The military, in many ways presents a unique and focused culture onto itself. Part of this culture has been the evolution of a somewhat bewildering and very extensive use of abbreviations and acronyms. However, the truth is that most abbreviations can, and are, used fairly universally. Notwithstanding this, these divisions can be summarized as follows: 1 those used in service or operational records i.
Also, too, apart from the thousands of identified abbreviations, etc. These arise not only as new abbreviations are required for new descriptions, but also through the development of individual bias and uniqueness that is brought on through time, relative isolation and the ever-present propensity of those bureaucratically inclined to develop new terms.
The truth is that each branch of the military obviously has its own specialty and focus, and thus, its own unique language. Individuals within each of these branches, therefore, focus on those abbreviations most applicable to their duties, thereby removing the need to be familiar with every one available.
In an effort to make this source of confusion more understandable to the average researcher, following is a table of abbreviations that have been used by British and Commonwealth military forces, with a focus on the Canadian situation. This author has arbitrarily not included other nationalities, including United States examples other than some of the higher formations that would occasionally appear in Commonwealth military documents. Those of a more international nature, especially American, would make this list tremendously long and beyond the scope of this summary.
The included abbreviations range in vintage from at least the Anglo-Boer War circa. While this list is extensive and fairly comprehensive over unique abbreviations are listed , it is safe to say that is probably far from complete. As with international examples, to try and capture every Canadian, British or Commonwealth abbreviation, even those more or less officially recognized, is again far beyond the scope and practicality of this work.
