A List of abbreviations used in the RAFAC Organisation
AAFC - Australian Air Force Cadets (RAAF)
ACF - Army Cadet Force
ACO - Air Cadet Organisation - now defunct, but may well still be seen in places
ACLC - Air Cadet Leadership Course
ACLO - Air Cadet Liaison Officer
ACP - Air Cadet Publication
air cdre - air commodore
ALARP - As low as reasonably practicable
AO - Admin Order
AP - Air Publication
APO - acting pilot officer [RAFAC & RAFVR(UAS)]
ACTO - Air Cadet Training Order
ACATI - Air Cadet Adventure Training Instruction
ACFTI - Air Cadet Fieldcraft Traning Instruction
ACPEDTI - Air Cadet Physical Education Training Instuction
ACRoMaTI - Air Cadet Road Marching Training Instruction
AEF - Air Experience Flight (or Air Experience Flying)
AFA - Activity First Aid
AFI - Annual Formal Inspection
ARD - Ancillary range duty
ATC - Air Traffic Control / Air Training Corps
BEL - Basic Expedition Leader
BPSS - Baseline Personnel Security Standard
CCF - Combined Cadet Force
cdt - cadet
CFAV - Cadet Force Adult Volunteer
cdt FS - cadet flight sergeant
CFS - Central Flying School / cadet flight sergeant
CI - Civilian Instructor
cpl - corporal
CTC - Counter Terrorism Check
CWA - Climbing Wall Award
CWAA - Climbing Wall Absail Award
CWLA- Climbing Wall Leading Award
CWO - cadet warrant officer
DBS - Disclosure and Barring Service
DE - Defence estate
DIO - Defence Infrastructure Organisation
DS - Directing Staff
DTEE - Defence Training & Evaluation Estate
ELA - Entry Level Award (Health and Safety)
flt lt - flight lieutenant
fg off - flying officer
FS - flight sergeant
FSC - Flight Staff Cadet
FOD - Foreign Object Debris/Damage
FTS - Flying Training School
gp capt - group captain
HKACC - Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps
HML - Hill and Mooreland Leader
HS&E - Health, Safety and Environment
HQAC - Headquarters Air Cadets
IACE - International Air Cadet Exchange
IBN - Internal Briefing Note
IC - In Charge/In Command
IWT - Initial Weapons Training
JI - Joining Instructions
JL - Junior Leader(s)
JSP - Joint Service Publication
LCpl - Lance Corporal
LLA - Lowland Leader Award
MAcr - master aircrew
ML - Mountain Leader
NIBAS - National Indoor Bouldering Award Scheme
NICAS - National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme
NNAS - National Navigation Award Scheme
NZATC - New Zealand Air Training Corps
OC - Officer Commanding
PiPE - Participation in a Public Event
plt off - pilot officer
PME - Public Military Event
QAIC - Qualified Aerospace Instructor Course
RA - Risk Assessment
RAMS - Risk Assessment & Method Statement
RAF - Royal Air Force
RAFA - Royal Air Forcesâ Association
RAFAC - Royal Air Force Air Cadets (term replaces ACO)
RAFBF - Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund
RAFC - Royal Air Force College (Cranwell)
RAFFT - Royal Air Force Fitness Test
RAFR - Royal Air Force Reserve
RAFVR(T) - Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training) - now reduced in size
RAuxAF - Royal Auxiliary Air Force
RCAC - Royal Canadian Air Cadets
RCO - Range Conducting Officer
RFCA - Reserve Forces and Cadets Association
RPAS - Remotely Piloted Aircraft System
RSD - Range Safety Document
SAAI - Skill-at-arms instructor
SC - Security Check / Staff Cadet
SCC - Sea Cadet Corps
sgt - sergeant
SLG - Self-Launching Glider
SME - Subject Matter Expert
SPA - Single Pitch Award
SQEP - Suitably-qualified and experienced person
sqn - squadron
sqn ldr - squadron leader
SWO - Station Warrant Officer
UAS - Uncrewed Aerial System / University Air Squadron
VGS - Volunteer Gliding Squadron
WATTO - Wing Adventure Training Technical Officer
wg cdr - wing commander
WHT - Weapons Handling Test
WI - Weapons instructor
WO - warrant officer
WSO - Wing Staff Officer
Hmm⌠I know that nobody ever listens to me when I say this; but, strictly-speaking:
an acronym is âan abbreviation or initialism pronounced as a spoken wordâ
SoâŚexamples such as RAF, UAS, IMC, BBC, CIA, ATC are actually ââThree Letter Abbreviationsââ (or âinitialismsâ)⌠but they most-certainly are NOT acronyms, because we donât pronounce them as whole wordsâŚespecially âR.A.Fâ, butâŚI do hear more and more people use the abbreviation/initials âR.A.F.A.Câ as a spoken acronym âRAf-Akâ, which is certainly easier to say, but might not be officially-approved (educate me on the formal policy, if published).
