How do they speak in NATO (Military Alphabet)?

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta…the international radio-telephony spelling alphabet, otherwise commonly referred to as the "military alphabets" is used by military and police personnel around the world. Code words are assigned English words in alphabetical order to help ensure that important transmissions between personnel are understood and clear, despite regional accents or radio interference. This ensures that some words that share phonetic similarities are expressed clearly, and not misunderstood, especially during a crucial military or police operation.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Although it is largely and easily understandable by native English speakers, the modern military alphabet is used in the United States and NATO countries, and has also gained popularity worldwide, especially in international interactions. The alphabet is normally used on request when two parties are involved in communication. For instance, an aircraft pilot may need to engage a marine operator in a radio conversation across a border. This crucial communication may be heard using the NATO military alphabet.

Official NATO Military Alphabet (Source: http://www.militaryalphabet.org)

Now here’s a fun challenge for real language and military enthusiasts, try creating a short story using the Military Alphabet.

Here is an example, courtesy of Frank Pierce:

Juliet loved Romeo, a Yankee alpha male. X-ray(s) were frequent because they drank whiskey while dancing the tango and foxtrot and playing golf. Being great dancers, they were often showered with “Bravo!” They stayed at hotel(s) in Quebec Canada, Delhi India, Sierra Nevada and Lima Peru in January; so Romeo became a papa to quadruplets in November. Charlie, Oscar, Victor and Mike were born with uniform weights of 3.4 kilo(s). During birth, Juliet’s screams were heard to echo all the way to a river delta in a Zulu African village.

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