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)