Memorizing the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Was One of the Best Things I Learned in College

…And it wasn’t even part of my college curriculum. I learned it all on my own over the course of about a day, though it took a while to commit it to memory, in which I could recall out-of-order phonetic words instantly.

The NATO phonetic alphabet is the most widely used way of communicating the letters of the Latin alphabet clearly. My dad (“Papa!”) learned the NATO phonetic alphabet when he was in the National Guard, because virtually everyone learns it in the U.S. military.

Most people have probably heard the NATO phonetic alphabet in the media, such as in movies, television shows, and books. Basically, a word is assigned to each letter of the alphabet (A=Alfa, B=Bravo, C=Charlie, etc.). It underwent rigorous testing from international agencies, and the NATO phonetic alphabet as we know it remains unchanged since being set in 1956.

This morning, I got breakfast from the drive-through at my local McDonald’s. The person receiving the order, who I assume speaks Spanish as his first language, had difficulty hearing my code for the order (codes are used to place orders when using the McDonald’s mobile app). My code was “AE30.” He had difficulty hearing the “A” and the “E.” I repeated it and he still couldn’t make out the letters, so I said “alfa echo three zero” (if I really wanted to show off my knowledge of the NATO phonetic alphabet, I would have said “alfa echo tree zee-ro,” as there are some minor differences in pronunciation and ways of saying numbers in the NATO phonetic alphabet). He then was able to place my order.

I have also used the NATO phonetic alphabet when talking to people from call centers in India. Some Indian call center employees even know the NATO phonetic alphabet themselves.

I recommend everyone learn the NATO phonetic alphabet for clarity when talking to people over radio or telephone communication systems, especially when talking to people who speak another language. It’s fun to learn and really isn’t that hard to memorize. Every now and then, I will go through the entire NATO phonetic alphabet in my head to make sure I am still able to recall all the words. Bravo!