Some terms you may hear
Civvie – Short for civilians, non military ‘civis’
Deployment – When a service person is sent away for a period of time
Drill – Training that involves practising marching or holding weapons
Exercise – When soldiers go away for a week or more for training
Mess – An area where military personnel socialise, eat and sometimes live
Pad brat – The term sometimes given to a child of serving parents
Patch – The housing estate designated to military families
PT – Physical Training (same as PE Physical Education)
Posting – Being moved to a new location
Quarter, or SFA – Service Family Accommodation, housing provided by
Tour – to go away on an operational deployment
Unaccompanied – when a family stay in their home while the serving parent is posted away often only returning at the weekend
Unit Welfare – a nominated officer who looks after the welfare of the military families, often also called community support
MOD90 – Military ID