Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume
VIII, Vietnam, January–October 1972
Abbreviations and Terms
-
A–1 Skyraider, a
propeller-driven attack aircraft that carried out close air support for U.S.
Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and South Vietnamese Air Force
-
A–4 Skyhawk, a lightweight,
single engine jet attack aircraft used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine
Corps
-
AAA, anti-aircraft artillery
-
AC–130 Spectre, heavily armed
U.S. aircraft that provided close air support, air interdiction, and force
protection
-
ACFT, aircraft
-
Ad referendum, subject to
reference
-
AGC, automatic gain control
-
AID, Agency for International
Development
-
Amb, Ambassador
-
APC, armored personnel carrier
-
ARC LIGHT, code name for U.S.
B–52 bombing missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
-
ARG, amphibious ready group
-
ARM, anti-radar missile
-
ARVN, Army of the Republic of (South)
Vietnam
-
ASW, anti-submarine warfare
-
Avenue Kléber, shorthand for
the public plenary talks held at the International Conference Center on
Avenue Kléber
-
Azimuth, method used by the
military to indicate direction during tactical operations; based on the 360
degree circle
-
B–3 Front, North Vietnamese
designation for its Central Highlands command
-
B–5 Front, North Vietnamese
designation for its northern South Vietnam command
-
B–25, a versatile WWII medium bomber
(in one configuration a gunship), retired by the U.S. Air Force in
1960
-
Bach Mai, an old French airfield
immediately south of Hanoi which contained a military base and the command
and control headquarters of the North Vietnamese Air Defense Command
-
BARREL ROLL, U.S. air campaign
in Laos to support Royal Lao Government forces in operations against the
Communist Pathet Lao near Long Tieng and the Plain of Jars
-
BDA, bomb damage assessment
-
Binh Tram, military way station
on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
-
C–130,
see
AC–130
-
CAS, controlled American source
-
CBS, Columbia Broadcasting
System
-
CBU, cluster bomb unit, small
explosive device, also called a bomblet, placed inside a canister with other
CBUs; when canister is dropped from an
aircraft it opens before reaching the ground; the bomblets can be configured
to explode on contact with the ground, when stepped on, or after a certain
amount of time has passed, and to carry a variety of payloads
-
Chaff, radar confusion reflectors,
consisting of thin, narrow, metallic strips of various lengths and frequency
responses, which are used to reflect echoes for confusion purposes and to
cause enemy radar guided missiles to lock on to it instead of the real
aircraft
-
ChiCom, Chinese Communist(s)
-
CI, counter-insurgency
-
CIA, Central Intelligence
Agency
-
CINCPAC, Commander-in-Chief,
Pacific Command
-
CINCPACFLT, Commander-in-Chief,
Pacific Fleet
-
CINCSAC, Commander-in-Chief,
Strategic Air Command
-
CJCS, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of
Staff
-
CL, classified
-
CNO, Chief of Naval Operations
-
CNR, Committee of National
Reconciliation
-
Comint, communications
intelligence
-
COMMANDO HUNT, a series of
airpower campaigns in Laos, begun in November 1968, to interdict the flow of
material on the Ho Chi Minh Trail
from North to South Vietnam
-
COMUSMACV, Commander, U.S.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
-
CORDS, Civil Operations and
Revolutionary (later Rural) Development Support
-
COSVN, Central Office of South
Vietnam, Communist political and military headquarters for the southern half
of South Vietnam
-
CP50, subordinate section of the
North Vietnamese Politburo that analyzed issues relevant to the Paris Peace Talks, assisted the
Politburo in monitoring and directing the talks
-
CPDC, Central Pacification and
Development Council
-
CRS, Congressional Research
Service
-
CVA, aircraft carrier
-
DCI, Director of Central
Intelligence
-
DD, destroyer
-
