Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

  • AAA, anti-aircraft artillery
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AFC, Armed Forces Council
  • ANZUS, Australia, New Zealand, United States
  • AID, Agency for International Development
  • Arc Light, code name for U.S. B–52 bombing strikes in Southeast Asia
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  • ASA, Association of Southeast Asia
  • ASPAC, Asian Pacific Council
  • Aspen, code name for U.S. peace negotiations through Swedish channels
  • B–52, U.S. Air Force strategic bomber
  • Barrel Roll, code name for U. S. air operations over northern Laos
  • C–130, U.S. Air Force transport plane
  • CAP, series indicator for outgoing White House telegrams; combat air patrol; combined action platoon
  • CAS, controlled American source
  • ChiCom, Chinese Communist
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CIDG, Civilian Irregular Defense Group
  • Chieu Hoi, Government of South Vietnam’s repatriation program for the Viet Cong
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • CINCPACAF, Commander in Chief, Pacific Air Force
  • CINCPACFLT, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet
  • CINCUSARPAC, Commander in Chief, U.S. Army, Pacific
  • CIP, Commercial Import Program
  • CJCS, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • CMC, Clark M. Clifford
  • COMUSMACV, Commander, U. S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • CORDS, Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development
  • COSVN, Central Office for South Vietnam (Viet Cong)
  • CTZ, Combat Tactical Zone
  • DAB, Democratic Alliance Bloc (South Vietnam)
  • Daniel Boone, clandestine U.S. Army-ARVN reconnaissance operations into Cambodian border areas
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DMZ, Demilitarized Zone
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DPM, Draft Presidential Memorandum
  • DRV, Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)
  • EA, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/ACA, Office of Asian Communist Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/VN, Vietnam Working Group, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • Footboy, overall program of clandestine operations against North Vietnam
  • FRC, Federal Records Center
  • FULRO, United Front for the Struggle of the Oppressed Race, a movement for Montagnard autonomy
  • FW, Free World
  • FWMAF, Free World Military Assistance Forces
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • Govto, series indicators for telegrams from Ambassador at Large W. Averell Harriman
  • Gp, Group
  • GRC, Government of the Republic of China
  • GVN, Government of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
  • HEW, Department of Health, Education and Welfare
  • Hickory, joint U.S. Marine Corps-ARVN operations against NVA forces infiltrating through the DMZ in mid-1967
  • Hop Tac, Government of Vietnam program for pacification of Saigon and surrounding provinces
  • ICC, International Control Commission
  • ICEX, Infrastructure Intelligence Coordination and Exploitation
  • ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross
  • IMF, International Monetary Fund
  • info, information
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum
  • JGS, Joint General Staff, Vietnamese Armed Forces
  • Junction City, military sweep of War Zone C during February through April 1967
  • JUSPAO, Joint United States Public Affairs Office
  • KIA, killed in action
  • Limdis, limited distribution
  • LOC, line of communication
  • Louisiana, code name for U.S. effort to secure additional foreign country forces for the Vietnam war
  • MACV, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • MAP, Military Assistance Program
  • Marigold, code name for U.S. peace negotiations through Polish and Italian channels, 1966
  • McN, Robert McNamara
  • MFA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • MIG, Soviet-built fighter aircraft
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NLF, National Liberation Front
  • NM, nautical miles
  • Nodis, no distribution
  • Noforn, no foreign distribution
  • NP, National Police
  • NPFF, National Police Field Force
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSAM, National Security Action Memorandum
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NVA, North Vietnamese Army
  • NVN, North Vietnam
  • OAS, Organization of American States
  • OASD, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • O/B, order of battle
  • OCO, Office of Civil Operations
  • ONE, Office of National Estimates, Central Intelligence Agency
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • PAVN, People’s Army of (North) Vietnam
  • PF, Popular Forces
  • PFF, Police Field Forces
  • PFIAB, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
  • P.L., Public Law
  • PM, Prime Minister
  • POL, petroleum, oil, lubricants
  • POLAD, Political Adviser
  • POW, prisoner of war
  • Prairie Fire, interdiction operations in Laos
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • PW, prisoner of war
  • PX, post exchange
  • RD, Revolutionary Development
  • reftel, reference telegram
  • RF, Regional Forces
  • RG, Record Group
  • ROC, Republic of China
  • ROK, Republic of Korea
  • Rolling Thunder, code name for program of U.S. air operations in North Vietnam
  • RP, route packages
  • RT, Rolling Thunder
  • RVN, Republic of (South) Vietnam
  • RVNAF, Republic of (South) Vietnam Armed Forces
  • S, Secret
  • SAM, surface to air missiles
  • SAVA, Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency
  • SC, Security Council
  • SDF, Self-Defense Forces
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • Sea Dragon, naval operations along the North Vietnamese coast up to the 20th parallel
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • SecDef, Secretary of Defense
  • Secto, series indicator for telegrams from the Secretary of State while away fromWashington
  • septel, separate telegram
  • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • Shining Brass, code name for cross-border operations into Laos and the DMZ
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • Sitrep, situation report
  • Southpaw, code name for a plan to conduct raids into Laos by joint U.S. Army-ARVN teams
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • Steel Tiger, code name for U.S. air strikes against the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • SYG, Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • TCC, troop contributing countries
  • Togov, series indicators for telegrams to Ambassador at Large W. Averell Harriman
  • Tosec, series indicator for telegrams to the Secretary of State while away fromWashington
  • TPP, Thermal Power Plant
  • TS, Top Secret
  • U, unclassified
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • US, United States
  • USAID, United States Agency for International Development Mission
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USMACV, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
  • USOM, United States Operations Mission
  • USSR, Union of SoVIET Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • VC, Viet Cong
  • VN, Vietnam; Vietnam Working Group, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • VNAF, (South) Vietnamese Air Force
  • VNCC, Vietnam Coordinating Committee
  • VNQDD, Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnamese Nationalist Party)
  • VP, Vice President
  • WH, White House
  • Z, Zulu (Greenwich Mean Time)