A phonetic alphabet is a list of words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by radio or telephone. Spoken words from an approved list are substituted for letters. For example, the word "Marines" would be "Mike Alpha Romeo India November Echo Sierra" when spelled in the phonetic alphabet. This practice helps to prevent confusion between similar sounding letters, such as "m" and "n", and to clarify communications during transmission when there maybe bombs exploding in the back ground and all kinds of other noises that happen when a soldier is an the field.
Below is the phonetic alphabet currently in use by all branches of the U.S. military:
A - Alpha B - Bravo C - Charlie D - Delta E - Echo F - Foxtrot G - Golf H - Hotel I - India J - Juliet K - Kilo L - Lima M - Mike N - November O - Oscar P - Papa Q - Quebec R - Romeo S - Sierra T - Tango U - Uniform V - Victor W - Whiskey X - X-ray Y - Yankee Z - Zulu