Titles and Acronyms old and new

[Finningley Boy]

Hi all,

Once again I've come across another interminable service Acronym. STO, the example is an RAF Wing Commander accompanying the Geilenkirchen CO, greeting 92 Sqn pilots on arrival, December 1965.

FB

[longer ron]

Senior Technical Officer ?

[Tartiflette Fan]

Hi all,

Once again I've come across another interminable service Acronym. STO,
FB

Seems rather short to be interminable :bored:

[Old-Duffer]

In this day and age the STO would probably translate to "Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff Logistics" ie ADCSL or somesuch!
Old Duffer

[teeteringhead]

In this day and age the STO would probably translate to "Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff Logistics" ie ADCSL or somesuch! When one was in Whitehall some years ago, one had many dealings with PSO to ACAS (sorry! Personal Staff Officer to the Assistant Chief of Air Staff).

Borrowing a phrase from Flanders and Swann (Eating People is Wrong) I always called him "Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief". Don't think he was amused........

[Ninthace]

I have a friend who was an MSO. Medical Services Officer, aka Pox Doctor's Clerk.

[Barksdale Boy]

Ninthace
Presumably an Australian?

[sunnybunny]

When I was in the navy I met someone who arranged (made it up?) his job title to be

electrical installation engineering information officer.

so he could say in meetings I’m eieio 😎

[skua]

Well in a quasi-military context (the Maquis) ,in the books I am reading, it stands for Service de Travail Obligatoire (Forced Labour). Which I am guessing is not appropriate here!

[Mogwi]

Mogwi senior used to do his RNR annual training interpreting aerial photos at JHQ Rheindahlen many decades ago; he called himself SNOG (Senior Naval Officer (Germany)).

[langleybaston]

Mogwi senior used to do his RNR annual training interpreting aerial photos at JHQ Rheindahlen many decades ago; he called himself SNOG (Senior Naval Officer (Germany)).

Very rare beasts at JHQ ............... the sight of a RN officer made the more uncouth people stop and stare. I personally never had dealings with one in a total of about 13 years in RAFG, all but three at JHQ,

[MPN11]

STO was Survival to Operate … at least it was in the 90s when I was Wg Cdr STO in the Deputy Directorate of War Plans and Policy (WPP) in the Air Force Department (AFD) at the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Then the Warsaw Pact (WP) and Soviet Union collapsed, and we were disestablished with on-going work passed to Strike Command (STC) where I suspect it largely withered on the vine.

Falklands 1983 had the SS Rangatira moored in Stanley harbour for accommodation purposes, with a Naval Lt as the military “OC”. We sailed down on the SS Uganda together, and as the Senior Naval Officer on the Rangatira we RAF types awarded him the informal title of SNOTRAG.

[Ninthace]

Ninthace
Presumably an Australian?
No, on more formal occasions I referred to him as the Pox Doctor's Quill Bearer. Someone had to keep the medics paperwork straight and for some reason there was not only an RAF trade for it but they even had their own officer corps. I used to wind him up further by using my academic title. We are still mates to this day, so he took it well.

[bspatz]

I recall many years ago at RAF Leconfield the Senior Medical Officer (SMO)phoning into the station and asking to be put through to sick quarters only to be told by the operator (no direct dial in those days) that it was now the Regional Medical Centre. She then enquired who she should say was calling and the SMO responded said that he supposed they better say it was the Senior Regional Medical Officer

[oxenos]

someone who arranged (made it up?) his job title

When I had dealings with the R.N. I was told of an officer who was given the task of trying to persuade ratings to sign on again when thir time was up.
He declared his job title to be"re-employment of manpower for further term" ROMFT for short.
To every matelot ROMFT stood for " Roll on my F-ing Time"

[dervish]

I think the navy had Supply and Transport Officers, but they put (N) at the end.

[Finningley Boy]

Seems rather short to be interminable :bored:
Interminable Sir because I couldn't put together an answer which I recognised, and I spent a long time trying to find the answer. Therefore, to me it was a conundrum!:)

FB

[Finningley Boy]

Senior Technical Officer ?
That's what I thought.

