| BAF - British Armed Forces |
| British Armed Forces constitutes one of the largest militaries in Europe, though only the 26th largest in the world by number of troops. |
|
|
|
|
|
| KIA - Killed in Action |
KIA is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces by other hostile forces.
The United States Department of Defense says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack. KIA's do not come from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes and other "non-hostile" events or terrorism.
KIA can be applied both to front-line combat troops and to naval, air, and support troops.
Further, KIA denotes one to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas died of wounds (or DOW) relates to someone who survived to reach a medical treatment facility. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also uses DWRIA, rather than DOW, for "died of wounds received in action." However, historically, militaries and historians have used the former acronym. |
|
|
|
|
|
| KKK - Ku Klux Klan |
KKK is the name of several past and present secret domestic militant organizations in the United States, originating in the southern states, that are best known for advocating white supremacy and acting as terrorists while hidden behind conical hats, masks and white robes. The KKK has a record of terrorism, violence, and lynching to intimidate, murder, and oppress African Americans, Jews and other minorities and to intimidate and oppose Roman Catholics and labor unions.
The first Klan was founded in 1865 by veterans of the Confederate Army. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Klan resisted Reconstruction by intimidating freedmen and white Republicans. The KKK quickly adopted violent methods. The increase in murders finally resulted in a backlash among Southern elites who viewed the Klan\'s excesses as an excuse for federal troops to continue occupation. The organization declined from 1868 to 1870 and was destroyed by President Grant\'s passage and enforcement of the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871.
The name Ku Klux Klan has since been used by many independent groups opposing the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, they often acted with impunity by forging alliances with Southern police departments, as during the reign of Bull Connor in Birmingham, Alabama; or with governor's offices, as with George Wallace of Alabama. Several members of KKK-affiliated groups were convicted of manslaughter and murder in the deaths of civil rights workers and children in the bombing of ... |
|
|
|
|
|
| POS - Prisoner Of War |
POS is a combatant who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
The distinction between POW and slave is not always clear.
To be entitled to prisoner-of-war status, captured service members must be lawful combatants entitled to combatant's privilege—which gives them immunity from punishment for crimes constituting lawful acts of war, e.g., killing enemy troops. To qualify under the Third Geneva Convention, a combatant must have conducted military operations according to the laws and customs of war, be part of a chain of command, wear a "fixed distinctive marking, visible from a distance" and bear arms openly. Thus, uniforms and/or badges are important in determining prisoner-of-war status; and francs-tireurs, terrorists, saboteurs, mercenaries and spies may not qualify. In practice, these criteria are not always interpreted strictly. Guerrillas, for example, do not necessarily wear an issued uniform nor carry arms openly, yet captured combatants of this type have sometimes been granted POW status. The criteria are generally applicable to international armed conflicts. In civil wars, insurgents are often treated as traitors or criminals by government forces, and are sometimes executed. However, in the American Civil War, both sides treated captured troops as POWs, presumably out of reciprocity, though the Union regarded Confederacy personnel as separatist rebels. However, guerrillas and other irregular combatants generally cannot expect to simultaneously benefit from both civilian and military status.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TPDF - Tanzania People\'s Defence Force |
| Tanzania People's Defence Force as created in September 1964. From its inception, it was ingrained in the troops that they were a people’s force under civilian control. They were always reminded of their difference from the colonial armed forces. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
