Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

  • ABC, American Broadcasting Company
  • ABM, anti-ballistic missile
  • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AH, Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
  • Amb, Ambassador
  • AP, Associated Press
  • ARE, Arab Republic of Egypt
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of (South) Vietnam
  • ASAP, as soon as possible
  • ASW, anti-submarine warfare
  • B–52, all-weather, intercontinental, strategic heavy bomber
  • BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation
  • BDA, bombing damage assessment
  • BH, Bob Haldeman
  • BW, biological weapons
  • C–130, high-wing, four-turboprop engine aircraft used for rapid transportation of troops and/or equipment
  • CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System
  • CBW, Convention on Biological Weapons
  • CC, Central Committee
  • CCC, Commodity Credit Corporation
  • CDU, Christian Democratic Union
  • CDU/CSU, Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union
  • CENTO, Central Treaty Organization
  • CEQ, Council on Environmental Quality
  • CES, Conference on European Security
  • ChiCom(s), Chinese Communist(s)
  • ChiRep, Chinese representation (at the United Nations)
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CIEP, Council on International Economic Policy
  • COB, close of business
  • COCOM, Coordinating Committee on Export Controls
  • Codel, Congressional delegation
  • CPD, series indicator for communications sent by President Nixon while at Camp David
  • CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • CSCE, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • CW, chemical weapons
  • D, Democrat
  • D, Anatoly F. Dobrynin
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • Dept, Department
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • Deptoff, Department officer
  • Dissem, dissemination
  • DMZ, demilitarized zone
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DOD/ISA, Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • DOS, Department of State
  • DRV or DRVN, Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam
  • EC, European Community
  • EC–121, unarmed, four-engine propeller-driven reconnaissance aircraft
  • EDT, Eastern Daylight Time
  • Emb, Embassy
  • Emboff, Embassy officer
  • Embtel, Embassy telegram
  • EOB, Executive Office Building
  • ESC, European Security Conference
  • EST, Eastern Standard Time
  • ETA, estimated time of arrival
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/GER, Office of Germany Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/RPM, Office of NATO and Atlantic Political-Military Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/SES, Soviet and Eastern European Exchanges Staff, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EUR/SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • EXIM or Ex-Im, Export-Import Bank of Washington
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
  • FBS, forward based system
  • FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • FM, Foreign Minister
  • FonMin, Foreign Minister
  • FRC, Federal Records Center
  • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany
  • FYI, for your information
  • GDR, German Democratic Republic
  • GM, General Motors Corporation
  • GMT, Greenwich Mean Time
  • GVN, Government of (South) Vietnam
  • HAK, Henry Alfred Kissinger
  • Hakto, series indicator for messages sent from Henry A. Kissinger while away from Washington
  • HEW, Department of Health, Education and Welfare
  • ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
  • IG, interdepartmental group
  • IG/EUR, Interdepartmental Group for Europe
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/DRR/RSE, Office of Research and Analysis for USSR and Eastern Europe, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/DRR/RSE/FP, Soviet Foreign Affairs Division, Officer of Research and Analysis for USSR and Eastern Europe, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JDL, Jewish Defense League
  • JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy
  • JRC, Joint Reconnaissance Center
  • K, Kissinger
  • KGB, Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (State Security Committee)
  • LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson
  • LDX, long distance xerography
  • Limdis, limited distribution
  • LP, liquefied petroleum
  • MARC, Modern ABM Radar Complex
  • MBFR, mutual and balanced force reductions
  • ME, Middle East
  • Memcon, memorandum of conversation
  • MFA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • MFN, Most Favored Nation
  • MIRV, multiple independently-targetable reentry vehicle
  • MSR, Missile Site Radar
  • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NBC, National Broadcasting Company
  • NCA, National Capital Area
  • NEA, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • NEA/RA, Office of Regional Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • Niact, night action, telegram indicator requiring immediate action
  • NIC, National Intelligence Council
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NLF, National Liberation Front
  • Nodis, no distribution (other than to persons indicated)
  • Noforn, no foreign distribution
  • Notal, not received by all addressees
  • NPT, (Nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NSC–IG, National Security Council Interdepartmental Group
  • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
  • NSSM, National Security Study Memorandum
  • NVA, North Vietnamese Army
  • NVN, North Vietnam
  • OASD/ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • OBE, overtaken by events
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OST, Office of Science and Technology
  • P, President
  • PBS, Public Broadcasting Service
  • PDT, Pacific Daylight Time
  • PermRep, Permanent Representative
  • PM, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • PNE, peaceful nuclear explosion
  • POL, petroleum, oil, and lubricants
  • POW, prisoner of war
  • PR, public relations
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • PRG, Provisional Revolutionary Government (South Vietnam)
  • PST, Pacific Standard Time
  • R, Republican
  • ref, reference
  • reftel, reference telegram
  • RFE, Radio Free Europe
  • RG, record group
  • RL, Radio Liberty
  • RN, Richard Nixon
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State
  • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
  • SAM, surface-to-air missile
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • SED, Socialist Unity Party (East Germany)
  • Septel, separate telegram
  • Sitto, series indicator for messages sent to Henry A. Kissinger while away from Washington, especially during his secret trip to Moscow in April 1972, when communications were routed through the Situation Room in the White House
  • SLBM, submarine-launched ballistic missile
  • Sov, Soviet
  • SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • S/P, Policy Planning Staff, Department of State
  • SPD, Social Democratic Party (West Germany)
  • SRG, Senior Review Group
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • SU, Soviet Union
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • TAC, Tactical Air Command
  • TASS, Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza (Telegram Agency of the Soviet Union)
  • Telcon, telephone conversation
  • Tohak, series indicator for messages sent to Henry A. Kissinger while away from Washington
  • Tosit, series indicator for messages sent to the White House Situation Room
  • U–8, U.S. military utility aircraft
  • UAR, United Arab Republic
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • UNSC, United Nations Security Council
  • US, United States
  • USA, United States Army
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USCP, United States Communist Party
  • USDel, United States Delegate/Delegation
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USNATO, United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; also series indicator for telegrams from the Mission to the Department of State
  • USS, United States Ship
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations in New York
  • V, