Office of the Historian

List of Abbreviations and Symbol

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.

  • AA, anti-aircraft
  • ABN, airborne
  • AC, aircraft
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AF, Air Force
  • AFFE, Armed Forces Far East
  • AFOIN, Air Force Office of Intelligence
  • AFP, Agence France Presse
  • ALUSNA, United States Naval Attaché
  • ANZUS, Australia, New Zealand, United States
  • AP, Associated Press
  • AR, Annual Review (NATO)
  • ARK, Royal Cambodian Army
  • ARMA, Army Attaché
  • ARS, Action Républicaine et Sociale, French political party
  • AS, Associated States
  • ASF, Associated States Forces
  • ASIC, Associated States of Indochina
  • BN, battalion
  • BNA, Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs, Department of State
  • C, Office of the Counselor of the Department of State
  • CAS, controlled American source
  • CAT, Civil Air Transport
  • CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System
  • CCAF, Chinese Communist Air Force
  • CCF, Chinese Communist Forces
  • CF, Conference File
  • CFM, Council of Foreign Ministers
  • CG, Commanding General
  • CGUSAF, Commanding General, United States Air Force
  • Chi, Chinese
  • ChiCom, Chinese Communist
  • Chi Commie(s), Chinese Communist(s)
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • C-in-C, CINC, Commander in Chief
  • CINCUSAFE, Commander in Chief, United States Air Force Europe
  • CINCFE, Commander in Chief, Far East
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • CINCUNC, Commander in Chief, United Nations Command
  • circ, circular
  • cirtel, circular telegram
  • CNO, Chief of Naval Operations
  • CO, company
  • COCOM, Coordinating Committee on export controls, located in Paris
  • Codel, telegram series indicator for Congressional and Vice Presidential delegation travel
  • com, communications
  • Commie(s), Communist(s)
  • COMREP, Commissioner-Representative
  • ConGen, Consul General
  • Contel, Consulate telegram
  • Cotel, country team telegram
  • CP, Command Post; Communist Party
  • CPF, French Communist Party
  • CSA (CSUSA), Chief of Staff, United States Army
  • CY, calendar year
  • DA, Department of the Army
  • DBP, Dien Bien Phu
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • DefMin, Defense Minister
  • Depcirtel, Department of State circular telegram
  • DEPTAR, Department of the Army
  • Deptel, Department telegram
  • Div, division
  • DMS, Director of the Mutual Security Agency
  • DRV, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
  • Dulte, primarily a series indicator for telegrams from Secretary of State Dulles while absent from Washington; also used as series indicator for telegrams to him from the head of the United States Delegation at an international conference.
  • E, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Department of State
  • ECA, Economic Cooperation Administration
  • EDC, European Defense Community
  • ELaC, United States designation for documentation related to discussions with General Paul Ely, French High Commissioner and Commander in Chief in Indochina, and Guy La Chambre, Minister in Charge of Relations with the Associated States, at Washington, September 1954
  • Emb, Embassy
  • Embdesp, Embassy despatch
  • Embtel, Embassy telegram
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/P, Public Affairs Adviser, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • FAF, French Air Force
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
  • FE, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State
  • FEACOM, Far East Command
  • FEAF, Far East Air Forces
  • FEC, French Expeditionary Corps
  • FECOM, Far East Command
  • FHA, Federal Housing Administration
  • FOA, Foreign Operations Administration
  • FOA/W, headquarters of the Foreign Operations Administration in Washington
  • FonAff, Foreign Affairs
  • FonMin, Foreign Minister
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • FPT, French political talks; United States designation for documentation related to discussions with René Mayer, Premier of France, at Washington, in March 1953
  • FRC, Federal Records Center
  • FSO, Foreign Service Officer
  • FTEO, French forces in the Far East
  • FVA, Free Vietnam Army
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • G, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of State
  • G–2, Army general staff section dealing with intelligence at the divisional or higher level
  • G–3, Army general staff section dealing with operations and training at the divisional or higher level
  • GA, General Assembly of the United Nations
