You've probably heard the phonetic alphabet before in movies, especially war movies. A crackle comes over someone's radio and a voice cuts through the static: "Alfa Bravo, this is Foxtrot Victor ...

During World War II, the United States military used a modified version of the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet (JANAP). This was adopted in 1941 and continued to be used until 1957 when it was ...