Brightest star first in list including Charlie and Mike (5)

I believe the answer is:

alpha

I believe this is a double definition.

'brightest star' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)

'first in list including charlie and mike' is the second definition.
(alpha, bravo, charlie... phonetic alphabet)

(Other definitions for alpha that I've seen before include "A for Aristophanes!" , "Foremost" , "European character" , "- - and Omega" , "letter written in Greek" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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