# the "Navy Alphabet" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605 "2003-09-30T02:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/21 "2003-09-30T17:31:33Z")
When I worked as a volunteer police officer (I was active duty Navy at the time), the phonetic alphabet used by the cops was along the lines of Adam Baker Charles etc., which is different from either of the others I’ve seen here. I was always having trouble with it, because I was trained in the military alphabet of “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie”. The dispatcher was often unable to figure out what I was telling her, if I screwed it up. Or maybe she was just dense. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/22 "2003-09-30T20:19:00Z")
Don’t get me started… I think the word for word for “a” is spelled _alfa_. It keeps those non-English speakers from tripping up on the pronunciation. Which also brings up the question of why it isn’t _Amen_ and _Eager_ and _Ivan_ and _Oboe_, words that approziamte the sounds of the vowel being transmitted? That is all. Dress is tropical white short… ---
**Author:** ![3.885AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/58956e/32.png) [@3.885AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3.885AM)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/23 "2003-09-30T22:01:49Z")
The phonetic alphabet is also used routinely in ham radio, often impossible to get the call sign of a weak or distant station any other way on the phone bands, but of course there is always Morse code. ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/24 "2003-09-30T23:15:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*Let us not forget my favorite… “niner” \*\* Which was adopted out of fear that somebody would think that, in the middle of an english-language conversation, somebody would switch to german to say “no”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/25 "2003-10-01T00:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Extraneous \* > \*\*Which was adopted out of fear that somebody would think that, in the middle of an english-language conversation, somebody would switch to german to say “no”. \*\* Eh? I always thought it was to differentiate between “five” and “nine” which could be mistaken for one another in a noisy radio transmission. Or have I been whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/26 "2003-10-01T00:43:55Z")
I was picked up by a police cruiser (suspended license) and graciously given a ride home, and in the back seat I heard them using the “Adam Baker” alphabet over the police radio. I had been working with (the very early version of) DragonDictate, which used the “Alpha Bravo” alphabet, and I asked the cop why they didn’t use the standard alphabet. His reply was: “They use whatever they want. As long as it is easy to understand, it doesn’t matter.” My guess is that the military does not take a similar “whatever works” attitude. Btw, shout out to the police force in my neck of the woods…for the most part, some of the most polite and helpful people you could ever want to meet. ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/27 "2003-10-01T00:49:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Eh? I always thought it was to differentiate between “five” and “nine” which could be mistaken for one another in a noisy radio transmission. Or have I been whooshed? \*\* My info (no cite) is that is was adopted out of concern over “nine” vs. “nein” in ATC use. Shrug. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605/28 "2003-10-01T00:56:59Z")
[Niner.](http://www.ac6v.com/73.htm#niner) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-navy-alphabet/204605.md?page=1)