FB

[Old Bricks]

Mogwi
In days of yore in Berlin at 26SU we had 2 RN CSOs (something to do with comms), one at Gatow and the other on Teufelsburg, who were known, as the only RN staff in Berlin, as SNOG and SNOT......

[The laconic atco]

Re EIEIO

At LATCC the above acronym stood for the External Interference Engineering Investigations Officer.

[cynicalint]

TLAs are SOP in the RAF TFN. STN CDRs are to see FLTs and SQNs RTN FOBs to SHQs ASAP. SSO and SRO to be updated WIE, APs UDATE TBD.

[stevef]

I don't know if this has leaked into the RAF from the civil side yet but a term for a 'less than popular or useless' colleague is Leatherman.
(Complete tool). :E

[albatross]

WW2 ….there was a RCN officer at Goose Bay Airport, Labrador, Newfoundland ( Still a British Colony at the time ) on the ferry route to Europe who co-ordinated shipping and convoys delivering vital supplies to build and supply the base.
SNOGOOSE.

[tecnam2003]

CATTAC................chief assistant to the assistant chief

[Timelord]

I served somewhere where a trainee pilot officer in the tower was TEAPOT. His wife, rather uncharitably ,was TEABAG.

[Hydromet]

There used to be a medal awarded called the Veterans Decoration. It was said that some who had earned it had the VD and Scar.

[MPN11]

I served somewhere where a trainee pilot officer in the tower was TEAPOT. His wife, rather uncharitably ,was TEABAG.
And SPOT was Senior Pilot Officer Tower, of which we had a few including the one who made 1*

[BEagle]

The Future Large Aircraft (FLA) was originally supposed to replace all the RAF’s large a/c. That proved unfeasible, so the tanker/transport requirement became Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) and another fight arose between A400M and C130J as the Future Transport Aircraft (FTA). FSTA then became a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project; the preferred platform became the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) rather than the B767 offered by the rival TTSC. Meanwhile, A400M which had been the FLA was given the go-ahead to be the FTA; however, to fill the gap, a Short Term Strategic Airlifter, STSA, was needed and that became a fight between the An124 and the C-17. The RAF decided upon leased C-17s as STSA to fill the gap before FTA became reality; however, the C-17s were then bought and the STSA became another FTA, but not the sole FTA as that is still the A400M. Which, of course had once been FLA and rejected as FSTA. Nevertheless, the Common Standard Aircraft (CSA) A400M does have a requirement to have an AAR role (except for the RAF), but not as a strategic tanker as that is the job of the FSTA, the A330 MRTT – which also has immense AT capability as well as its AAR capability but is seemingly not considered to be a FTA even though it is.... Although there was, of course, the A310 MRTT in service with other countries but not offered by any of the FSTA bidders even though it had been studied under an earlier project by MoD Department of Future Systems (DFS), as it then was, when a MRTT rather than a FSTA was being considered.

[Mahogany_Bomber]

I've been SLOPS and FLOPS but unfortunately never POOPS. I had a female colleague who was SO2 Mission Analysis, she very quickly had her email short-title changed after arriving in post!

[Finningley Boy]

Mogwi
In days of yore in Berlin at 26SU we had 2 RN CSOs (something to do with comms), one at Gatow and the other on Teufelsburg, who were known, as the only RN staff in Berlin, as SNOG and SNOT......
Remember it well, I was on Radar Squadron 1987-88.

FB

[Finningley Boy]

Eureka! Well almost, I've been browsing WW2 acronyms and abbreviations, STO was either Sea transport Officer or Station Transport Officer. The latter may well be appropriate, as plans for evacuation at RAF Stations in Germany, back in the day, were quite an imperative. Especially with US owned nukes on board. In other words, to oversee the organization of "Transport" to get various people away west smartish before the Russians arrived.

