB stand for?
Fun Off Base
Keychain
Forward Operating Base
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

For some soldiers the FOB is a terrifying ordeal. It’s the Forward Operating Base, the place where many troops go just before they enter combat.

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What does AB stand for?
After Bombardment
Air Force Bus
Air Base
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Aircraft might be the most important tools of modern warfare. And as such, your ABs, or air bases, are always vital.

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What does SOP stand for?
Standard Operating Procedure
Sliding Object Pliers
Sun-Oriented Plane
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Standard operation procedures (SOP) are the incredibly boring step-by-step tasks required by all service members. But without SOP, the military would be nothing but chaos.

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What does MOS stand for?
Military Occupational Specialty
Mine Sweepers
Meals On Saturday
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

After basic training, your superiors will identify your special talents, and you’ll be trained in an MOS, or Military Occupational Speciality. Yours is mopping.

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What does POV stand for?
Practical Operational Vector
Point of Departure
Privately Owned Vehicle
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It’s a privilege that many soldiers would kill to have — a POV, or privately owned vehicle. No, that tank does not count as a POV.

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What does PX stand for?
Prisoner Exterminator
Private First Class
Post Exchange
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Every base has a PX, or Post Exchange. It’s a store where soldiers can buy the things they need and maybe get a haircut, too.

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What does MP stand for?
Machine Gun Protocol
Mine Patrol
Military Police
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Because once in a while, soldiers go crazy. MPs are military police officers, and they maintain some semblance of order on base.

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What does A/C stand for?
Aft Gunner
Aircraft
Alternating Contols
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

No, it has nothing to do with air conditioning. In the service, "A/C" is aircraft.

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What does BRM stand for?
Boring Remedial Medical
Brigade Machine Gunners
Basic Rifle Marksmanship
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In BCT you’ll get your BRM — Basic Rifle Marksmanship. The lessons you learn in BRM will help your fireteam accomplish combat zone objectives.

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What does ASVAB stand for?
Army Vocational Services
Army Vacation in the Bahamas
Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The ASVAB is the famous Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery. It’s the test that will determine your path in the military, and whether you’ll be cannon fodder or an engineer.

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What does AD stand for?
Ammunition Destruction
Active Duty
Air Force Deputy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If you’re on AD, you’re on active duty. Active duty troops are those who are ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

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What does BDE stand for?
Brigade
Bomb Drop Express
Baghdad Destruction Equipment
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Brigades are one of the most common units for the Army. And "brigade" is often shortened to BDE.

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What does HALO stand for?
Hopeful Army Long-term Operations
High-Altitude Low-Opening
Perfect Angel Soldiers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It’s something that expert paratroops must master — the HALO jump. Soldiers leap from planes at high altitude, but they don’t open their ‘chutes until they are very close to the ground.

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What does HQ stand for?
Home-Defense Qualifications
Headquarters
Hostile Quarters
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If your general tells you to make it to HQ on the double, you’d best be racing back to headquarters. It’s where all the biggest decisions are made during war.

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What does COC stand for?
Chain Reaction Explosives
Captain of Confederacy
Chain of Command
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Without it, the military wouldn’t have any real order. It’s the COC, or the chain of command, and it’s why you’re a follower instead of a general.

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What does DOD stand for?
Department of Defense
Drop Off Duty
Dangling Detonators
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the armed services, the DOD is GOD. The Department of Defense is responsible for operating all branches of the military.

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What does SITREP stand for?
Situational Report
Satellite Rappeling
Soldier Report Cards
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A SITREP is a situational report. It’s a critical bit of paperwork that helps commanding officers make vital decisions.

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What does HE stand for?
Hand (Extra)
High Explosive
Heat Ordnance
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Why settle for normal bombs if you can choose the HE variety? Because everyone know the "high explosive" versions are way more fun.

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What does FTX stand for?
Formation Teamwork Fun
Field Training Exercises
Forward Team Deployment
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

At FTX (field training exercises), troops take their classroom skills to the field. If they haven’t learned their lessons, their COs will know in a hurry.

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What does EOD stand for?
Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Enlisted and/or Dead
End of Days
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It takes training and courage to be part of an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team. These men and women have nerves of steel.

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What does UXO stand for?
Unorignal Formation
Unexploded Ordnance
Unidentified Enemy Object
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It’s one of the legacies of many battles ... the UXO (unexploded ordnance) that litters the combat zone. Engineers are still finding and dismantling UXO from both World Wars.

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What does APFT stand for?
Army Poor Formation Training
Airbase Paratroopers Found Targets
Army Phyical Fitness Test
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Soldiers must pass the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) if they want to wield a rifle in combat. And if they don’t, well, have another doughnut!

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What does KIA stand for?
Klingons In Area
Kryptonite Inactive
Killed In Action
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It’s the ultimate sacrifice that a service member can make. KIA stands for Killed In Action.

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