Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

  • AA, anti-aircraft
  • AAA, anti-aircraft artillery
  • ADA, Americans for Democratic Action
  • AFC, Armed Forces Council
  • AFSC, American Friends Service Committee
  • AID, Agency for International Development
  • AIF, Automated Intelligence File
  • A–1H, Skyraider, single-engine attack aircraft
  • AKA, attack cargo ship
  • ammo, ammunition
  • AP, Associated Press
  • Arc Light, code name for U.S. B–52 bombing strikes in Southeast Asia
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  • ASAP, as soon as possible
  • Barrel Roll, U.S. air operations over northern Laos
  • BDA, bomb damage assessment
  • Bks, barracks
  • bldgs, buildings
  • BLT, battalion landing team
  • Blue Springs, code name for U.S. photoreconnaissance drone operations over North Vietnam
  • Blue Tree, code name for U.S. photoreconnaissance operations over North Vietnam
  • Bn, battalion
  • BOQ, Bachelor Officers’ Quarters
  • BTL, battalion
  • C, Confidential
  • CAP, series indicator for outgoing White House telegrams
  • CAS, controlled American source
  • CBU, cluster bomb unit
  • CG FMFPAC, Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • ChiCom, Chinese Communist
  • CIDG, Civilian Irregular Defense Group
  • Chieu Hoi, Government of South Vietnam’s repatriation program for the Viet Cong
  • CINC; C-in-C, Commander in Chief
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • CINCPACAF, Commander in Chief, United States Air Force, Pacific
  • CINCPACFLT, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet
  • CINCRVNAF, Commander in Chief, Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
  • CINCUSARPAC, Commander in Chief, United States Army, Pacific
  • CIP, Commercial Import Program
  • CJCS, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • CM, Chairman’s memorandum
  • COMUSKOREA, Commander, United States Forces, Korea
  • COMUSMACV, Commander, United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • conf, conference
  • CPFL, Contingency Planning Facilities List
  • CPR, Chinese People’s Republic
  • CTZ, corps tactical zone
  • CVT, Confederation of Vietnamese Trade
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • DDP, Deputy Director of Plans, Central Intelligence Agency
  • DEF, series indicator for telegrams from the Department of Defense
  • Dept, Department
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • DeSoto, code name for U.S. Navy destroyer patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin
  • DF, direction finding
  • DGNP, Director-General, National Police
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • dissem, dissemination
  • div, division
  • DJSM, Director of the Joint Staff memorandum
  • DMZ, Demilitarized Zone
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DRV, Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam
  • DSC, Distinguished Service Cross
  • DTG, date-time-group
  • Emb, Embassy
  • Embtel, Embassy telegram
  • ELINT, electronic intelligence
  • EST, Eastern Standard Time
  • ETA, estimated time of arrival
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/GER, Office of German Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
  • FE, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State
  • Flaming Dart, code name for retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam in February 1965
  • FNL, Front National de Liberation (National Liberation Front)
  • ForMin, Foreign Minister
  • FYI, for your information
  • G, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
  • GOB, Government of Burma
  • govt, government
  • GVN, Government of (South) Vietnam
  • H-H, Hanoi and Haiphong
  • HK, Hong Kong
  • HMG, Her Majesty’s Government
  • HNC, High National Council
  • Hop Tac, Government of Vietnam program for pacification of Saigon and surrounding provinces
  • HQ, headquarters
  • ICC, International Control Commission
  • ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross
  • IL-28, Soviet-made light bomber based in North Vietnam
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • IR, infrared
  • ISA, Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum
  • JGS, Joint General Staff, Vietnamese Armed Forces
  • KIA, killed in action
  • KY-9, secure telephone line
  • L, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson
  • Limdis, limited distribution
  • LOC, line of communication
  • log, logistic
  • LOR, distribution indicator for closely held exchange of telegrams between the President and Ambassador Taylor
  • LSD, dock landing ship
  • LSM, landing craft, mechanized
  • Lucky Dragon, code name for high altitude U.S. reconnaissance operations over Southeast Asia
