NATO Phonetic Alphabet

By Guy Clarke

 

Where did the NATO phonetic alphabet come from and why? The NATO phonetic alphabet has been around for a long time and there has been many different version and they are now all as the same as the current day version. There have been variations and there's no better place to look than the first letter 'a' which stood as, 'Able' however in the recent NATO phonetic alphabet the character 'a' stands for 'Alpha'.

 

But why is it used and who is it used by? It is used for helping with pronunciation of spelling and so things that need to be accurately spelt, for example, in the royal air force or in the military are done so accurately. For example letters n and m are often confused and muddled in everyday spelling when you are spelling a name or something else to a friend, and so this can not be the case the NATO phonetic alphabet exists and for these letters they use, November and Mike.

 

The NATO phonetic alphabet was confirmed as an alphabet in 1955, as the is said on the ICAO website, and was used so the allies could communicate and spell through long distance telephone calls or other long distance forms of communication. It is used in the air-traffic control and also at sea, where it is referred to as 'seaspeak'. As this was something that only the allies could use it could help them implement strategies and other commands in the heat of battle.

 

The NATO phonetic alphabet does not only refer to the letters we see in the alphabet but also to numbers as well. Although you would have thought that these are easily distinguishable already there are slight changes within the numbers we say too, for instance the number '9' is pronounced 'niner' in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

 

The modern day NATO phonetic alphabet has been changed from the original, but it has also become a lot more popular than when it was first set up to help the allies in thwe heat of battle. It is use in a wide array of things in the modern era, even including being used in business. It is used in telecommunications, but is also internationally recognised as the international air-traffic control speak and also in seaspeak.

 

A - Alpha	J - Juliet	S - Sierra	1 - Wun
B - Bravo	K - Kilo	T - Tango	2 - Two
C - Charlie	L - Lima	U - Uniform	3 - Tree
D - Delta	M - Mike	V - Victor	4 - Fower
E - Echo	N - November	W - Whisky	5 - Fife
F - Foxtrot	O - Oscar	X - X-Ray	6 - Six
G - Golf	P - Papa	Y - Yankee	7 - Sevan
H - Hotel	Q - Quebec	Z - Zulu	8 - Ait
I - India	R - Romeo	0 - Zero	9 - Niner