Thursday 03/09/15
The Phonetic Alphabet is the only reliable way of pronouncing the letters of the alphabet so everybody understands what’s being said. I had to learn the Phonetic Alphabet in my early teens, because I was a member of the local Bushfire Brigade, and the local search and rescue team. Both organisations relied heavily on CB radios, and in an emergency situation, you might only get one opportunity to relay information (so you had to make each transmission count).
“I’m not a member of any rescue team. Why would I need to know the Phonetic Alphabet?” l hear you ask. You don’t have to be a member of anything to need the Phonetic Alphabet. If you have to contact the police, fire brigade or ambulance service, the operator might ask you to clarify some of the information you have provided. Trust me; they will appreciate hearing the Phonetic Alphabet far more than the garbage used on TV game shows (absolutely no dispatch operator wants to hear “L for lollipop, D for dolly, S for slippery-dip”). Improvised alphabets have too great a margin of error in translation. The Phonetic Alphabet has been refined through trial and error, using a list of words that can’t be mistaken for any other words.
The Phonetic Alphabet is very useful for relaying information, such as license plates, or if you need to spell out a street name. I have listed the Phonetic Alphabet below, including the correct code word and pronunciation of each code word.
I’ve provided you with the information, now it is up to you to practice it. Don’t have the time? Make a habit of running through the Phonetic Alphabet in your mind as you drive to and from work, or even as you drift off to sleep each night. Trust me, you’ll master it in no time.