Iâm just saying this, because thereâs a tendency across the military to (wrongly) call ALL abbreviations/initialisms âacronymsâ even when theyâre not pronounced as words. This defective briefing is particularly-prevalent throughout the RAF Regt (Iâm sorry, but it is).
True acronyms include NATO, Scuba, Laser, SAMâŚ
(ps apologies if I sound pedantic- itâs just that I think thereâs a relevant/valid distinction between the different terms, and we are a training organisation)
Of course, whilst âTLAâ is, strictly, an initialism; it is correctly used to describe three letter acronyms such as âFODâ, âPINâ, âCACâ (Though we know he doesnât like that one any more), &câŚ
CFLA - Confusing Four Letter Acronym
CUFLA - Confusingly useless Five Letter Acronym
ERCSLA - Extremely Rare & Confusing Six Letter Acronym
WWYUSLA - Why Would You Use Seven Letter Acronyms
You really mean with your invention âCFLA- Confusing Four Letter AbbreviationââŚunless you genuinely verbalise it as a single word, sounding like ssiflaah, making it a true acronym.
Acronyms are abbreviations spoken as single words: such as NATO, NASA, SAM, LASERâŚ
(whereas abbreviations such as RAF, BBC, AEF are pronounced as the individuals letters, and hence are not acronyms (theyâre actually initialisms, but we call them abbreviations).
Anyway: this is an extremely-useful quite up-to-date list of RAF-relevant abbreviations & acronyms, that everyone in RAFAC either does know, or should know.
ps just whilst Iâm ranting-on about thisâŚabbreviations such as Dr for Doctor, or Bucks for Buckinghamshire, or St for Street are actually contractionsâŚbut we also call them abbreviations (and definitely not acronyms!)
You know this is something they should give to every new staff member back when i joined having something like this would have helped alot as they do love their acronyms in this organisation.
Yes they are: but importantly, not all abbreviations are acronyms! Only abbreviatons (or compounds) that are pronouncable as spoken words can properly be called acronyms.
People sometimes seem to think the terms âabbreviationâ and âacronymâ are fully-equivalent, but they are not. Itâs helpful (especially for brand-new Cadets) to emphasise the difference during initial training.
UNDECIDED FOR CATEGORY:
WellâŚRAFACâŚwhatâs the official situation with this abbreviation? Do we pronounce it as a follow-on from R.A.F? To say each letter as R.A.F.A.C? Or do we acronym it into being a singular âwordâ as in âRAFACâ (âRafakkâ). This is a sensitive and unclarified matterâŚ
The RAF of the late 1970s/early 1980s had no problem teaching people the difference (at No1 School of Recruit Training, RAF Swinderby), but maybe telling airmen & airwomen âSLR, LMG, SACâŚthese are abbreviations/initialismsââŚâwhereas NATO, SHAPE, UKADGE, TACEVAL are all acronymsâ was in a simpler and more-exact era.
