Optical Landing System. See "Mirror".

A "blackshoe" is anyone in the Navy, other than aviators. Black shoes are standard Navy uniform. Aviators, however, wear brown shoes. Two worlds with an uneasy truce. In this forum "bro [..]

The naval aviator's everyday khaki uniform hat, known in official parlance as a "fore-and-aft cap". No one who wears it calls it anything but a pisscutter. (Here's fighter [..]

In Navy talk, adjacent to, not fore or aft, but toward your 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock.. The car that's doorhandle to doorhandle with you on the freeway is abeam. As in, "Damn, honey! [..]

"All-weather Carrier Landing System." A system that uses automated radio inputs from the ship to control stick and throttle on an aircraft's final approach to a carrier landing. The pil [..]

Uh... That's the back end of the boat. Or, adverbially, toward the back of anything. For example, "Sweetheart, has your aft section spread just a bit lately?"

The Commander in charge of the carrier's flight pattern and flight deck. This is no desk job. During flight operations the Air Boss is located in the tower in the carrier's "island,&quo [..]

The aviation squadrons and aircraft aboard a carrier (except for the rescue helos). The air wing is under the command of "CAG" (once "Commander, Air Group" - but now "Commande [..]

A major, supposedly coordinated, air-to-ground strike, involving much of the air wing (see above), perhaps 50 aircraft or more. Getting all those aircraft "rendezvous'ed" and on their w [..]

Sure, we love this old Navy ceremonial march, but what's it doing here? First of all, it's the tune every Navy man (and others) hears whenever the ship leaves home port, so it's a part [..]