JARHEDJON

This is the LOG of a MARINE

Friday, February 10, 2006

SWAG

The US DoD is known for acronyms, some of them useful, but admittedly there are simply just too many of them. Additionally, military personnel use a slang word (or multiple slang words) which mean something else, and these are often turned into acronyms, combinations of words, etc. An example would be the many ways Marines refer to information related to their projected (often officially confirmed, which confirmation is generally not credible) deployment date. This information may be referred to as: "the word," "scuttlebutt" (which also means "drinking fountain," for an associated reason), "RUMINT" (a combination of "rumor" and "intelligence"), "gouge," "noise," "scoop," and "SWAG" (acronym derived from Silly Wild Army Guess, though if one is a soldier and not a Marine, the A is usually the colloquial word for donkey).
All this to say, the latest SWAG on my departure is that I need to muster at my unit at 1200 on February 17th. This muster time is approximately 32 hours later than the previous SWAG, which is a good thing (in my opinion).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

1 Comments:

Blogger Sonny Portacio said...

Jon,

Praise that you'll be "boots on the ground" in the US for 1 more day!

Another use of the acronym SWAG is "Stuff We All Get" as in geocaching goodies found in a cache.

You're a great, descriptive writer Jon. I enjoy reading your reflections and perspectives!

Sonny

12:23 PM  

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