![]() By substituting code words for the letters, one can ensure that the letters are clearly understood even when speech is distorted or difficult to hear. A spelling alphabet is used to spell parts of a message that contain letters to avoid confusion, because many letters sound similar. Spelling alphabets are used by airline pilots, police, members of the military, and other officials when communicating over radio or telephone. As it was NATO Allies who had spearheaded the final revision, it became known from that point on as the NATO Alphabet.NATO Spelling Alphabet The (International) Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, NATO spelling alphabet, ICAO phonetic alphabet, or ICAO spelling alphabet, is the most widely used radiotelephone spelling alphabet. The ITU formally adopted it a few years later making it the established universal phonetic alphabet governing all military, civilian and amateur radio communications. The NATO phonetic alphabet or spelling for radiotelephony consists of the assigning of a word easily identified with each letter, with the purpose of. On 21 February 1956, Member States were advised “that the new Phonetic Alphabet is to be made effective in NATO 1 March 1956” (see declassified document from the NATO Archives: SGM-0156-56). Luckily this situation did not last for long as the ICAO approved the alphabet, with November as the code word for the letter N. On 8 April 1955, the North Atlantic Military Committee Standing Group advised that whether or not the proposal was approved by the IACO, the alphabet would “be adopted and made effective for NATO use on 1 January 1956” (see declassified document from the NATO Archives: SGM-0217-55).Īllies hesitated to adopt the alphabet for national use until the ICAO ruled on the proposal thus creating a rather odd situation in which NATO Military Commands would be the sole users of the proposed phonetic alphabet. In 1957, the United States military and NATO both adopted the alphabet, known as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or the NATO Phonetic. A review of the Able Baker alphabet, spearheaded by NATO Allies US and UK, was conducted.Ī proposal changing the words for the letters C, M, N, U, and X only was submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization (IACO) although debate continued over the code word for the letter N (Nectar versus November) (see declassified document from the NATO Archives: SGWM-762-54). It requires words to be spelled out by their letters for example, arm becomes Alpha Romeo Mike. What Is Military Alphabet The full Able Baker Phonetic Alphabet Military are comprised of 26 code for each of the 26 typical Latin alphabets. It is similar to the one used today.Īlfa, Bravo, Coca, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Gold, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Metro, Nectar, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Union, Victor, Whiskey, eXtra, Yankee, ZuluĪs militaries and NATO continued to follow the Able Baker phonetic alphabet, it was clear the need for a universal phonetic alphabet still remained. It has another name the radiotelephony spelling alphabet. The Military of the United States is currently adjusting NATO phonetic alphabet system that’s also recognized International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (IRSA). A new version incorporating sounds common to English, French, and Spanish was proposed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and came into effect on 1 November 1951 for civil aviation only. Two years later, the British Royal Air Force decided to use the Able Baker alphabet as well.Īble, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-ray, Yoke, ZebraĪ common criticism of these alphabets was that they were rather English in composition. On the military side, the United States adopted a Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet, called the Able Baker alphabet after the first two code words, across all of its military branches in 1941. It featured names of cities across the globe.Īmsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca, Denmark, Edison, Florida, Gallipoli, Havana, Italia, Jerusalem, Kilogramme, Liverpool, Madagascar, New York, Oslo, Paris, Quebec, Roma, Santiago, Tripoli, Uppsala, Valencia, Washington, Xanthippe, Yokohama, Zurich. In the 1920s, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) produced the first phonetic alphabet to be recognized internationally. The International Radio-telephony Spelling Alphabet, also known as the phonetic alphabet is the most common spelling alphabet used for voice messaging. However, it took several adaptations before the version used today came into effect. The NATO phonetic alphabet became effective in 1956 and just a few years later became the established universal phonetic alphabet. ![]()
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