Rogue Forces

PATRICK S. MCLANAHAN, Lieutenant-General, USAF (ret.), partner and president, Scion Aviation International

KEVIN MARTINDALE, former president of the United States, silent owner of Scion Aviation International

JONATHAN COLIN MASTERS, Ph.D., chief of operations, Sky Masters Inc.

HUNTER NOBLE, VP of development, Sky Masters Inc.

JOSEPH GARDNER, president of the United States

KENNETH T. PHOENIX, vice president

CONRAD F. CARLYLE, national security adviser

MILLER H. TURNER, secretary of defense

WALTER KORDUS, White House chief of staff

STACY ANNE BARBEAU, secretary of state

U.S. MARINE CORPS GENERAL TAYLOR J. BAIN, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

U.S. ARMY MAJOR-GENERAL CHARLES CONNOLLY, division commander, northern Iraq

U.S. ARMY COLONEL JACK T. WILHELM, executive officer, Second Regiment, Allied Air Base Nahla, Iraq

ARMY LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARK WEATHERLY, regimental executive officer

ARMY MAJOR KENNETH BRUNO, regimental operations officer

USAF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL GIA “BOXER” CAZZOTTO, commander, Seventh Air Expeditionary Squadron

KRIS THOMPSON, president and CEO of Thompson Security, private security company at Allied Air Base Nahla, Iraq

FRANK BEXAR, privately contracted intelligence officer

CAPTAIN KELVIN COTTER, USAF, deputy regimental air traffic management officer

MARGARET HARRISON, privately contracted UAV director

REESE FLIPPIN, privately contracted weather officer

KURZAT HIRSIZ, president of the Republic of Turkey

AYSE AKAS, prime minister of the Republic of Turkey

HASAN CIZEK, minister of national defense, Republic of Turkey

GENERAL ORHAN SAHIN, secretary-general, Turkish National Security Council

MUSTAFA HAMARAT, Turkish foreign minister

FEVSI GUCLU, director, National Intelligence Organization

GENERAL ABDULLAH GUZLEV, chief of staff of the military of the Republic of Turkey

GENERAL AYDIN DEDE, replacement military chief of staff

MAJOR AYDIN SABASTI, liaison officer to U.S. Second Regiment at Allied Air Base Nahla, Iraq

MAJOR HAMID JABBURI, deputy liaison officer

GENERAL BESIR OZEK, commander, Jandarma (Turkish national internal security forces)

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GUVEN ILGAZ, deputy commander, Jandarma

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL MUSTAFA ALI, replacement Jandarma commander

ALI LATIF RASHID, president of the Republic of Iraq

COLONEL YUSUF JAFFAR, commander, Allied Air Base Nahla, Tall Kayf, Iraq

MAJOR JAAFAR OTHMAN, Iraqi Maqbara (tomb) Company, Seventh Brigade commander

COLONEL NOURI MAWLOUD, liaison officer to Second Regiment

ZILAR “BAZ” (HAWK) AZZAWI, Iraqi PKK rebel leader

SADOON SALIH, Azzawi’s assistant squad leader

AMARG—Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (the “Boneyard”), a U.S. Air Force facility near Tucson, Arizona, that stores, dismantles, and recovers parts from out-of-service aircraft

AOR—Area of Responsibility

AQI—Al-Qaeda in Iraq, an Iraqi offshoot of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization

“battle rattle”—personal equipment necessary for combat operations

bullseye—a designated point from which range and bearing information to an objective can be transmitted on open frequencies without revealing one’s own location

C4I—Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence

Çancaya—the seat of government of the Republic of Turkey

CHU—Containerized Housing Unit, a mobile living space resembling a cargo container used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq

CHUville—an area of a large number of CHUs

DFAC—Dining Facility

ECM—Electronic Countermeasures

EO—Electro-Optical, sensors that can electronically distribute or enhance optical images

FAA—Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. aviation regulatory agency

FOB—Forward Operating Base, a military base close to or in enemy territory

Fobbits—slang for staff and support personnel

Fobbitville—slang for the headquarters building

FPCON—Force Protection Condition, a rating of the enemy or terrorist threat level for a military installation (formerly THREATCON)

GP—Geneal Purpose (gravity bomb or vehicle)

IA—Iraqi Army

IED—Improvised Explosive Device

IIR—Imaging Infrared, a heat sensor with enough resolution to form images

ILS—Instrument Landing System, a radio beam system that can guide aircraft to land in severe weather conditions

IM—Instant Messaging, transmitting text messages between computers

IR—Infrared

Klicks—kilometers

KRG—Kurdistan Regional Government, the political organization that administers the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq

LLTV—Low-Light TV

LRU—Line Replaceable Units, components of aircraft systems that can be easily removed and replaced on the flight line if it malfunctions

Mahdis—slang term for any foreign fighter

Mission-adaptive technology—system of automatically shaping aircraft surfaces to allow greater flight control capabilities