Office of the Historian

Abbreviations

  • A–1 (Skyraider), single engine propeller-driven attack plane with one crew member
  • A–1E, single engine propeller driven attack aircraft with two crew members
  • A–1H, single engine propeller driven attack aircraft
  • A–26, (Invader), twin engine propeller driven, World War II era attack aircraft with three crew members
  • A/A, AA, anti-aircraft; Air America
  • AAA, anti-aircraft artillery
  • AAM, Air America
  • AARMA, assistant army attache
  • ACS, air commando squadron
  • ACW, air commando wing
  • AD, air division
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AID, Agency for International Development
  • AIRA, air attache
  • ALO, air liaison officer
  • AOC, air operations center
  • AP, Associated Press
  • ARMA, Army Attache
  • ARS, air rescue squadron
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  • ASOC, Air Support Operations Center
  • B–52 (Statofortress), all weather, intercontinental, strategic heavy bomber with twin turbojet engines and a crew of six
  • B–57 (Canberra), twin engine turbot jet medium bomber with two crew members
  • Bango, codename for U.S, aircraft stationed at Ubon, Thailand, and placed on alert for response to requests from the air attache in Vientiane for interdiction or support of Royal Lao Armed Forces
  • BDA, bomb damage assessment
  • Barrel Roll, codename for interdiction and close air support operations in eastern Laos
  • BNA, Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs
  • bns, battalions
  • BOB, Bureau of the Budget
  • BR, Barrel Roll
  • BR/ST, Barrel Roll/Steel Tiger
  • C–7 (Caribou), twin engine, propeller driven, short takeoff and landing aircraft with three crew members
  • C–123, twin engine propeller driven, highwing transport aircraft
  • CAS, controlled American source
  • CBU, cluster bomb unit
  • CC, Communist China
  • CENTO, Central Treaty Organization
  • ChiComs, Chinese Communists
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CIAP, Inter-American Committee for the Alliance for Progress
  • CIDG, Citizens’ Irregular Defense Group
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • CINCPACAF, Commander in Chief, Pacific Air Force
  • CINCPACFLT, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet
  • CINCSAC, Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command
  • CINCUSARPAC, Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Pacific
  • CJCS, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • CM, chairman’s memorandum
  • COMUSMACV, Commander, U.S, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • CONUS, continental United States
  • CORDS, Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
  • CP, command post
  • CSAF, Chief of Staff, Air Force
  • CS, riot control gas
  • CT, Communist Thai
  • CY, calendar year
  • D/D, destroyed/damaged
  • DEPCHJUSMAG, Deputy Chief, Joint U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group
  • DEPCMDR, deputy commander
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DJSM, Director of the Joint Staff memorandum
  • DMZ, demilitarized zone
  • DNC, Directorate of National Coordination
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • DDO/EA, Deputy Directorate of Operations, East Asia, Central Intelligence Agency
  • Depcirtel, Department of State circular telegram
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DMZ, demilitarized zone
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DRV, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
  • DTG, date/time/group
  • Duck Soup, plan to intercept and destroy aircraft resupplying Pathet Lao/North Vietnamese forces in Laos
  • Dye Marker, anti-vehicular and anti-personnel campaign based primarily on mines and sensors
  • E &E, emergency evacuation
  • EA, East Asia
  • EAP, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • Embtel, Embassy telegram
  • ER, economic research
  • E.S.T., Eastern Standard Time
  • EXCOM, executive committee
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • F–4 (Phantom), twin engine turbojet, all weather, supersonic tactical fighter bomber with two crew
  • F–5 (Freedom Fighter), twin engine, turbot jet, supersonic light tactical fighter aircraft with one or two crew
  • F–100, single engine turbojet, supersonic aircraft
  • FA, Forces Armees (Armed Forces)
  • FAC, Forward Air Controllers
  • FAL, Forces Armees de Laos (Lao Armed Forces)
  • FAR, Forces Armees du Royaume (Royal Armed Forces)
  • Farmgate, codename for 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron based at Ben Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FE, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State
  • FEOF, foreign exchange operations fund
  • FW, free world
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • GM, Group Mobile (usually 3 infantry battalions and 1 105 mm howitzer)
  • GNU, Government of National Union
  • GVN, Government of Vietnam
  • H.E., His Excellency
  • H.H., His Highness
  • HQ, headquarters
  • ICC, International Control and Supervision Commission
  • IM, intelligence memorandum
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/RFE, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Research and Analysis for the Far East
  • IBRD, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • IO, Bureau of International Organizations Affairs, Department of State
  • IRG, Interdepartmental Review Group
  • ISA, International Security Affairs
  • IVS, International Volunteer Service
  • J–2, MACV, Intelligence, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • JCS, Joint Chief of Staff
  • JGS, Joint General Staff
  • JSCM, Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum
  • KIA, killed in action
  • KM, kilometer
  • L–19, single engine propeller driven, high wing light observation aircraft with one or two crew (later designated O–1 Bird Dog)
  • Leaping Lena, South Vietnamese Air Force drops of South Vietnamese intelligence gathering teams along the Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • L/FE, Assistant Legal Adviser, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs
