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Quiz about United States Military WWII Phonetic Alphabet

United States Military WWII Phonetic Alphabet Quiz

The current NATO phonetic alphabet is quite different from the one used by U.S. Armed Forces in WWII and the Korean War. Those of "The Greatest Generation" will have no problems with this quiz! Source: "The Bluejackets Manual", 1944.

A multiple-choice quiz by froghair2. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
froghair2

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
339,099

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
883

Last 3 plays: tluvgrandpa (5/10), PurpleComet (5/10), Guest 211 (3/10).

Question 1 of 10

1. Let's start with an "easy" one. What was the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet word designation for the letter 'E'? Hint

Echo

Easy

Eden

Ebony

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Question 2 of 10

2. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'R'? Hint

Romeo

Roger

Rabbit

Raddish

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Question 3 of 10

3. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'Y'? Hint

Yoga

Yankee

Yoke

Yak

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Question 4 of 10

4. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'C'? Hint

Creek

Canal

Camelot

Charlie

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Question 5 of 10

5. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'J'? Hint

Juliett

Jig

Jade

Johah

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Question 6 of 10

6. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'F'? Hint

Foxtrot

Facade

Fiat

Fox

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Question 7 of 10

7. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'T'? Hint

Tango

Tare

Tulip

Tudor

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Question 8 of 10

8. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'V'? Hint

Vienna

Viola

Veto

Victor

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Question 9 of 10

9. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'S'? Hint

Sierra

Sugar

Seville

Sentry

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Question 10 of 10

10. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'Z'? Hint

Zulu

Zebra

Zambia

Zombie

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Most Recent Scores

Apr 13 2024 : tluvgrandpa: 5/10
Mar 05 2024 : PurpleComet: 5/10
Mar 03 2024 : Guest 211: 3/10
Feb 24 2024 : matthewpokemon: 10/10
Feb 22 2024 : Guest 94: 5/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Let's start with an "easy" one. What was the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet word designation for the letter 'E'?

Answer: Easy

Easy Company was featured in the popular TV series "Band of Brothers".

2. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'R'?

Answer: Roger

The word for 'R' in the NATO alphabet is Romeo. The word Roger is still used in radio communications to indicate that a message has been received and understood, or as a affirmative response.

3. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'Y'?

Answer: Yoke

Yoke was one of the many words that created confusion in NATO troops not familiar with the English language.

4. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'C'?

Answer: Charlie

'Charlie' was one of four U.S. WWII letter designations that were carried over into the NATO phonetic alphabet. 'Charlie' has a long history. It was used in WWI by the allied forces; the British R.A.F. in WWII; the U.S. Armed Forces in WWII; and the current NATO phonetic alphabet.

5. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'J'?

Answer: Jig

Jig was another word that was deemed unusable. Juliett was a far more familiar word for troops from non-English speaking countries. Note the French spelling of the word Juliett used by the ICAO.

6. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'F'?

Answer: Fox

It is interesting that the NATO phonetic alphabet word replacing 'Fox' is 'Foxtrot'. It does not appear to be much of a change.

7. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'T'?

Answer: Tare

The phonetic alphabet was adopted to avoid confusion in radio voice communications. Letters such as 'D' and 'T' or 'M' and 'N' were easily misinterpreted. Poor transmission of radio signals due to static, regional dialects and poor operator techniques were some of the reasons for phonetic alphabet use.

8. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'V'?

Answer: Victor

Victor was one of four letter designations carried over from the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet. They were Charlie, Mike, Victor and Xray.

9. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'S'?

Answer: Sugar

When spelling an unfamiliar word or proper noun using the phonetic alphabet in radio communications, it is always preceded with the pro word "I spell", then the word vis: Mike, India, November, November, Echo, Alfa, Papa, Oscar, Lima, India, Sugar (Minneapolis).

10. In the U.S. Armed Forces WWII phonetic alphabet, what was the word designation for the letter 'Z'?

Answer: Zebra

The use of the phonetic alphabet in military operations can prevent mistakes which could be catastrophic. The use of "pro words" is also required in the U.S. Military radio communications system. A classic example of the use of "pro words' is using the phrase "say again" in lieu of the word "repeat". 'Over' is a pro word as is 'Out' 'Over' means that you expect a response, and that the communication is not complete. 'Out' means that the message is complete and that you are terminating the dialog. "Over and Out" is a very common error in radio communication amongst uninformed users (and John Wayne).

It is contradictory.

Source: Author froghair2

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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