  • Gamos, pacification units employed by the State of Vietnam
  • GCA, ground-controlled approach
  • Gento, series indicator for telegrams from Defense representatives at the Geneva Conference to the Department of Defense
  • GHQ, General Headquarters
  • GM, groupe mobile, French regimental combat team
  • GMC, General Motors Corporation
  • GNP, Gross National Product
  • GOI, Government of India
  • GOP, Government of Pakistan
  • HC, High Commissioner
  • HCM, Ho Chi Minh
  • HICOM, High Commissioner
  • HM, His Majesty
  • HMG, Her (His) Majesty’s Government (of the United Kingdom)
  • IAC, Intelligence Advisory Committee
  • IBRD, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • IC, Indochina
  • ICC, International Control Commission
  • IE, Intelligence Estimate (Department of State)
  • IMF, International Monetary Fund
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • IS, International Staff (NATO)
  • ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • KMAG (KMAAG), United States Military Advisory Group to the Republic of Korea
  • L, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • LAT, United States designation for documentation related to discussions with Jean Letourneau, French Minister in Charge of Relations with the Associated States and High Commissioner in Indochina, at Washington, in March 1953
  • Legtel, Legation telegram
  • LFT, United States designation for documentation related to discussions with Jean Letourneau, French Minister in Charge of Relations with the Associated States and High Commissioner in Indochina, at Washington, in June 1952
  • LOC, line of communication
  • LST, landing ship, tank
  • MAAC, Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee
  • MAAG, Military Assistance Advisory Group
  • MAG, Military Advisory Group
  • maint, maintenance
  • MATS, Military Air Transport Service
  • MDA, Mutual Defense Assistance
  • MDAP, Mutual Defense Assistance Program
  • MEA, Ministry of External Affairs
  • med, medical
  • MilAtt, Military Attaché
  • MIN, minute
  • MN, Monetary Affairs Staff, Department of State
  • MRP, Mouvement Républicain Populaire, French political party
  • MSA, Mutual Security Act (of 1951); Mutual Security Agency; Mutual Security Assistance
  • MSA/W, Mutual Security Agency, Washington
  • msg, message
  • MSP, Mutual Security Program
  • Musto, series indicator for telegrams from the Mutual Security Agency in Washington to its missions abroad
  • mytel, my telegram
  • NA, Office of Northeast Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • NAC, National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems; North Atlantic Council
  • NAT, North Atlantic Treaty
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NCO, noncommissioned officer
  • niact, night action, communications indicator requiring attention by the recipient at any hour of the day or night
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • noforn, no foreign dissemination
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NZ, New Zealand
  • O, Office of the Under Secretary of State for Administration
  • OARMA, Series indicator for telegrams from the Office of the Army Attaché
  • OCB, Operations Coordinating Board
  • ODM, Office of Defense Mobilization
  • OIR/DRF, Division of Research for the Far East, Office of Intelligence Research, Department of State
  • OMA, Office of Military Assistance, Department of Defense
  • ON, Office of News, Department of State
  • ONI, Office of Naval Intelligence
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OSP, offshore procurement
  • P, Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State
  • PAO, Public Affairs Officer
  • PM, Prime Minister
  • POC, Peace Observation Commission
  • POL, petroleum, oil, lubricants
  • PriMin, Prime Minister
  • PPS, Policy Planning Staff, Department of State
  • PSA, Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • PSB, Psychological Strategy Board
  • PW, prisoner of war
  • R, Office of the Special Assistant for Intelligence, Department of State
  • RA, Office of European Regional Affairs, Department of State
  • RAF, Royal Air Force
  • RC, Route Coloniale
  • rcn, reconnaissance
  • RCT, regimental combat team
  • reftel, reference telegram
  • regt, regiment
  • ResMin, Resident Minister
  • ROK, Republic of Korea
  • RGR, Rassemblement de Gauche Républicain (Assembly of the Republican Left), French political party
  • RPF, Rassemblement du Peuple Français (Assembly of the French People), French political party
  • RTC, Replacement Training Center
  • SAC, Supreme Allied Commander
  • SC, Security Council of the United Nations
