Phonetic Alphabet For Security Guards

The international phonetic alphabet (spelling alphabet), is used in police, military, emergency services, aviation, and general communications. It is also very helpful when trying to spell your name or address over the phone. Using this system eliminates the potential errors that can occur from the listener, not hearing/understanding what was said.

For example, if I was to say that my address was 221B Baker Street over the phone (or radio) did I say B or D or possibly E. All of which rhyme and without visual clues are sometimes indistinguishable to a remote listener.

The last thing you would want when calling for backup is for the listener to misunderstand the address or the type of assistance required. This can be used in conjunction with 10-codes.

Amazon Canada has some great resources [Aff Link] on the NATO phonetic alphabet.

It was originally developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization and subsequently adopted by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) among other significant global and national bodies covering telecommunications, maritime, and aviation.

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a Spelling Alphabet, a set of words used instead of letters in oral communication (i.e. over the phone or military radio). Each word (“code word”) stands for its initial letter (alphabetical “symbol”). The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows:

Phonetic Alphabet

LetterCode
Word
Phonic
(Pronunciation)
AAlpha AL FAH
BBravoBRAH VOH
CCharlieCHAR LEE
DDeltaDELL TAH
EEchoECK OH
FFoxtrotFOKS TROT
GGolfGOLF
HHotelHOH TELL
IIndiaIN DEE AH
J Juliett JEW LEE ETT
KKiloKEY LOH
LLimaLEE MAH
MMikeMIKE
NNovemberNO VEM BER
OOscarOSS CAH
PPapaPAH PAH
QQuebecKEH BECK
RRomeoROW ME OH
SSierraSEE AIR RAH
TTangoTANG OH
UUniformYOU NEE FORM
VVictorVIK TAH
WWhiskeyWISS KEY
XX-RayECKS RAY
YYankeeYANG KEY
ZZuluZOO LOO
NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Note: Contrary to what its name suggests, the NATO Phonetic Alphabet is not a phonetic alphabet. Phonetic alphabets are used to indicate, through symbols or codes, what a speech sound or letter sounds like. The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is instead a spelling alphabet (also known as the telephone alphabet, radio alphabetword-spelling alphabet, or voice procedure alphabet).

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Last Updated on Jul 5, 2024

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