DDO, Deputy Director for Operations,
Joint Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff
-
DEFCON, defense readiness
condition
-
DepSecDef, Deputy Secretary of
Defense
-
DIA, Defense Intelligence
Agency
-
Dikes, Red River Delta,
an intricate, centuries-old system of dikes that controlled irrigation in
the low-lying areas of the Red River
Delta of North Vietnam and protected those who lived and worked
there
-
Dixie Station, South China
Sea location of the U.S. aircraft carrier group that provided close air
support to land operations in the South
-
DMZ, demilitarized zone; established
roughly at Vietnam’s 17th parallel to a width not more than five kilometers
each side of the demilitarized zone line
-
DMZL, demilitarized zone line, also
called demarcation line, which separated South Vietnam and North Vietnam;
located in middle of demilitarized zone
-
DOD, Department of Defense
-
DOD/ISA, Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
-
DOS, Department of State
-
DPRG, Defense Program Review Group,
National Security Council
-
DRV, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
(North Vietnam)
-
DTG, date time group
-
EA, Executive Assistant, Joint Chiefs
of Staff
-
EAP, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, Department of State
-
EO, electro optical
-
EOB, Executive Office Building
-
Exdis, exclusive distribution
-
F–4 Phantom, an all-weather jet
fighter-bomber used by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy in
Vietnam
-
FAC, forward air controller
-
FANK,
Forces Armées Nationales Khmères (Khmer Republic
Armed Forces [Cambodia])
-
Fan song radar, target
acquisition and guidance system for surface to air missiles
-
FARK,
Forces Armées Royales Khmères (Royal Khmer Armed
Forces [Cambodia])
-
FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information
Service
-
Flash, precedence indicator for an
extremely urgent message which requires instant action by the addressee
regardless of the time of day or night
-
FRAME GLORY, a naval gunfire
support raid on radar installations on the island of Hon Mat, North Vietnam,
near Vinh, conducted by the USS Berkeley on May 8,
1972
-
FREEDOM PORCH, U.S. Air Force
B–52 Stratofortress strikes on the Haiphong petroleum products storage area,
April 16, 1972
-
FREEDOM TRAIN, Operation,
April 1972 air campaign against North Vietnam carried out by U.S. Navy and
Air Force
-
FSB, fire support base
-
GAC,
George A. Carver
-
GCI, ground control intercept
-
GKR, Government of Khmer Republic
(Cambodia)
-
GNR, Government of National
Reconciliation
-
GRUNK,
Gouvernement Royal d’Union Nationale du Kampuchea
(Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea), Communist group
nominally headed by Norodom Sihanok and affliliated with North
Vietnam
-
GVN, Government of Vietnam (South
Vietnam)
-
HAK,
Henry A. Kissinger
-
Highest authority,
President of the United States
-
Hmong, ethnic minority in Laotian
hill country
-
Hue, major city in northern South
Vietnam and capital of former Vietnamese empire
-
ICC, International Control Commission,
established under the 1954 Geneva Accords and incorporated into the 1962
Geneva agreement on Laos
-
INR, Bureau of Intelligence and
Research, Department of State
-
INR/DDC, Deputy Director for
Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of
State
-
INR/IL, Office of Information
Liaison, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
-
INR/REA, Office of Research and
Analysis for East Asia and Pacific, Bureau of Intelligence and Research,
Department of State
-
IRON HAND, U.S. Air Force
operations against North Vietnam to suppress or destroy surface to air
missiles
-
JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
-
JDN,
John D. Negroponte
-
JGS, Joint General Staff, Republic of
Vietnam Armed Forces
-
JHH,
John Herbert Holdridge
-
JPRC, Joint Personnel Recovery
Center, established at Military Assistance Command to locate and rescue U.S.