FB

[Tommy Tipee]

Back in the 1970’s there was a British naval liaison officer in Bermuda with the title Senior Naval Officer West Indies, or SNOWI for short.

[ShyTorque]

On 230 Sqn in the early 1980s we had a Royal Marines exchange pilot. He was universally known as SMOG (Senior Marine Officer, Gutersloh). I think he might have coined the expression himself!

We also had a SPOT, as per MPN11 stated above.

Happy days.

[Ninthace]

Do we still have SLJOs?

[Old Bricks]

Years ago in the DIS, the amalgamation of Geographic and Imagery into one division - Geographic and Imagery Management (GIM) - gave the once in a lifetime opportunity to create new job titles. We nearly managed to sneak two past the AVM in a presentation of the branch wiring diagram, but sadly he spotted them and banned both. (a) GIM Sqn Ldr Int Plans (GIMSLIP) and (b) GIM Joint Analysis Mapping Section (GIMJAMS).

[Barksdale Boy]

In the 1970s the Senior Officer Hong Kong Squadron was always known as Socks. The appointment (RN) then was held by Cdr Tim Sloane - a nice bloke.

[sittingstress]

GDT at RAF LBH in the v early 90's managed to get the following into SRO's once before someone cottoned on and I (we) were spoken to:

First Aid Trained, Station Live Armed Guards - followed by the list of nominees for the upcoming duty

[idle bystander]

SNAFU (an FLA, not a TLA): For many years the Torpedo Control Sub System Mk 9 (TCSS9), fitted to all early RN nuclear submarines, had a key element known, officially, as the Supplies Null And Flood Unit, which did what it said on the box: monitored a Mk8 torpedo in the tube to ensure that, electrical supply were correct, the gyro was nulled, and that the plugs and link cable connecting to the torpedo were not flooded. The clever project officer who got this name through the official system earned my undying admiration. It was replaced in the late 70s by a system that had the more boring TLA of DCB, but who knows, it may still have been in CONQUEROR in 1982, and could have been the last bit in the chain of events that did for the BELGRANO.

[langleybaston]

apologies if related previously .......................Met Office College had a board displaying important visitors' title and surnames. The letters were velcro or magnetic.

Too much temptation one day:

Director General Met Office short form DGMETO became METGOD
Directot Met Office Services short form DSMETO became METSOD, and
Directot Met Office Research short form DRMETO became METROD

Only noticed by the dignitaries as they arrived.. College Principal not amused. Your correspondent nowhere to be seen.

[Wensleydale]

On a Shackleton detachment to Keflavic in the early 80s, the aircraft captain/detachment commander was a quite junior flight lieutenant. He was introduced to a USAF Colonel in the officers' club by one of the (fairly inebriated) rear crew as "Det Comm Shack Lant", Detachmant Commander, Shackleton Atlantic: said flight lieutenant was treated like royalty for the rest of the night.

[Union Jack]

Mogwi senior used to do his RNR annual training interpreting aerial photos at JHQ Rheindahlen many decades ago; he called himself SNOG (Senior Naval Officer (Germany)).

Which must have come as a great surprise to the Captain RN who was Naval Attache in Bonn, now Berlin, unless of course your dad was a Commodore at least!

Good to see that the OP makes a clear distinction between acronyms and abbreviations such as STO.

Jack

[longer ron]

Eureka! Well almost, I've been browsing WW2 acronyms and abbreviations, STO was either Sea transport Officer or Station Transport Officer. The latter may well be appropriate, as plans for evacuation at RAF Stations in Germany, back in the day, were quite an imperative. Especially with US owned nukes on board. In other words, to oversee the organization of "Transport" to get various people away west smartish before the Russians arrived.

FB
Hi FB
Given the rank of Wing Commander - I would still perhaps lean towards 'Senior Techical Officer' (or similar),I could not find a good online guide to the history of the Technical/Engineering Branch.
The forces are past masters at changing job titles etc so these things were changing every few years sometimes.
A couple of years later the subject job title could have changed to 'OC Eng Wing' or Wingco Eng depending on the fashion of the day.
rgds LR

[Null Orifice]

Back in the 60s the Senior Technical Officer designation STO was used to refer to the OC Eng Wing or his deputy.

