On another SDMB thread (now closed), a veteran of Desert Storm referred to the hordes of Iraqi soldiers who surrendered as “EPWs.” The “PW” is for “prisoner of war,” I suppose, but what does the “E” mean - expected? early? enemy?
Or something else?
You answered your own question.
It is ENEMY. This is to distinguish the POW from a friendly or US prisoner of war. You can still be taken prisoner during a war. Just commit a crime in a war zone and you will become a POW until arraingements can be made for you.
OK, for clarification: You mean a soldier can be taken as a POW by friendly/allied troops if he commits a crime, right? Like if some random Marine (hypothetically) stole a car or robbed a bank in Baghdad and was caught by other US/Coalition soldiers, he’d be a POW?
Uh, no. A Prisoner of War is an enemy combatant who is in the custody of his enemy. For example, a Soviet Soldier captured by the German military duirng WWII was a Prisoner of War. An American Solider who commits a crime and is apprehended for said crime by the American military is not a Prisoner of War. He is a prisoner.
Here’s a good site for you to bookmark AcronymFinder.com
EPW Enemy Prisoner of War
EPW Earth Penetrating Warhead
EPW Earth Penetrating Weapon
Monty is right… The “Enemy” is just the normal redundancy one should expect from the military. Kinda like “D-Day” and “H-Hour”…
But an allied criminal who steals an XBOX from the USO at Camp Liberty does not become an EPW.
BTW, the term “EPW” is all but phased out at this point. The new word-of-the-day is PUC - Person Under Control.
I saw EPW used in the context of EPW Training – Enemy Prisoner-of-War Training. In the fuller context of the military chain-of-command had decided not to give the grunts EPW Training at the start of the current Iraq war.