Terms, Techniques, Tactics and Strategies

Fastroping. Fastroping is a technique of descending from a VTOL with a rope. One uses manual friction to control the descent.

Feint. A diversionary supporting attack conducted to draw the enemy's attention from the main effort. It is normally executed by brigades and small units. Feints are usually shallow, limited objective attacks that go in before or during the main attack.

Final Assault Point or FAP. The starting point for an assault team before the assault.

Fire Fight. An fire fight is an exchange of shots between individuals or groups. Most of the times the opponents are within visible range of each other. Fire fights ask special skills from the individual and from the group.

Foreign Internal Defence (FID). These are operations that involve participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization, to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency. Both conventional and SOF units have a role and capability to conduct FID missions.

Forward Mounting Base or FMB.

Glass House Drill. An exercise in which an assault team practices assaulting a target using tape on the floor to indicate the location of walls, doorways, furniture, etc. Glass house drills are done when an assault team doesn't have time to build a scale mock structure of the target.

Guerrilla Warfare. Military and paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held or hostile territory by irregular and predominantly indigenous forces.

Green. Nickname for the Special Forces field equipment. The name is chosen after the colour of the battle dress.

High Altitude Parachute Operations or HAPO. All high altitude parachute operations like High Altitude High Opening or HAHO and High Altitude Low Opening or HALO.

Head job. Slang term meaning to be shot in the head.

Helocasting.

Helorecovery.

High Altitude High Opening or HAHO. A parachute insertion technique used to thwart detection by hostile forces on the ground. Parachutists jump out at more than 6,000 metres feet, deploy their chutes, and quietly drift to the predetermined landing site 20 - 25 kilometres away downwind from where they initially jumped out of the plane. This technique can only be carried out by highly-trained parachutists who can navigate in the air.

High Altitude Low Opening or HALO. A parachute insertion technique in which the parachutist falls to at least 600 metres feet above the ground before deploying his parachute. HALO minimizes the time you spend floating down in your parachute, which is when you are most at risk from enemy observation and fire. High Altitude Low Opening or HALO jumping may not be as complicated as HAHO navigation, but it is no less dangerous.

High-Intensity Conflict. A war between two nations and their allies in which both belligerents use the most modern technology and all resources in intelligence, mobility, firepower (including NBC), command, communications and control, and service support.

Human Intelligence. Intelligence derived from information provided by human resources.

Indirect Approach. The Strategy of Indirect Approach is a strategy in which the enemy's political will is overcome by wisdom and not by force.

Infiltration. The movement through or into an area of territory occupied by either friendly or enemy troops or organizations. The movement is made either by small groups or by individuals, at extended or irregular intervals. When used in conjunction with the enemy, it implies that contact is avoided. Infiltration is a subset of insertion.

Insertion. Placement of troops and equipment into an operational area by any means.

Interdict. To isolate or seal off an area by military means; to prevent, hinder, or delay the use of an area or route by enemy forces.

Intelligence or INT. Information, the detailed data needed to execute an operation. It can come from many sources-informants, pinhole cameras, and tiny microphones that can be inserted through walls.

Interdict Line of Communications. An attack to seal off an area or to deny use of a route or approach.

Joint Task Force or JTF. A JTF may be constituted and designated a authorised politician, by the commander of a unified command, specified command, or an existing JTF. Normally, it performs missions having specific, limited objectives or missions of short duration. It dissolves when it has achieved its purpose. The joint task force commander is responsible to the commander, known as the establishing authority, who created the JTF. The JTF is composed of elements of two or more services operating under a single JTF commander. The JTF commander has operational control over the entire force and may have direct command of his own staff with representatives from the other services. He exercises logistics coordination or control only as necessary to meet his subordinate commanders' logistics needs.