[oxenos]

I once described a Senior Technichal Officer as "that ancient Chinese gentleman Oh See Tek Wing". Luckily he was amused.

[Tartiflette Fan]

Interminable Sir because I couldn't put together an answer which I recognised, and I spent a long time trying to find the answer. Therefore, to me it was a conundrum!:)

FB

I suggest unfathomable/ impenetrable/ mysterious/ incomprehensible

[Finningley Boy]

Hi FB
Given the rank of Wing Commander - I would still perhaps lean towards 'Senior Techical Officer' (or similar),I could not find a good online guide to the history of the Technical/Engineering Branch.
The forces are past masters at changing job titles etc so these things were changing every few years sometimes.
A couple of years later the subject job title could have changed to 'OC Eng Wing' or Wingco Eng depending on the fashion of the day.
rgds LR
Hi Longer ron and to Nil Orifice, I think we've arrived at the answer. I recall before it became Eng Wing, it was technical Wing and before Ops Wing, we had Flying Wing!

Therefore, I think Senior Technical Officer wins the prize.

FB

[Finningley Boy]

I suggest unfathomable/ impenetrable/ mysterious/ incomprehensible
I certainly couldn't arrive at a satisfactory answer without confirmation from someone in the know. Beyond my Ken. How's that!

FB:)

PS What's a Tartiflette by the way?

[Tartiflette Fan]

I certainly couldn't arrive at a satisfactory answer without confirmation from someone in the know. Beyond my Ken. How's that!

FB:)

PS What's a Tartiflette by the way?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette

It is a very enjoyable dish of peasant origins ( because you used up scraps of cheese, ham ,old spuds etc ) which is particularly popular in Savoie/Haute Savoie and with the tourists in the many ski-resorts. Its hot "solidity" with cheese , bacon, onions and potatoes is a delight when sitting down at table and it's cold and snowing outside. Its rise in popularity was due to an advertising campaign in the 70's/80's financed by the Reblochon cheese-makers ( Savoie cheese used in this dish ) to increase sales , and long-term has been rather successful. Lots of recipes there, try it out and imagine you are in a little mountainside restaurant ! Bon appétit !

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g669639-d4101061-Reviews-La_Loy-Saint_Martin_de_Belleville_Les_Belleville_Savoie_Auvergne_Rh one_Alpes.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=361225793
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g669639-d4101061-Reviews-La_Loy-Saint_Martin_de_Belleville_Les_Belleville_Savoie_Auvergne_Rh one_Alpes.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=361224198

[langleybaston]

That would be Tiroler Groestle without the egg, then?

[Tartiflette Fan]

That would be Tiroler Groestle without the egg, then?

Nope - there's no cheese in that. The tartiflette looks more like a lasagne - claggy and cooked in a bowl/pot in the oven.

[langleybaston]

Thank you. I will stick to my Tiroler, served with a German 1/2 litre by a comely lass in tight dirndl, leaning well forward as she marks my beer tally.

[Tartiflette Fan]

Thank you. I will stick to my Tiroler, served with a German 1/2 litre by a comely lass in tight dirndl, leaning well forward as she marks my beer tally.

Do ,you manage a portion of Kaiserschmarr'n for dessert ?

[Finningley Boy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette

It is a very enjoyable dish of peasant origins ( because you used up scraps of cheese, ham ,old spuds etc ) which is particularly popular in Savoie/Haute Savoie and with the tourists in the many ski-resorts. Its hot "solidity" with cheese , bacon, onions and potatoes is a delight when sitting down at table and it's cold and snowing outside. Its rise in popularity was due to an advertising campaign in the 70's/80's financed by the Reblochon cheese-makers ( Savoie cheese used in this dish ) to increase sales , and long-term has been rather successful. Lots of recipes there, try it out and imagine you are in a little mountainside restaurant ! Bon appétit !