  • Limdis, limited distribution
  • LOC, lines of communication
  • LPLA, Lao People’s Liberation Army
  • Lucky Dragon, U–2 aircraft reconnaissance of the borders of Laos and North and South Vietnam
  • MACSOG, Military Assistance Command, Studies and Observation Group
  • MACV, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • MAP, Military Assistance Program
  • MG, machine gun
  • MIA, missing in action
  • MILAD, military adviser
  • mm, millimeter
  • MOD, Ministry of Defense
  • MR, military region
  • MSQ, a radar navigation device
  • Muscles Shoals, air supported anti-vehicular and anti-personnel system using acoustic and seismic sensors (Igloo White after July 1968)
  • NARC, National Army Revolutionary Committee
  • NCO, non-commissioned officer
  • NE, northeast
  • NKP, Nakhom Phanom
  • NLF, National Liberation Front
  • NLHX, Neo Lao Hat Xat (political arm of the Pathet Lao)
  • nm, nautical mile
  • Nodis, no distribution
  • Noforn, no foreign distribution
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSAM, National Security Action memorandum
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NVA, NVNA, North Vietnamese Army
  • O–1 (Bird Dog), single engine propeller driven, high wing light observation aircraft with one or two crew
  • OASD/ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • OB, order of battle
  • OCI, Office of Current Intelligence
  • OP, OPLAN, operations plan
  • Opord, operations order
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • PACAF, Pacific, Air Force
  • PACOM, Pacific Command
  • PACFLT, Pacific Fleet
  • PARU, Police Aerial Resupply Unit
  • PAVN, People’s Army of Vietnam
  • PCA, positive control area
  • PD, Presidential determination
  • PDJ, Plain of Jars (Plaine des Jarres)
  • PF, Prairie Fire
  • PFAO, Prairie Fire Area of Operations
  • PL, Pathet Lao
  • PL/VM, Pathet Lao/Viet Minh
  • POLAD, political adviser
  • Popeye, plan for weather modification in Southeast Asia
  • POW, prisoner of war
  • Prairie Fire, air supported, U.S.-led South Vietnamese reconnaissance teams sent to seek targets and assess damage to the Ho Chi Minh Trail (formerly Shining Brass)
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • PRU, Provincial Reconnaissance Unit
  • PTT, post, telegraphs, and telephones,
  • QM, quartermaster
  • RB–57, B–57 aircraft modified for reconnaissance
  • RDC, Revolutionary Development Corps
  • recce, reconnaissance
  • RF–8 (Crusader), single engine turbojet supersonic jet fighter modified for reconnaissance
  • RF–101 (Voodoo), reconnaissance version of the F–101 twin engine turbojet aircraft with one crew member
  • RLAF, Royal Lao Air Force
  • RLG, Royal Lao Government
  • RO, Requirements Office
  • RT–28, T–28 aircraft modified for reconnaissance
  • RTA, Royal Thai Army
  • RTAF, Royal Thai Air Force
  • RTG, Royal Thai Government
  • RVNAF, Republic of Vietnam Air Force or Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State
  • SA, systems analysis
  • SACSA, Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities
  • SAR, search and rescue
  • SAW, special air warfare
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SEACOORD, Southeast Asia Coordinating Committee
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • Secto, indicator for telegrams from the Secretary of State
  • septel, separate telegram
  • Shinning Brass, air supported, U.S-led South Vietnamese intelligence probes of the Ho Chi Minh Trail (renamed Prairie Fire after March 1, 1967)
  • SIP, selected interdiction point
  • SLAM, seek-locate-annihilate-monitor; concept operation combining strategic air, tactical air, and Prairie Fire operation teams
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SOG, Studies and Observation Group
  • Southpaw, codename for a plan to conduct U.S. Special Forces-led raids into the Laos Panhandle using ARVN forces of one to three battalion strength
  • SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • S/LD, secret/limit distribution
  • SP, Souvanna Phouma
  • S/P, Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat of the Department of State
  • Steel Tiger, U.S. Air Force and Navy aerial interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • S/VN, Secretary of State’s Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • SWS, Seaboard World Services
  • T–28, single engine propeller driven 1950s era trainer, crew of two, modified for counterinsurgency warfare
  • Tally Ho, intensified interdiction campaign against the southern Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • TACAN, tactical air navigation (radio air navigation system)
  • Tiger Hound, codename for a task force, a sub-command of the 2d Air Division, responsible for interdiction in southeastern Laos
  • Tosec, indicator for telegrams to the Secretary of State
  • TS, Top Secret
  • TSQ–81, portable version of MSQ–77 (a radar navigation device)
  • U, unclassified
  • U–2, single engine, high altitude turbojet reconnaissance aircraft with one crew member
  • U–10 (Super Courier), single engine propeller driven short takeoff and landing aircraft with two crew and room for two passengers
  • UK, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • UN, United Nations
  • UPI, United Press International
  • USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development
  • USAF, U.S. Air Force
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USSF, United States Special Forces
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission at the United Nations
  • VC, Viet Cong
  • VN, Vietnam
  • VNAF, Vietnamese Air Force
  • VP, vice president
  • Water Pump, codename for Detachment 6, First Commando Wing (USAF)
  • Westpac, Western Pacific
  • Whiplash, codename for U.S. F–105 aircraft at Korat, Thailand, on alert for rapid response to requests from the Air Attache in Vientiane for interdiction and/or support of FAR
  • WIA, wounded in action
  • Yankee Team, U.S. Air Force and Navy air reconnaissance and suppressive fire for northern and southern Laos