SALUTE report

Definition

A standardized enemy contact report covering Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, and Equipment. The military's way of ensuring that even panic follows a proper format.

Example Usage

Give me a SALUTE report: How many enemy, what are they doing, and what are they carrying?

Origin

Mnemonic device developed to standardize tactical reporting, widely adopted by NATO forces

Fun Fact

The acronym is deliberately easy to remember because soldiers under fire tend to forget things—except apparently six-letter acronyms.

Source: Standard reconnaissance and patrol reporting procedures

Related Terms

Advanced

ROE

Rules of Engagement — the guidelines dictating when and how force can be used. They are the terms and conditions of warfare that people actually have to read. Written by lawyers, followed by soldiers, and questioned by everyone in between.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Intermediate

red card

A card carried by troops listing restrictions on rules of engagement, often limiting when they can fire. The military equivalent of your mom saying 'don't start fights' before sending you to school.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Beginner

pha

Periodic Health Assessment—a mandatory annual health screening for service members. A bureaucratic checkbox that occasionally catches real medical issues but mostly confirms you're still breathing.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Beginner

indirect fire

Shooting at enemies you can't actually see by lobbing projectiles over obstacles using math and hope, unlike direct fire where you at least get to aim at your target. Artillery, mortars, and your drunk uncle tossing horseshoes all use indirect fire.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Advanced

BOMICA

Military acronym for "Bend Over Manchu, Here It Comes Again"—a variation of BOHICA used by U.S. soldiers stationed at Camp Hovey in Korea. Refers to the special kind of repetitive misery that comes with military assignments, now with geographically-specific flavor.

🎖️ Military / Defense

Intermediate

blue on blue

A polite military euphemism for when your own forces accidentally shoot at each other, because apparently 'we screwed up catastrophically' doesn't sound professional enough in an after-action report. The color coding refers to NATO's system where friendly forces are marked in blue on tactical maps.

🎖️ Military / Defense

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omgicfbi

Oh my god I can't f**king believe it...