Office of the Historian

List of abbreviations, symbols, and code names

Editor’s Note.—This list does not include standard abbreviations in common usage; unusual abbreviations of rare occurrence which are clarified at appropriate points; and those abbreviations and contractions which, although uncommon, are understandable from the context.

  • A, air gram
  • A–2, intelligence evaluation rating indicating that the source is reliable and the information supplied probably true
  • AC, Allied Commission; Air Corps
  • ACC, Allied Control Commission; Allied Control Council
  • adm, administrative
  • admin, administration
  • AF, Division of African Affairs, Department of State
  • AFHQ, Allied Force Headquarters (Caserta, Italy)
  • AGD, Adjutant General’s Department
  • AGWar, Adjutant General, War Department
  • AHS, Adolf Hitler Schools
  • AM, Allied military
  • Amb, Ambassador
  • AmCross, American Red Cross
  • AMG, Allied Military Government
  • AmPolAd, American Political Adviser
  • Ampolad, communications indicator
  • AmReps, American Representatives
  • Argonaut, code name for the Yalta Conference, February 4–11, 1945
  • asst, assistant
  • ATC, Air Transport Command
  • AUS, Army of the United States
  • AusPolAd, United States Political Adviser for Austrian Affairs
  • auths, authorities
  • AVNOJ, Anti-Fascist Assembly of National Liberation of Yugoslavia
  • BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation
  • BCOS, British Chiefs of Staff
  • BD, barrels per day
  • BritEmb, British Embassy
  • BritGovt, British Government
  • CAC, document symbol used by a Country and Area Committee, Department of State; Coast Artillery Corps
  • caps, capitals
  • CC, Control Council; document symbol used by the Coordinating Committee, Department of State, and by the Office of the Chief Commissioner, Allied Commission (for Italy); military communications indicator
  • CCk, Chief Cook
  • CCS, Combined (American and British) Chiefs of Staff; document symbol used by the Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • CG, Commanding General
  • CinC, Commander(s) in Chief
  • CM–in, classified message—incoming
  • CO, Commanding Officer
  • Comea, communications indicator used on messages concerning the European Advisory Commission
  • ComGenMed, Commanding General, Mediterranean
  • Coronet, code name for the second phase of the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands
  • COS, Chiefs of Staff
  • CPhoM, Chief Photographer’s Mate
  • CPRB, Combined (American and British) Production and Resources Board
  • CRAB, Combined (American and British) Resources Allocation Board
  • CSAB, Combined (American and British) Shipping Adjustment Boards
  • CSt, Chief Steward
  • del, delegation
  • Depcirtels, Department’s circular telegrams
  • Dept, Department (usually the Department of State)
  • Deptel, Department’s telegram
  • Deptstel, Department’s telegram
  • div(s), division(s)
  • DP, displaced persons
  • EAC, European Advisory Commission
  • EAM, National Liberation Front (Greece)
  • ECITO, European Central Inland Transport Organization
  • ECO, European Coal Organization
  • EDES, Greek Democratic National League
  • EECE, Emergency Economic Committee, Europe
  • ELAS, National Popular Liberation Army (Greece)
  • EM, enlisted men
  • Emb, Embassy
  • Embstel, Embassy’s telegram
  • Embtel, Embassy’s telegram
  • Emtel, Embassy’s telegram
  • ETA, estimated time of arrival
  • ETOUSA, European Theater of Operations, United States Army
  • EUR, Office of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EW, European War
  • Eyes Only, communications indicator used on messages which were to receive extremely limited distribution
  • FAA, First Airborne Army
  • Facs, military communications indicator
  • Fan, military communications indicator
  • FEA, Foreign Economic Administration
  • FF, Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
  • FO, Foreign Office
  • FonAffs, Foreign Affairs
  • FonAffairs, Foreign Affairs
  • FonMin(s), Foreign Minister(s)
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • ForMin, Foreign Minister
  • FornOff, Foreign Office
  • ForOff, Foreign Office
  • fwd, forward
  • Fwd, military communications indicator
  • FX, military communications indicator
  • Fxcs, military communications indicator
  • G–4, Army general staff section dealing with supply at the divisional or higher level
  • G–5, Army general or special staff section dealing with civil affairs at the divisional or higher level
  • GCT, General Convention on Tangier
  • GHQs, general headquarters
  • Gks, Greeks
  • Grk, Greek
  • H, document symbol used by the Office of Special Political Affairs, Department of State
  • HJ, Hitler Youth
  • HMG, His Majesty’s Government (United Kingdom)
  • HQ,HQs, headquarters
  • ILO, International Labor Organization
  • inf, infantry
  • info, information; for information; for the information of
  • IPCOG, Informal Policy Committee on Germany; document symbol used by that Committee
  • IRDP, Rumanian Petroleum Enterprise
  • ISO, international security organization, i. e., the United Nations
  • JCS, Joint (United States Army and Navy) Chiefs of Staff; document symbol used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • KKE, Communist Party of Greece
  • LCPRB, document symbol used by the London Branch of the Combined (American and British) Production and Resources Board
  • Lockup, code name for special handling of messages to the United States Military Mission in the Soviet Union relating to the war against Japan
  • L/T, Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs, Department of State
  • M, military communications indicator
  • ME, Division of Middle Eastern Affairs, Department of State
  • Med, Mediterranean
  • MESC, Middle East Supply Center
  • MEW, Ministry of Economic Warfare (United Kingdom)
  • MEWFO, Ministry of Economic Warfare and Foreign Office (United Kingdom)
  • mid, midnight
  • mil, military; million
  • MilAtt, Military Attaché
