# The term "N/S" or "non-serviceable" used to refer to people in the military

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 6, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624 "2014-09-06T00:12:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/1 "2014-09-06T00:12:05Z")

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Is “N/S” also used in the US military to refer to people who are injured/incompetent/not useful/muppets?

I know that it’s used in Canadian military and may be used in the UK military. Do the militaries of other Commonwealth countries use that term as well? Is it used outside the Commonwealth?

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/2 "2014-09-06T05:35:07Z")

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I’ve seen NFD (Not Fit for Duty), NENF (No Exercise, No Formation), and NE (No Exercise) in reference to various levels of injury/recovery from injury. I think the phase “In excess of unit needs” is used when transferring incompetent or not useful personnel.

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**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/3 "2014-09-06T12:10:21Z")

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“Non-deployable” is a category on some official reports. Covers medical issues, etc.

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**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/4 "2014-09-06T16:33:15Z")

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Non Serviceable is used as a term in maintenance in all the branches of US armed services to describe a part that is not fuctioning and connot be repaired at field level.

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**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/5 "2014-09-06T16:49:44Z")

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“Hors de combat” was such a more elegant phrase.

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**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-n-s-or-non-serviceable-used-to-refer-to-people-in-the-military/697624/6 "2014-09-06T17:39:36Z")

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I’ve only ever heard it used in a slang way, and usually by the “old guard”.