handover procedure
[1) transfer of POWs, bodies, mail and property (including
domestic animals) through intermediaries, across no-man's land,
United Nations buffer zones or areas of separation, with
supervision by peace-keeping forces; or 2) transfer of UN and
contingent property (rations and supplies) from outgoing
contingent (on rotation) to incoming one; also found: 'turnover']
head of civil affairs; HCA
[director of civil affairs; is usually the Deputy Special
Representative; is an ASG or D-2]
head of mission; HOM
[refers to the Special Representative or to the Commander
appointed by the Secretary-General with the consent of the
Security Council]
headquarters; HQ
[ The executive and/ or administyrative elemennts of a command
unit. ]
headquarters company; HQ Coy
[a headquarters company is in charge of clerical tasks,
protection of headquarters, escorting and driving the staff,
quartering and catering for the officers, etc.]
heavy machine gun; HMG
[ A machine gun with a larger cliber than a GPMG. Its mostly
mounted on vehicles with the main of air defence. (Examples:
Browning cal .50 HMG). ]
heliborne operation
[ An operation involving the movement of troops and equipment
by helicopter. ]
helicopter evacuation; HELEVAC
[aka "dustoff" in the US]
helipad
[a prepared area designated and used for take-off and landing of
helicopters (including touch down or hover): it may be a circular
or rectangular area, in or near a camp, which has been cleared
of obstacles and marked for helicopter landings; the
(rudimentary) equipment usually includes a wind cone, a beacon
light and colored flares; also found: "pick-up helipad", "set-down
helipad"]
see also: landing point
H- Hour
The specific hour on D- day at which a particular operation
commences is known as H- hour. It may be the commencement of
hostilities;
high-speed anti-radiation missile; HARM
[rail-launched missile carried on-board aircrafts and launched at
an enemy radar-guidance antenna, the destruction of which will
protect strike aircraft from defending missiles; HARM can
identify and home on a wide range of radar frequencies,
following a beam down to the antenna that transmits it and then
showers the antenna and radar station with specially designed
shrapnel]
see also: suppression of enemy air defences
hijack; (Hijacker)
[in PKO context, it mostly refers to the abduction and holding of
peacekeepers as hostages; 'hijack drills' are practiced by
soldiers on peace-keeping missions]
holding capacity
[the quantitative potential of a holding facility to accomodate
patients waiting for medical evacuation, usually in other than
fully supported hospital beds]
holding policy; theatre evacuation policy
[decision based on in-theatre planned medical capabilities,
specifying the mean time required for the recovery of patients in
field facilities, before they become fit for evacuation or return to
duty, and the holding capability of level I and level II (up to 5
days) and level 3 (up to 30 days); treatment for more than 30
days causes repatriation]
host nation support; HNS
[civilan and military assistance rendered by the host country to
UN forces deployed within or staging through that country; it
includes medical support: resources and infrastructure of the
host country that is available and acccessible to peace-keeping
forces]
human shield
[any person who, under the laws of war is considered a non-combattant and as such protected from deliberate attack
(civilians, POWs, etc.) but who is used by one side as a hostage
to deter the other side from striking a particular military target
and risking killing the hostages; the side using "human shields"
gambles on the other side's reluctance to violate the laws of war
and on its fear of the moral and political opprobrium usually
attached to such violations; the use of human shields can take
the form of a) placing civilians or prisoners in or near legitimate
military targets (bases, bunkers, weapons factories, etc.) or b)
placing artillery batteries and other offensive weapons in the
midst of the civilian population, particularly such buildings as
hospitals, schools, churches, etc., or residential neighborhoods,
or c) for non-uniformed armed groups, firing at their adversary
from among a crowd of civilians]
humanitarian (affairs) adviser
[to the SRSG; civilian; cooperates with humanitarian agencies in
the provision of assistance]
humanitarian assistance (affairs) officer; HAO
[civilian; humanitarian aid component is made up of small
groups of civilians (UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP and NGOs);
assists chief of the Office for the coordination of humanitarian
assistance; is a D-1 or P-5]
see also: humanitarian coordinator
humanitarian coordinator
[civilian; for complex PKOs, DHA appoints a field-based
coordinator, who works under the SRSG]
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