  • Milepost, code name referring to stockpiling of supplies in eastern Siberia for the use of Soviet forces in the war against Japan
  • MilMis, Military Mission
  • Min, Minister
  • MinFonAff, Minister of (or for) Foreign Affairs
  • MR, Map Room at the White House (served as the communications center for the President)
  • MR-in, Map Room message—incoming
  • MR–out, Map Room message—outgoing
  • msg, message
  • M/Sgt, Master Sergeant
  • MTOUSA, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army
  • MX, military communications indicator
  • mytel, my telegram
  • Naf, military communications indicator
  • NAJEB, North African Joint Economic Board
  • NAPOLAS, National Political Education Institutes (Germany)
  • NCO, non-commissioned officer
  • NDF, National Democratic Front (Rumania)
  • NEA, Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, Department of State
  • Niact, communications indicator requiring attention by the recipient at any hour of the day or night
  • NKVD, People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Soviet Union)
  • nr, number
  • NSDAP, National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party)
  • Octagon, code name for the Second Quebec Conference, September 11–16, 1944
  • Olympic, code name for the assault on Kyushu, scheduled for March 1, 1946
  • ONA, Overseas News Agency
  • OpDiv, Operations Division, War Department General Staff
  • OpNav, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
  • OR, other ranks, i. e., enlisted men
  • OSS, Office of Strategic Services
  • OWI, Office of War Information
  • OZNA, Division for People’s Defense (the Yugoslav secret police)
  • para, paragraph
  • PAW, Petroleum Administration for War
  • PEITO, Provisional European Inland Transport Organization
  • PGC, Persian Gulf Command
  • pgh, paragraph
  • Polco, communications indicator used on messages relating to the work of the Polish Commission at Moscow
  • POW, prisoner of war
  • PriMin, Prime Minister
  • RAF, Royal Air Force (United Kingdom)
  • recce, reconnaissance
  • recd, received
  • reDept(s), regarding the Department of State’s (telegram or instruction)
  • reDeptel, regarding the Department of State’s telegram
  • reEmbs, regarding the Embassy’s (telegram or despatch)
  • reEmbtel, regarding the Embassy’s telegram
  • reftel, telegram under reference
  • refteleg, telegram under reference
  • reg, regency
  • reLegtels, regarding the Legation’s telegrams
  • rep(s), representative(s)
  • rept(d), repeat(ed)
  • reurtel, regarding your telegram
  • RM, Reichsmarks
  • rpd, repeated
  • rpt, repeat; repeated; reported
  • rptd, repeated
  • S, military communications indicator; Seite (page)
  • SA, National Socialist Storm Troops (Germany)
  • SAC, Supreme Allied Commander
  • SACMed, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean
  • SACSEA, Supreme Allied Commander, Southeast Asia
  • S/AE, Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Disarmament and Atomic Energy
  • Safehaven, code name for the United States program to forestall German attempts to hide assets outside Germany, particularly in European neutral countries
  • SARDEP, Rumanian Petroleum Company
  • SARPetrol, Rumanian Petroleum Company
  • SC, document symbol used by the Secretary’s Staff Committee, Department of State
  • SCAEF, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force
  • Scaf, military communications indicator
  • SD, Security Service of the National Socialist Elite Guard (Germany)
  • SEAC, Southeast Asia Command
  • sec, secret; section
  • SecState, Secretary of State
  • Secy, Secretary
  • sgd, signed
  • Sgs, military communications indicator
  • SHAEF, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force
  • SM, Secretariat memorandum, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • SovFonOff, Soviet Foreign Office
  • SovGovt, Soviet Government
  • SS, National Socialist Elite Guard (Germany)
  • Stlc, Steward First Class
  • Stat, United States Statutes at Large
  • SWNCC, document symbol used by the State–War–Navy Coordinating Committee
  • SWPA, Southwest Pacific Area
  • TA. See Tube Alloys
  • TANYUG, Telegraphic Agency of New Yugoslavia
  • TASS, Telegraphic Agency of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • Terminal, code name for the Berlin Conference, July 16–August 2, 1945
  • topsec, top secret
  • TransPetrol, Transylvania Petroleum Company
  • TRC, Office of Transport and Communications Policy, Department of State
  • tt, thousand tons
  • Tube Alloys, code name for atomic energy research and development
  • UJ, Uncle Joe, i. e., Stalin
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UMA, United Maritime Authority
  • UNCIO, United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, April 25–June 26, 1945
  • UNRRA, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
  • urtel, your telegram
  • USFET, United States Forces, European Theater
  • USG, United States Government
  • USPolAd, United States Political Adviser
  • V, military communications indicator
  • v, vide (see)
  • V–E Day, the day of Allied victory in Europe
  • VG, Venezia Giulia
  • Victory, communications indicator used on outgoing messages from the United States Delegation at the Berlin Conference (a Victory–in number was also assigned to incoming messages)
  • VIP, very important person
  • V–J Day, the day of Japanese capitulation
  • VLR, very long range
  • W, military communications indicator
  • War, military communications indicator
  • WarCAD, Civil Affairs Division, War Department Special Staff
  • WarCOS, Chief of Staff, United States Army
  • WarOff, War Office (United Kingdom)
  • WX, military communications indicator
  • Z, time indicator (the four digits immediately preceding the indicator give the hour at which the message in question was sent, expressed in “Zebra” time, i. e., Greenwich Civil Time—e. g., 231350Z represents 1350 hours, or 1:50 p.m., Greenwich Civil Time, on the 23d day of an unspecified month)
  • Zecho, Czechoslovak; Czechoslovakia