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From: doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee)
Newsgroups: net.games.trivia
Subject: Re: Words For Letters
Message-ID: <1076@terak.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 16:10:27 EST
Article-I.D.: terak.1076
Posted: Tue Mar  4 16:10:27 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Mar-86 22:37:02 EST
References: <367@ihnet.UUCP>
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Organization: Calcomp Display Products Division, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
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> > When an officer calls in a license number (actually alpha numeric string),
> > words are substituted for letters to avoid phonetic ambiguities.
> > Thus, "OCZ345" is read "Ocean Charlie Zebra 3 4 5".
> > Can somebody tell me the actual 26 words used for the letters?
> 
> This is the official phonetic alphabet, but people always use whatever they
> feel like.

The list given is the International Civil Aviation Organization's
phonetic alphabet.  It is the only phonetic alphabet which can be
considered both current and standardized.  I'm not sure that makes it
"official" for anything but aviation, though.  This alphabet was
constructed with the goal of being pronouncable by people who speak a
number of different languages.  [Side note: Lima is pronounced LEEma,
and Quebec is pronounced kayBECK].

The only other phonetic alphabet which had anything like a recognized
standard was the JAN (Joint Army/Navy) alphabet, circa WW-II.  It is
obsolete, having been replaced by the aforementioned ICAO alphabet.
The only remnant still in regular use is "Roger" when used to indicate
that the transmission was received and understood (often, it is also
used incorrectly to indicate agreement).

My memory of JAN is a bit rusty, but this should be close:   Able Baker
Charlie Dog Ernest Fox George Howe Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe
Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Unit Victor Willie Xray Yoke Zebra.
(Well, I probably missed three or so...)
-- 
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug