Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

  • AAM, air-to-air missile
  • ABM, anti-ballistic missile
  • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/D, Office of the Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/DD, Office of the Deputy Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/IR, International Relations Bureau, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • AD, assured destruction
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AG, Attorney General
  • AP, Associated Press
  • ARA, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
  • ASA, anti-submarine aircraft
  • ASD (A), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Administration)
  • ASD (I), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Intelligence)
  • ASD (SA), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis)
  • ASM, air-to-surface missile
  • ASW, antisubmarine warfare
  • backchannel, a method of communication outside normal bureaucratic procedure; the White House, for instance, used “backchannel” messages to bypass the Department of State
  • BOB, Bureau of the Budget
  • BMD, ballistic missile defense
  • BMEWS, ballistic missile early warning system
  • BNSP, basic national security policy
  • BR, biological (bacteriological) research
  • BRDP, Blue Ribbon Defense Panel
  • BW, biological (bacteriological) warfare
  • CASP, Country Analysis and Strategy Paper
  • CBW, chemical and biological (bacteriological) warfare
  • CC–CPSU, Central Committee, Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • CCD, Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
  • CCP, Consolidated Cryptologic Program
  • CDIP, Consolidated Defense Intelligence Program
  • CEA, Council of Economic Advisers
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CIEP, Council on International Economic Policy
  • CIP, Consolidated Intelligence Program
  • CL, classified
  • COMINT, communications intelligence
  • Comite, committee
  • COMSEC, communications security
  • CONUS, Continental United States
  • CPR, Chinese People’s Republic
  • CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • CTB, Comprehensive Test Ban
  • CW, chemical warfare
  • CY, calendar year
  • D/DCI/IC, Deputy to the Director of Central Intelligence for the Intelligence Community
  • D/DCI/NIPE, Deputy to the Director of Central Intelligence for National Intelligence Programs Evaluation
  • DEFCON, defense readiness condition
  • D/INR, Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • D/NRO, Director, National Reconnaissance Office
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCID, Director of Central Intelligence Directive
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • DD/P, Deputy Director for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency
  • DD/S&T, Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Central Intelligence Agency
  • DDC, Office of the Deputy Director for Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • DDCI, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
  • DDI, Deputy Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
  • DDO/IMS, Deputy Director for Operations/Information Management Staff, Central Intelligence Agency
  • DDR&E, Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Department of Defense
  • Del, delegate
  • Dept, Department
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • DG, Director General of the Foreign Service, Department of State
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DIRNSA, Director, National Security Agency
  • DIS, Defense Investigative Service
  • Dissem, dissemination
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • Dog House Radars, large phased array radars deployed near Moscow at Naro-Fominsk that functioned much like the Perimeter Acquisition Radar of the U.S. Sentinel/Safeguard ABM system.
  • DOS, Department of State
  • DPRC, Defense Program Review Committee
  • E, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Department of State; John Ehrlichman
  • ELINT, electronic intelligence
  • ELR, Elliot L. Richardson
  • ENDC, Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee
  • ENDC/CCD, Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
  • Endo-atmospheric penetration aid,type of interceptor that distinguishes a target in the endo-atmospheric range
  • EOB, Executive Office Building
  • EPA, Environmental Protection Agency
  • EST, Eastern Standard Time
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EURATOM, European Atomic Energy Community
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • Exo-atmospheric penaid,type of interceptor that distinguishes a target in the exo-atmospheric range.
  • F.R., Federal Register
  • FBA, forward based aircraft
  • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
  • FOBS, fractional orbital bombardment missile systems
  • FonMin, Foreign Ministry
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • FRC, Federal Records Center
  • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany
  • FSO, Foreign Service Officer
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • G, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
  • GAC, General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament
  • G/PM, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs
  • GC, General Counsel
  • H, Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations
  • HAK, Henry A. Kissinger
  • Henhouse, Soviet large phased-array, early warning radars
  • HSD, hard site defense
  • HUMINT, human intelligence
  • IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency
  • ICBM, inter-continental ballistic missile
  • ICC, International Control Commission
  • ICJ, International Court of Justice
  • IDA, Institute for Defense Analysis
  • IG, Interdepartmental Group
  • IG/EUR, Interdepartmental Group for Europe
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/DDC, Office of the Deputy Director for Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/IL, Intelligence Liaison, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • IOC, initial operational capability
  • IPMG, Interdepartmental Political-Military Group
  • IR, intermediate range ballistic missile
  • IRBM, intermediate range ballistic missile
  • IRG, Interdepartmental Regional Group
  • ISA, Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • J/PM, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • K, Kissinger
  • L, Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • LANFZ, Latin American Nuclear Free Zone
  • Limdis, Limited Distribution
  • LOC, lines of communication
  • LTBT, Limited Test Ban Treaty
