What phonetic alphabet does the US military use?
Daniel Johnson
Published Feb 22, 2026
What phonetic alphabet does the US military use?
International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
The Military Phonetic Alphabet was finalized in 1957, and is officially called the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (IRSA). This alphabet, developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is used by both the United States and NATO.
What is the military phonetic code?
The phonetic alphabet is often used by military and civilians to communicate error-free spelling or messages over the phone. For example, Alpha for “A”, Bravo for “B”, and Charlie for “C”….The Military Alphabet.
| Character | Code Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A | Alpha | AL fah |
| B | Bravo | BRAH voh |
| C | Charlie | CHAR lee |
| D | Delta | DEL tah |
What is the military alphabet A to Z?
NATO Phonetic Alphabet
| Symbol | Code Word | Phonic (pronunciation) |
|---|---|---|
| W | Whiskey | WISS KEY |
| X | X-ray | ECKS RAY |
| Y | Yankee | YANG KEY |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO LOO |
Why does the military use the phonetic alphabet?
The phonetic alphabet is a special alphabet used by the US Army, and other Military branches. The main purpose of the phonetic alphabet is to provide a clearer way of spelling out words, or using any letters or numbers in general, over a radio or other communications device.
What are the military words for letters?
The 26 code words are as follows: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
Why military say Niner?
Why does the military say, ‘Niner’? “Niner” is how 9 is said as part of a phonetic alphabet. This is similar to how one might say “Bravo” for B. “Niner” was chosen especially for Civil Aviation as to help differentiate it from the German “Nein,” meaning “No”.
What are the military alphabet words?
What are some military sayings?
Here are 15 phrases that jumped from the military ranks to the civilian sphere.
- “Balls to the wall” (also, “Going balls out”) Meaning: To go as fast as one possibly can.
- “Bite the bullet”
- “Boots on the ground”
- “Bought the farm”
- “Caught a lot of flak”
- “FUBAR”/”SNAFU”/”TARFU”
- Geronimo.
- “Got your six”
What does Bravo Tango mean?
brain training
That thinking led to them engaging XAPPmedia to design and build the new Google Assistant app called Bravo Tango, a military-inspired abbreviation for “brain training.” It is developed to help soldiers returning from combat in their ongoing efforts to readjust to civilian society.
