. . . juliet kilo lima mike november oscar poppa quebec romeo sierra tomahawk uniform victory whiskey x-ray yankee zulu.
Is that how you learned the phonetic alphabet? Do you have it memorized? Do you ever use it?
As for me, I read it in an encyclopedia in high school, I’ve had it memorized ever since, and I find it useful when making and confirming reservations with travel agents or airlines. Other people don’t tend to know what I’m talking about.
Dear thinksnow,
It’s zulu.
Love, PorkHQ
And I thought T was Tango, not Tomahawk. And V was Victor, not Victory. And A was Able. But yeah- I’ve had that memorized for a long time, too, and use it on a semi-regular basis.
I’m in the aerospace business and we use it all the time. I originally learned it in the Army (except ‘tomahawk’ is replaced by ‘tango’). I’d also suspect it’s used commomly by emergency personelle if COPS is any indication.
I learned it from watching British police shows, where it’s used for spelling out license plates, and from knowing the NATO-assigned names for Russian submarine classes, which also followed the phonetic alphabet.
Also, you forgot India.
Used it every day as a U.S. Navy Operations Specialist, 1993-98.
Helicopter pilot checking in.
Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whisky
X-ray
Yankee
Zulu
There are several of these phonetic alphabets. One that came to mind was the one that starts Able, Baker, Charlie. I thought this was a British one from WWII era but I found these
which shows that one as American.
Seems that the one in the OP is the one called the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.
I also found this. Love the comment about standards.
I use the one Johnny LA listed in my job. Tech Support. Computers are ID’ed by a series of letters and numbers and it’s just easier to understand when on the phone, though most of the people I speak with are totally lost if I just come out and say “Sierra Bravo Tango 6 3 0 1” so I have to go “S as in Sierra, B as in Bravo…”
What kills me is when people use words that make no sense in a PHONETIC alphabet. I constantly get people saying “G as in George.” No, that’s a J sound, you dolt. And I swear I once got “K as in Knife.” Genius.
I’m with Johnny L.A. too - The U.S. Air Force & my aviation related employer both use this version.
I learned the one Johnny L.A. posted when I was in the State Emergency Service. It’s a lot easier to understand the difference between “sierra” and “foxtrot” than “s” and “f” when you’re using handheld UHF radios at the edge of their range.
It’s also won whole rounds for me at trivia nights - an unforeseen benefit.
I actually learned the Schenectady OTB version:
Apple
Boy
Charles
David
Edward
Frank
George
Harry
Isa
Jack
King
Lucky
Mary
Nancy
Oscar
University
Victor
Willliam
(P, Q, R, S, T, X, Y, and Z were so rarely used that they didn’t rate a letter)
There’s also:
Ack
Beer
Charlie
Don
Edward
Freddie
George
Harry
Ink
Johnnie
King
London
Monkey
Nuts
Orange
Pip
Queen
Robert
Sugar
Toc
Uncle
Vic
William
x-ray
Yorker
Zebra
But that was before my time. 
Johhny’s version is, as far as I know, the FAA, ICAO, and U.S. military standard.
I learned it years ago when I started in the travel industry. It’s helped me tremendously!
Of course, I’m now frustrated by those who make up their own phonetic alphabet.
For instance, I would spell my name…
“Golf Romeo India Zulu Zulu Romeo India Charlie Hotel”.
Someone else in the travel industry, who thinks it’s hip to use place-names instead might say…
“Georgia Richmond Indiana Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Richmond Indiana California Harrisburg”
Screws me ALL up!
I learned it years ago when I started in the travel industry. It’s helped me tremendously!
Of course, I’m now frustrated by those who make up their own phonetic alphabet.
For instance, I would spell my name…
“Golf Romeo India Zulu Zulu Romeo India Charlie Hotel”.
Someone else in the travel industry, who thinks it’s hip to use place-names instead might say…
“Georgia Richmond Indiana Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Richmond Indiana California Harrisburg”
Screws me ALL up!
I also use Johnny L.A.'s version everyday. Again USAF. Although 90% of my use of it is just passing back my initials. Kilo Bravo loud and clear.
dead0man…all 5X5
I’ve heard aircraft whose call signs (registrations) end in “AA”. They pronounce it “Alfalfa”.
Johnny L.A.'s got it.
I used to work is radio maintenance. Broken radios were described as “Tango-uniform” (tits up).
Come to think of it, it’s not just in the maintenance field and it’s not just radios. Anything broken can be described as “tango-uniform.”
I use
Adam Bertil Caesar David Erik Filip Gustav Helge Ivar Johan Kalle Ludwig Martin Niklas Olof Petter Quintius Rudolf Sigurd Tore Urban Viktor William Xerxes Yngve Zäta Åke Ärlig Östen
in my native language but when speaking English I use the list by Johnny LA.
Spike Milligan’s war memoirs mention the change (by the British Army) to “Able, Baker, Charlie” from the “Ack, Beer, Charlie” one listed by RealityChuck. Don’t have the books handy, but the date would have been 1942 or 3; they were working closely with the Americans in the North African theatre at the time.
(Yes, this is Spike Milligan being cited as a legitimate reference in a perfectly serious thread. Stranger things have happened.)