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g669639-d4101061-Reviews-La_Loy-Saint_Martin_de_Belleville_Les_Belleville_Savoie_Auvergne_Rh one_Alpes.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=361225793
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g669639-d4101061-Reviews-La_Loy-Saint_Martin_de_Belleville_Les_Belleville_Savoie_Auvergne_Rh one_Alpes.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=361224198
Tartiflette Fan, I'm seriously considering changing my handle to Tartiflette Fan 2!

FB

[Ninthace]

My kids loved tartiflette as did I. Funny how some of the peasant dishes really hit the spot. Pizza started the same way I believe.

[Finningley Boy]

On the culinary thread drift, I recall in Germany, especially the first time round, when at Neubrucke (Ramstein), scrambled eggs and smoked ham, mixed, like the Tartiflette. This was piled as a mound onto a large, plat size, slice of buttered whole meal bread. It was simply Fruhstuck, or even more simply, Breakfast. It never had a specific name, when ever I headed into the Guest House and perused the menu Fruhstuck is how it was billed. But very nice.

FB

[SLXOwft]

TF2... I wouldn't go that far but definitely another fan, tasty way to keep out the winter cold.

Regarding Senior Technical Officer I believe Signals Units had them during WW2 and probably after.

As I may have said before TACAMO is my favourite acronym but I always see it as being uttered wearing a Stetson while impersonating John Wayne.

[Gne]

When starting with a new course, back in my instructing days, I would advise that the scourge of aviation was the uneducated use of abbreviations and acronyms and that, therefore, I would expect all students to question any abbreviation or acronym I used that they did not know. As incentive I would ask the meaning of any unquestioned abbreviation or acronym after the third use in my lessons. Always took a couple of lessons before they got into the swing of things.

Late in my career one of my subordinates complied a list of aviation acronyms and abbreviation from a number of sources. Many different meanings and uses in a 300 page document I still have on file.

In the Census question on language I always tick "other" and write in "Aviation.

Now, here's a challenge: Compose a single sentence using "ATM" three times with different meanings.

Gne

.

[langleybaston]

Today I used an ATM for cash whilst under a pressure of 1 ATM and I cannot think of anything better ATM.

Cigar?

[Ascend Charlie]

The Officer Commanding Base Squadron was known as the S Blunt O. He didn't like the Sharpies at all.

[Old-Duffer]

On leaving school, I went to a college to study marine engineering and had to be enrolled as a: Probationary Student of the Institute of Marine Engineering - short title PSIMarE. This was quickly translated to: "Practical Sex Instructor of the Institute of Marriage Education". Sadly, this was not the case!

Old Duffer

[Busta]

FWIW The SS Rangatira was known as "The Smelly"

[Big Pistons Forever]

The Canadian Armed Forces has an official manual of approved abbreviations.

The first entry in the manual is the abbreviation for abbreviation, ABVN….

[SLXOwft]

The 2014 edition of (UK) MoD Acronyms and Abbreviations ran to 402 pages, but no abbreviation for Abbreviation. Many have multiple meanings for instance, ADC had fifteen meanings.

Acronym Long Title
ADC Acoustic Device Countermeasure
ADC Action Data & Control
ADC Additional Duties Commitment (type of reserve service)
ADC Aide‐De‐Camp
ADC Air Data Computer
ADC Air Defence Command
ADC Air Defence Commander
ADC Analogue to Digital Converter
ADC Analogue‐to‐Digital Conversion/Converter
ADC Annual Delegate Conference
ADC Armament Directors Conference
ADC Army Doctrine Committee
ADC Assessment and Development Centre
ADC Assistant Director Contracts
ADC Asynchronous Digital Combiner

[Finningley Boy]

There's one I can recall from long ago, AG & QUAG. Answers on a post on this thread please!

FB:)

[Daf Hucker]

In the early 80’s Maj Joe Hohn (?), the Canadian Exchange Officer, declared himself Commander Canadian Forces Kinloss (COMCANFORSKIN).