Organizations and Markets

Stop Using Military Buzzwords Too

5 July 2008 at 4:54 pm Dick Langlois 3 comments

| Dick Langlois |

It seems that, like the British Local Government Association, the US military is keen to get its people to stop using buzzwords, at least according to this February 2007 “Army Doctrine Update” I happened to see posted on a bulletin board in the Brazilian military academy where the Schumpeter Society Conference was meeting. Here are some highlights.

• Know the difference between maneuver and movement (we don’t maneuver networks; we move them).
• Battlespace is no longer a joint or Army term. Use “operational environment.”
• Use “civil considerations” (the C in METT-TC), not “human terrain.”
• Don’t use “red zone” at all; the term is “close combat.”
• Do not use “kinetic” and “nonkinetic” to describe operations, actions, activities, tasks, or targets. Use “lethal” and “nonlethal.”

 Or perhaps the point is that they want people to use the right buzzwords.

Entry filed under: - Langlois -, Ephemera, Jargon Watch. Tags: Add new tag.