  • SCAP, Supreme Commander Allied Powers
  • SCEM, signing ceremonies in Europe; United States designation for documentation related to bipartite and tripartite meetings of the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States at Paris in May 1952
  • SDECE, Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionage, the French foreign intelligence service
  • SE, Special Estimate
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SEAP, letters standing for “Southeast Asia Pact” were used as a series indicator for documents circulated in preparation for the Manila Conference
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • Secto, series indicator for telegrams to the Department of State from the Secretary of State (or his delegation) in connection with international conferences
  • SFIO, Section Française de l’Internationale Ouvrière, the French Socialist Party
  • SHAPE, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
  • SIG, signal
  • Sitrep, situation report
  • S/MSA, Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Mutual Security Affairs
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SOA, Office of South Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • S/P, Policy Planning Staff, Department of State
  • S/S, the Executive Secretariat of the Department of State
  • S/S–RO, Reports and Operations Staff, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • S/S–S, Committee Secretariat Staff, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • STEM, United States Special Technical and Economic Mission
  • STF, United States designation for documentation related to bilateral talks with French officials during the Washington Foreign Ministers meeting of July 1953
  • SYG, Secretary-General
  • TAC, Tactical Air Command
  • TC, Division of Language Services, Department of State
  • TCA, Technical Cooperation Administration, Department of State
  • Tedul, primarily a series indicator for telegrams to Secretary of State Dulles while absent from Washington; also used as series indicator for telegrams from Dulles to the head of the United States Delegation at an international conference
  • Telac, series indicator for telegrams to Secretary of State Acheson during absences from Washington
  • TIAS, Treaties and Other International Acts Series
  • TO, Table of Organization
  • Tomac, series indicator for telegrams to the United States Delegation at the Tripartite Working Group in Paris, October–December 1953
  • Tomus, series indicator for telegrams to the Mutual Security Agency in Washington from its missions abroad
  • Tosec, series indicator for telegrams from the Department of State to the Secretary of State (or his delegation) in connection with international conferences
  • Tousfo, series indicator for telegrams and airgrams to the Foreign Operations Administration from missions abroad (see Usfoto)
  • trans, transportation
  • TS, Top Secret
  • USDR, Union Démocratique et Socialiste de la Résistance, French political party
  • UMDC, a Catholic militia organization in South Vietnam
  • UNA, Bureau of United Nations Affairs, Department of State
  • UNC, United Nations Command
  • UNCURK, United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • UNO, United Nations Organization
  • UNP, Office of United Nations Political and Security Affairs, Department of State
  • UNTS, United Nations Treaty Series
  • UP, United Press
  • URAS, Union des Républicians d’Action Sociale, French political party
  • urtel, your telegram
  • USA, United States Army
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USARMA, United States Army Attaché
  • USDel, United States Delegation
  • Usfoto, series indicator for telegrams and airgrams from Foreign Operations Administration to missions abroad (see Tousfo)
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIS, United States Information Service
  • USMC, United States Marine Corps
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USNR, United States Naval Reserve
  • USOM, United States Operation Mission
  • UST, United States Treaties and Other International Agreements
  • USUN, U.S. Mission at the United Nations
  • VM, Viet Minh
  • VN, Vietnam, Vietnamese
  • VOA, Voice of America
  • WAM, United States designation for documentation related to the Washington ANZUS meeting of September 1953
  • WE, Office of Western European Affairs, Department of State
  • Weeka, weekly, interagency, summary analysis from United States diplomatic missions
  • WFTU, World Federation of Trade Unions
  • Wirom, series indicator for certain Department of State administrative telegrams