Doc Jargon: Home-fire hubby wants to know why an acronym matters, look smarter for wife

Photo By Collen McGee | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army.  

FORT RILEY, KANSAS, UNITED STATES

04.21.2023

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Dear Doc Jargon,

My wife is deployed to Europe and she said something the other day in one of her messages that I couldn’t quite decipher. She wrote the abbreviation RIP/TOA and said she was looking forward to that as it would be one of the big steps in the process of her unit coming home.
Now, we’ve been married for about four years and I’ve been pretty good at keeping up with the lingo, but this one stumped me. Instead of asking her, I was hoping you could tell me and help me look smarter in the process.

Sincerely,
Home-fire Hubby

Dear Home-fire,

I’m happy to help a guy out with a little intelligence now and then. The thing your wife was talking about is actually two things. However, sometimes they do happen at the same ceremony.
The RIP part stands for relief in place. That’s when the new unit comes in and starts training up with those they are about to replace. They get to shadow and start easing into the mission. It’s a way to maintain corporate knowledge from unit to unit and it eases the transition for both the departing Soldiers and the incoming ones.
The second part, TOA, is the big deal for the departing group. That is the transfer of authority. When that happens, the outgoing unit is now in an advisory capacity and the new unit is doing the mission.
Once that transfer happens, preparation for redeployment is the primary mission for the departing unit. For them, it is the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I hope that helps you in your quest for looking and sounding smarter with your spouse.

Sincerely,
Doc Jargon

• Date Taken: 04.21.2023
• Date Posted: 04.21.2023 13:06
• Story ID: 443110
• Location: FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US