Anyone who’s worked for or with the military is aware that it’s terminally infested with acronyms. There are acronyms for everything: in many cases because the thing’s proper name goes on for days; in others, simply because of what you might call a tradition of acronyming. In consequence, one who has spent several decades doing military work will have a head full of acronyms that he cannot dislodge…and a tendency to apply the military’s translation to any three or four-letter acronym he stumbles over. Hence the following exchange just this morning.
FWP: Josephites today?
CSO: Uh-huh.
FWP: Normal day?
CSO: Maybe not. I have to get the NRRO report completed.
A bit of context is required here. Beth, a.k.a. the Curmudgeon’s Significant Other, works as an accountant, financial planner, and administrative expert for orders of Catholic clergy and nuns. The correct expansion of “NRRO” as she uses it above is “National Religious Retirement Organization.”
FWP: Oh, of course. Got to keep the Radar Reconnaissance Office properly updated, eh?
CSO: Yup.
FWP: Still, with the radars getting smarter every day, you’d think they’d have that report automated by now.
CSO: Why don’t you offer to do that for them, Mr. Retired Super Engineer With Time On His Hands?
FWP: Ah, I have to perform open-heart surgery this afternoon. Maybe tomorrow.
You see, Gentle Reader, one never really leaves a career in military engineering completely behind. But while the drawbacks are obvious, the pay is good and the job security is even better. Besides, in what other occupation do the practitioners get complimentary grenades, discounted claymores, and admission to auctions of reconditioned Vulcan cannons? Recommend it to your spratlings!
