Phonetic alphabet

See:

• In telecommunication, a phonetic alphabet is a list of standard words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by voice (including over radio, telephone, etc.). Occasionally known as a "radio alphabet". See NATO phonetic alphabet, Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet, RAF phonetic alphabet, LAPD phonetic alphabet.\n* In phonetics, a phonetic alphabet is a writing system used for transcribing the sounds of human speech into writing. See International Phonetic Alphabet and SAMPA, the ASCII version.

\nRadio communications often doesn't have the fidelity to make someone clearly understood. This is particulary true when letter codes are used, especially with noisy backgrounds at the receiving or transmitting end. Accents can also make radio transmissions difficult to understand. To ensure messages were clearly understood as much as possible, a phonetic alphabet was developed. Below are the phonetic alphabets of WWII and today. Numbers, in general, weren't as big of a problem. The numbers "5" and "9," however, similar enough to warrant attention. "5" would be pronounced "Fi-yev" and "9" was pronounced "niner." For example, a pilot flying the aircraft 2S-S radioing the tower might say, "Fickle, deepseat sugar...." Fickle was the radio call sign of the tower, deepseat was the radio call sign of the 834th squadron, and "Sugar" would identify the plane with an "S" ID. \n

WWII	Modern
\n 1. Able\n 2. Baker\n 3. Charlie\n 4. Dog\n 5. Easy\n 6. Fox\n 7. George\n 8. How\n 9. Item\n 10. Jig\n 11. King\n 12. Love\n 13. Mike\n 14. Nan\n 15. Oboe\n 16. Peter\n 17. Queen\n 18. Roger\n 19. Sugar\n 20. Tear\n 21. Uncle\n 22. Victor\n 23. Whiskey\n 24. X-Ray\n 25. Yoke\n 26. Zebra\n	\n 1. Alpha\n 2. Bravo\n 3. Charlie\n 4. Delta\n 5. Echo\n 6. Foxtrot\n 7. Golf\n 8. Hotel\n 9. India\n 10. Juliet\n 11. Kilo\n 12. Lima\n 13. Mike\n 14. November\n 15. Oscar\n 16. Papa\n 17. Quebec\n 18. Romeo\n 19. Sierra\n 20. Tango\n 21. Uniform\n 22. Victor\n 23. Whiskey\n 24. X-Ray\n 25. Yankee\n 26. Zulu\n