  • M, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Department of State
  • MARC, modern ABM radar complex
  • MBFR, mutual balanced force reductions
  • Mbr, member
  • ME, Middle East
  • memcon, memorandum of conversation
  • MIRV, multiple independently-targeted reentry vehicle
  • Misoff, Mission Officer
  • MM, Minuteman Missile, a land-based ICBM deployed in hard silos
  • MMIII, Minuteman III, improved version of MM, capable of carrying MIRVs
  • MLBM, modern large ballistic missile
  • MLF, multilateral force
  • MR, memorandum for the record; medium range ballistic missile
  • MRBM, medium-range ballistic missile
  • MRV, multiple reentry vehicle
  • MSR, missile site radar
  • Mtg, meeting
  • NAC, North Atlantic Council
  • NAS, National Academy of Sciences
  • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NCA, National Command Authority
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NIRB, National Intelligence Resources Board
  • Nodis, no distribution
  • Noforn, not releasable to foreign nationals
  • NPG, NATO Nuclear Planning Group
  • NPT, Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • NRO, National Reconnaissance Office
  • NRP, National Reconnaissance Program
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NSC/OCB, National Security Council, Operations Coordinating Board
  • NSCID, National Security Council Intelligence Directive
  • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
  • NSF, National Science Foundation
  • NSSM, National Security Study Memorandum
  • NUF, non-use of force
  • O, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration
  • O/DDI, Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
  • OAS, Organization of American States
  • OASD, ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs
  • OASD, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • OASD, SA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Systems Analysis
  • OEP, Office of Emergency Preparedness
  • OLPARS, other large phased array radars
  • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
  • ONE, Office of National Estimates
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OSI, Office of Scientific Intelligence; on site inspection
  • OST, Office of Science and Technology
  • P, Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State
  • P, President
  • P.L., public law
  • PAR, perimeter acquisition radar
  • Para, paragraph
  • PDB, President’s Daily Brief
  • Pen aids, penetration aids
  • PFIAB, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
  • PHOTINT, photo intelligence
  • PM, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • PM/ISP, Office of International Security Policy and Planning, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • PMG, Politico-Military Group
  • PNE, peaceful nuclear explosion
  • Polad, political adviser
  • Poseidon C–3, submarine launched ballistic missile designed to carry twice the payload of the Polaris A–3 with improved accuracy
  • PPBS, Planning-Programming-Budgeting System
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • Pres, President
  • PSAC, President’s Science Advisory Committee
  • R&D, research and development
  • RDT&E, research, development, test, and evaluation
  • reftel, reference telegram
  • RG, record group; review group
  • RMN, Richard M. Nixon
  • RN, Richard M. Nixon
  • RV, reentry vehicle
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State
  • S/P, Policy Planning Council or Staff, Department of State
  • S/PC, Planning and Coordination Staff, Department of State
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • S/S–I, Information Section, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • SAC, Strategic Air Command
  • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
  • SAM, Surface to Air Missile
  • SBBM, sea-based ballistic missile
  • SC, Security Council
  • SCI, Office of International Scientific and Technological Affairs, Department of State
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SecDef, Secretary of Defense
  • Septel, separate telegram
  • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • SG, Safeguard
  • SIG, Senior Interdepartmental Group
  • SIGINT, signals intelligence
  • SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
  • Skybolt, air-launched ballistic missile
  • SL, submarine launcher
  • SLBM, submarine launched ballistic missile
  • SLCM, submarine launched cruise missile
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SOP, standard operating procedure
  • SOSUS, sound surveillance undersea system
  • SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State; Country Director, Soviet Union, Bureau of European Affairs
  • SRG, Senior Review Group
  • SS–9, Soviet ICBM the high accuracy of which made it a threat to U.S. ICBMs
  • SS–11, Soviet ICBM; Soviet counterpart to the U.S. Minuteman system in quantity, size, and purpose, believed effective only against soft targets
  • SSBN, nuclear ballistic missile submarine
  • SSN, nuclear submarine
  • SSR, Soviet Socialist Republic
  • SU, Soviet Union
  • SUBROC, submarine rocket
  • SWWA, Stop-Where-We-Are proposal of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency on SALT
  • SYG, Secretary General, United Nations
  • Tallin, a system of radars and interceptors believed to have had ballistic missile defense capabilities. Named for the Estonian capital where it first appeared
  • TASS, Telegrafnoye Agentsvo Sovetskogo Soiuza (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union)
  • TEL, transporter-erector-launcher
  • TIAS, Treaties and other International Acts Series
  • Titan, a family of weapons and the first U.S. two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM
  • Try Add Radars, mechanically steered battle-management missile guidance radars; A component of the Moscow ABM-system
  • TS, Top Secret
  • U, Office of the Under Secretary of State; Under Secretary of State
  • U/SM, Under Secretaries Memorandum
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • ULM, undersea long range missile
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • US, United States
  • USA, United States Army
  • USAEC, United States Atomic Energy Commission
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USC, NSC Under Secretaries Committee
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USIS, United States Information Service
  • USMC, United States Marine Corps
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • VOA, Voice of America
  • VP, Verification Panel
  • WDC, World Disarmament Conference
  • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich mean time)