personnel evading attempts to capture them or already taken prisoner
-
ISA, Office of International Security
Affairs, Department of Defense
-
KC–135, jet aircraft specifically
designed for aerial refueling
-
KHR, Khmer Republic (Cambodia)
-
KIA, killed in action
-
Kontum, a province in South
Vietnam’s Central Highlands opposite Laos
-
LAM SON (also LAMSON) 719, a
February–March 1971 operation in Laos by South Vietnamese forces to
interdict the Ho Chi Minh
Trail
-
LANTFLT, Atlantic Fleet
-
Lao Dong,
Dang Lao Dong Viet Nam (Vietnamese Workers’ Party),
Communist Party of North Vietnam
-
LDX, long distance xerography
-
LINEBACKER I, code name for
U.S. air interdiction campaign against North Vietnam, May 10–October 23,
1972
-
LOC, line of communication
-
LORAN, long-range navigation system
for air and marine travel
-
LOU, limited official use
-
LPF, Lao Patriotic Front, political
arm of the Pathet Lao
-
LTG, lieutenant general
-
MACV, Military Assistance Command,
Vietnam
-
MACVSOG, Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group, organization that planned
and carried out covert operations against North Vietnam; sometimes called
MACSOG
-
MAP, Military Assistance
Program
-
MASF, military assistance
service-funded
-
MAT, Mobile Advisory Team
-
MEDTC, Military Equipment Delivery
Team, Cambodia
-
Meo,
see
Hmong
-
MG, major general
-
MiG–21, fighter aircraft provided by
Soviet Union to North Vietnam
-
mm, millimeter
-
MR, Military Region; Government of
Vietnam divided the country into four zones for military and administrative
purposes; MR1 contained the five northernmost
provinces of South Vietnam, MR2 included
provinces in the central and north central sections, MR3 was made up of the south central part of the country and
included Saigon, and MR4 in the Mekong Delta
held the rest of the country; sometimes an MR
was also called a Corps Tactical Zone
-
MRTTH, Military Region Tri Thien
Hue, Communist military command in
northern South Vietnamese provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien
-
mtg, meeting
-
Muong,
see
Hmong
-
NCO, non-commissioned officer
-
NGFS, naval gunfire support
-
NIC, Naval Intelligence Command;
National Intelligence Council, Central Intelligence Agency
-
NIE, National Intelligence
Estimate
-
NLF, National Liberation Front
-
nm, nautical mile
-
NMCC, National Military Command
Center
-
Nodis, no distribution
-
Noforn, no dissemination to foreign
nationals
-
NSA, National Security Agency
-
NSAM, National Security Action
Memorandum
-
NSC, National Security Council
-
NSDF, National Social Democratic
Front
-
NSDM, National Security Decision
Memorandum
-
NSSM, National Security Study
Memorandum
-
NVA, North Vietnamese Army, also
PAVN
-
NVN, North Vietnam
-
OASD/ISA, Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
-
ONE, Office of National
Estimates
-
OP, observation post
-
OPREP, operational report
-
OPREP–4, report of a completed
operation or phase of an operation, as well as the operation’s or phase’s
results or estimated results; purpose is to get information quickly into the
chain of command
-
OSD, Office of the Secretary of
Defense
-
OSS, Office of Strategic Services,
American intelligence gathering and covert operations organization during
World War II
-
PAC, Pacific Command
-
PACFLT, Pacific Fleet
-
Paris Peace Talks, public
talks between U.S. and GVN on one side and
the DRV and PRG (NLF) on the other; also
known as plenary or Avenue Kléber
talks
-
PAVN, People’s Army of Vietnam, also
NVA
-
PDJ,
Plaine Des Jarres (Plain of Jars), strategically
important area of Laos
-
PF,
see
RF/PF
-
Phoenix Program, (Phuong
Hoang) South Vietnamese program to destroy VC
shadow government (infrastructure) in villages and replace it with a
pro-GVN administration
-
PMDL, Provisional Military
Demarcation Line, term used in the Geneva Agreements to describe the line
between the northern and southern zones, later called the DMZ
-
PNS, Pacific News Service
-
POCKET MONEY, Operation, plan
to mine major North Vietnamese ports
-
POL, petroleum, oil, lubricants
-
POW, prisoner of war
-
PPOG, Psychological Pressure
Operations Group
-
PR, public relations
-
PRC, People’s Republic of (Communist)
China
-
PRG, Provisional Revolutionary