  • MAB, Marine Amphibious Battalion; Mobile Air Brigade
  • MACV, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • MAF, Marine Amphibious Force
  • MAROPS, Maritime Operations
  • MATS, Military Air Transport Service
  • MCC, Military-Civilian Council
  • MEB, Marine Expeditionary Brigade
  • MFA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • MiG, Soviet-built fighter aircraft
  • MLF, Multilateral Force
  • MM, millimeter
  • MP, Military Police; Member of Parliament
  • MTU 79.3.5, U.S. Marine unit at Danang as of January 1, 1965
  • Natl Cap, national capacity
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NBC, National Broadcasting Corporation
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NLC, National Leadership Council
  • NLF, National Liberation Front
  • NM, nautical mile
  • NMCC, National Military Command Center
  • Nodis, no distribution
  • Noforn, no foreign dissemination
  • NOTAL, indication that a reference telegram was not sent to all addressees
  • NSAM, National Security Action Memorandum
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NVN, North Vietnam
  • OCI, Office of Current Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
  • ONE, Office of National Estimates, Central Intelligence Agency
  • OPLAN, operation plan
  • OPLAN 34A, operation plan for covert operations against North Vietnam
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • PACOM, Pacific Command
  • PAO, Public Affairs Officer
  • para, paragraph
  • PAVN, People’s Army of North Vietnam
  • Pinta, code name for U.S. peace negotiations during the 37-day bombing pause
  • PIO, Public Information Officer
  • PL, Pathet Lao; Public Law
  • POL, petroleum, oil, lubricants
  • POLAD, Political Adviser
  • PolAffs, Political Affairs
  • PNG, persona non grata
  • Pres, President
  • PriMin, Prime Minister
  • PsyWar, psychological warfare
  • PT, patrol
  • PW, prisoners of war
  • RCT, Regimental Combat Team
  • recce, reconnaissance
  • ref, reference
  • reftel, reference telegram
  • Rep, Representative
  • ret, retired
  • RG, Record Group
  • RKG, Royal Khmer Government
  • RLAF, Royal Laotian Air Force
  • RLG, Royal Laotian Government
  • ROK, Republic of Korea
  • Rolling Thunder, code name for long-running program of U.S. air operations in North Vietnam
  • RR, railroad
  • RRU, Radio Research Unit
  • RT, Rolling Thunder
  • Rupert, code name for Mai Van Bo
  • RVN, Republic of Vietnam
  • RVNAF, Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State
  • SA–2, Soviet-made surface-to-air missile
  • SAC, Strategic Air Command
  • S/AL, Office of the Ambassador at Large
  • SAM, surface-to-air missile
  • SAR, search and rescue
  • SC, United Nations Security Council
  • SE, Southeast
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SEACOORD, Southeast Asia Coordinating Committee
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • SecGen, Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • Secto, series indicator for telegrams from the Secretary of State while away from Washington
  • septel, separate telegram
  • SLF, Special Landing Force
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SOG, Studies and Observation Group
  • Sov, Soviet
  • sqdns, squadrons
  • S/P, Policy Planning Council or Staff, Department of State
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • Steel Tiger, code name for air strikes against the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • SYG, United Nations Secretary-General
  • TASS, tactical air support squadron; Telegraphnoye Agentstvo Sovyetskovo Soyuza (Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union)
  • Thich, Venerable (title for Buddhist monk)
  • TOT, Time Over Target
  • U, Unclassified; Office of the Under Secretary of State
  • UAR, United Arab Republic
  • UBA, Unified Buddhist Association
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNMIS, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • UNSC, United Nations Security Council
  • UNSYG, United Nations Secretary-General
  • UPI, United Press International
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USASCV, U.S. Army Support Command, Vietnam
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USIS, United States Information Service
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USOM, United States Operations Mission
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • VC, Viet Cong
  • VM, Viet Minh
  • VN, Vietnam
  • VNAF, South Vietnamese Air Force
  • Westy, General William C. Westmoreland
  • WH, White House
  • WNRC, Washington National Records Center
  • XYZ, code name for unofficial U.S. contacts with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam through Mai Van Bo
  • Z, Zulu Time (Greenwich Mean Time)