U.S. Navy admiral pushes officers to curtail 'jargon and gibberish'

The US Navy's information chief says there's a battle to be fought, but not the usual kind.

It's time, Rear Admiral John Kirby says, to torpedo "jargon and gibberish."

In an email sent to Navy public affairs officers, Kirby urged them to stop "butchering" their own language and "say it in plain English."

The fight against acronyms, adjectives and adverbs is one Kirby attacked with a handful of examples.

"The world isn't a dangerous place. It's a 'dynamic and complex international environment'" Kirby mocked.

"We didn't tell people we were reducing to one the number of carriers in the Middle East. We told them we were responding to a '1.0 carrier presence requirement in the CENTCOM AOR.'"

Faced with declining resources and a growing gap between the military and the American people, officers must communicate better, the email implored.

"We can no longer afford to say nothing. Each word must count," Kirby said.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]