Government, political wing of the South Vietnamese Communist movement,
replaced the NLF, but terms often used
interchangeably
-
PROUD DEEP ALPHA,
Operation, a five-day campaign, December 26–30, 1971, in which U.S. aircraft
flew 1,025 sorties against targets north
of the DMZ but south of the 20th
parallel
-
PSYOPS, psychological
operations
-
RCT, Regimental Combat Team
-
RDVN,
République démocratique du Viêt Nam (Democratic
Republic of Vietnam), North Vietnam
-
Reccy, reconnaissance or
reconnoiter
-
Reftel, reference telegram
-
RFE, Radio Free Europe
-
RF/PF, Regional Forces/Popular
Forces, South Vietnamese provincial and district security (militia) forces,
respectively
-
RG, Record Group
-
RP, route package, target areas for
airstrikes against North Vietnam, numbered 1 through 6, south to north, from
the DMZ to a buffer zone near the Chinese
border
-
RLG, Royal Lao Government
-
RN,
Richard Nixon
-
ROE, rules of engagement
-
RTG, Royal Thai Government
-
RVN, Republic of Vietnam (South
Vietnam)
-
RVNAF, Republic of (South) Vietnam
Armed Forces
-
S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department
of State
-
S/SG, Secretary of State’s Special
Group on Southeast Asia
-
SA–2, missile
-
SAC, Strategic Air Command
-
SAM, surface-to-air missile
-
Sappers, North Vietnamese/Viet
Cong demolition commandos
-
SAVA, Special Assistant for
Vietnamese Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency
-
SDO, Special Development Office,
Defense Intelligence Agency
-
SEA, Southeast Asia
-
SecDef, Secretary of Defense
-
SecState, Secretary of
State
-
Sensor string, a set of
electronic devices, usually 2 to 5 in number, inserted in enemy territory to
monitor from remote location re-supply and reinforcement activity
-
Septel, separate telegram
-
SGU, Special Guerrilla Unit
-
Sidewinder, a short-range,
heat-seeking, air-to-air missile used by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy
fighter aircraft
-
SIOP, Single Integrated Operational
Plan, the U.S. contingency plan for nuclear war
-
SNIE, Special National Intelligence
Estimate
-
Sortie, one attack by a single
military aircraft
-
Sparrow, a medium-range,
air-to-air missile used by U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps fighter
aircraft
-
SRG, Senior Review Group
-
STD, Strategic Technical Directorate,
South Vietnam’s covert operations agency
-
STDAE, Strategic Technical
Directorate Advisory Element, also called Advisory Team 158, American
military advisors to the STD
-
STEEL TIGER, U.S. air
operations over the northern portion of the Laotian panhandle designed to
interdict the flow of men and materiel down the Ho Chi Minh Trail
-
STOL, short takeoff and
landing
-
Subj, subject
-
SVN, South Vietnam
-
Tacair, tactical air support
-
Takhli, U.S. Air Force Base in
Thailand
-
TAKSIN contingency
planning, arrangements for a joint Thai/U.S. forward
deployment in Laos to pre-empt NVA access to
the Mekong River
-
Talos, a long-range anti-aircraft
missile used by the Navy in Vietnam
-
TCC, Troop Contributing
Countries
-
TDY, temporary duty
-
Telcon, telephone
conversation
-
TOW, tube launched, optically tracked,
wire guided (anti-tank) missile
-
TS, Top Secret
-
UH, utility helicopter
-
UPI, United Press International
-
USA, United States Army
-
USAF, United States Air Force
-
USG, United States Government
-
USIA, United States Information
Agency
-
USN, United States Navy
-
USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics
-
U Tapao, Royal Thai Air Force Base
from which USAF B–52s carried out missions
over Vietnam
-
VC, Viet Cong
-
VF, vertical flight
-
Viet Minh,
Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh (League for the
Independence of Vietnam), a Communist-led coalition, formed in 1941, that
fought the Japanese in World War II and the French in the First Indochina
War
-
VNAF, (South) Vietnamese Air
Force
-
VOA, Voice of America
-
VSSG, Vietnam Special Studies
Group
-
Walleye, also EO (electro optical) Walleye, television guided bomb
-
WBLC, water borne logistic
craft
-
WH, White House
-
WSAG, Washington Special Actions
Group
-
Yankee Station, South China
Sea location of U.S. aircraft carrier or carriers from which the Navy
conducted air operations against North Vietnam
-
Z, Zulu time (Greenwich Mean
Time)