NATO says the word airmen is offensive and must be replaced by the gender-inclusive term “air force personnel”.
The western military alliance’s woke language manual challenges “unconscious bias”.
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It warns that gendered terms are outdated and risk alienating women and minorities.
Words such as serviceman, guardsman, and my guys are out — in favour of “service member”, “guard” and “team”, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Even manning is corrected to staffing.
Critics branded it a farce, saying Nato’s job is deterring Russia, not policing pronouns.
Sir John Hayes, the Common Sense group of MPs chairman, fumed: “Their job is to defend countries, not promote distortion of language.
“These terms are a farce.”
However, the guide says “ranks in the Navy and air force don’t change”.
In January, an ex-Nato commander blasted woke Navy chiefs for renaming a submarine to avoid upsetting the French.
HMS Agincourt was the fleet’s sixth vessel and was named after the 1415 victory by outnumbered English archers.
A move to rebrand the under-construction hunter-killer was thrown out last year as “woke nonsense” by Tory Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.