I was looking up some info on the subject, and found myself falling down the usual Wikipedia rabbit hole, so I thought I’d share.
What’s fascinating in part is not just the concept of a phonetic alphabet (spelling out letters as words so as to avoid confusion, esp.over radio or phone), but the number of such alphabets over the years, and the research that’s gone into them.
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It's a wonder that all of the US and UK military services were able to agree on a single phonetic alphabet. Inter-military rivalries can be fierce.
+John E. Bredehoft Let alone inter-service. Both the Royal Army and Navy had their own codes at one point.
OK, here's a little "down the rabbit hole" example – what happens if you're using this phonetic alphabet at, say, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport? That's right; you change it in that particular instance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet#Aviation
Ha! That makes perfect sense.
After 20 years of using phonetics, I don't think it's ever going away. I learnt by reading the license plates of cars while driving; unfortunately it has become an ingrained habit :-/
I use it when giving model numbers over the phone (for tech support and the like). It's very helpful especially since I have a bit of an accent.