ASA, SIT, & Other Strange Definitions Used On This Site
1st Sergeant (also First Sergeant, 1st Shirt, Top): The senior NCO (Non-commissioned Officer) in a Company, Battery or Troop. Originally just a position, but in latter years an actual rank also. A diamond shape in the center of Master Sergeant Rank Insignia designated/s the position and rank. Works directly for the unit commander. In charge of the unit orderly room and unit administration, oversees much of the unit's day to day operations, conduct and procedures.
ASA (USASA): Army Security Agency (United States Army Security Agency). 1945 - 1976.
Bearing/Shot: See LOB.
CO/XO: Commanding Officer/Executive Officer.
CQ: Charge of Quarters. In Army Companies/Batteries/Troops the CQ is a rotating roster duty to maintain the unit's Orderly Room (Company Headquarters) during non normal duty hours. Phone contact, fire watch, sign-in/out book and similar duties that are ongoing in the military. The other services have similar duty positions but may call it by a different title/designation.
Det: Detachment. Most often used terminology to organizationally describe and designate the small military organization performing remote site radio direction finding operations in the ASA. Size depended on the circumstances, equipment used, and mission. Could range anywhere from 8/10 to 25 people or so.
DF/RDF/HFDF/ARDF: Direction Finding/Radio Direction Finding/High Frequency (Radio) Direction Finding/Airborne Radio Direction Finding.
Duffy: Slang expression for Direction Finding Operators/MOS. Use seems to have sprung from G Division at USASATC&S and the Far East. (I was a 056/4/D for ten/fifteen years before I can recall hearing the term.)
Fix/Plot: Determining the location of a radio emitter by triangulation and evaluation of LOB (on appropriate maps/charts) received from several radio direction finding sties.
Flash:
INSCOM (USINSCOM): Intelligence & Security Command (United States Army Intelligence & Security Command). Replacement organization of the ASA. Formed 1977 using ASA elements and other intelligence elements of the US Army.
LOB: Line of Bearing. Azimuth bearing from a direction finding site to a distant target radio signal emitter. (Example: 048 degrees from True North)
MOS: Military Occupational Specialty. Some of the MOS applied solely in the ASA:
- 054/05D - SIT/AIT Operations Specialty Field
- 055/05G - COMSEC (Communications Security) Field
- 056/05D - DF Operator
- 057/05D - RFP Operator/Analyst - Later folded into 05D MOS
- 058/05H - Manual Morse Intercept Operator
- 059/05K - Radio Teletype Intercept Operator
- 982/98C - SIGINT Traffic Analyst
- 986 -
- 98Z -
Morning Report: The Army's daily head count of all present for duty, away from duty for various reasons such as; leave (vacation), TDY (temporary duty elsewhere), in hospitable and so forth. Report also assigned strength counts by Officer, Enlisted. Use to be a paper report from the Company level. Probably electronic now. The other services have similar reporting but may be named differently. Hell, the Army may call it something different by now.
NCOIC: Non-Commissioned Officer In-Charge.
NCS: Net Control Station. The control or senior station in a radio communications net or network. In the same vein "Out Stations" were/are the subordinate station in the radio communications network. Also, in ASA DF Operations the NCS was the senior controlling "Flash" station in the DF Net.
NSA: National Security Agency
Orderly Room: In the Army it is the Company/Battery/Troop administrative office overseen by the First Sergeant and mostly referred to as the Orderly Room when the unit is in garrison. The Orderly Room also includes the Commanding Officer's office and usually also the XO's office. In addition the Supply Room is often located in the same area or building. In the field it "Orderly Room" (or the function may be a better term) is most often referred to as the CP or Company Command Post.
RFP/AIT: Radio Fingerprinting/Advanced Identification Techniques. The technique of identifying specific radio emitters by their unique signal characteristics. Very similar in concept to fingerprinting individuals.
SIT/AIT: Special Identification Techniques/Advanced Identification Techniques
Site: Has the common dictionary meaning - location of the equipment and facilities - but also is used often to refer to the military organizational section performing the particular DF mission. The word "Det" often used interchangeability in the same way.