The military alphabet, or more properly the phonetic alphabet, exists in innumerable variants.
If any one variant can be viewed as “most correct”, it is the current NATO standard military alphabet.
However, even in the NATO standard military alphabet, numerous spelling variations are known to exist.
This version of the military alphabet is also known as the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) code.
Variations of the Military Alphabet
This chart shows the NATO standard military alphabet along with:
- A military alphabet used by the U.S. Navy before 1954
- The military alphabet used by the U.S. Army in 1916
- The commercial Western Union phonetic alphabet
| Letter | NATO | U.S. Navy (Pre-1954) | U.S. Army (1916) | Western Union |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alpha | Able | Able | Adams |
| B | Bravo | Baker | Buy | Boston |
| C | Charlie | Charlie | Cast | Chicago |
| D | Delta | Dog | Dock | Denver |
| E | Echo | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| F | Foxtrot | Fox | Fox | Frank |
| G | Golf | George | George | George |
| H | Hotel | How | Have | Henry |
| I | India | Item | Item | Ida |
| J | Juliet | Jig | Jig | John |
| K | Kilo | King | King | King |
| L | Lima | Love | Love | Lincoln |
| M | Mike | Mike | Mike | Mary |
| N | November | Nan | Nap | New York |
| O | Oscar | Oboe | Opal | Ocean |
| P | Papa | Peter | Pup | Peter |
| Q | Quebec | Queen | Quack | Queen |
| R | Romeo | Roger | Rush | Roger |
| S | Sierra | Sugar | Sail | Sugar |
| T | Tango | Tare | Tape | Thomas |
| U | Uniform | Uncle | Unit | Union |
| V | Victor | Victor | Vice | Victor |
| W | Whiskey | William | Watch | William |
| X | Xray | X-ray | X-ray | X-ray |
| Y | Yankee | Yoke | Yoke | Young |
| Z | Zulu | Zebra | Zed | Zero |
Example Usage of the Military Alphabet
Using the military alphabet to spell out “FortLiberty, we would say:
Foxtrot, Oscar, Romeo, Tango, Lima, India, Bravo, Echo, Romeo, Tango, Yankee
Military Alphabet Pronounciation Guide
The following military alphabet pronounciation guide is excerpted from FM 24-19: Radio Operators Handbook.
| Letter | Pronounciation |
|---|---|
| A | AL FAH |
| B | BRAH VOH |
| C | CHAR LEE |
| D | DELL TAH |
| E | ECK OH |
| F | FOKS TROT |
| G | GOLF |
| H | HOH TELL |
| I | IN DEE AH |
| J | JEW LEE ETT |
| K | KEY LOH |
| L | LEE MAH |
| M | MIKE |
| N | NO VEM BER |
| O | OSS CAH |
| P | PAH PAH |
| Q | KEH BECK |
| R | ROW ME OH |
| S | SEE AIR RAH |
| T | TANG GO |
| U | YOU NEE FORM |
| V | VIK TAH |
| W | WISS KEY |
| X | ECKS RAY |
| Y | YANG KEY |
| Z | ZOO LOO |
The Numeric Military Alphabet
There is also a military “alphabet” for numbers, which is mainly a pronounciation guide.
| Number | Pronounciation |
|---|---|
| 0 | Zeero |
| 1 | Wun |
| 2 | Too |
| 3 | Tree |
| 4 | Fow-er |
| 5 | Fife |
| 6 | Siks |
| 7 | Seven |
| 8 | Ait |
| 9 | Nine |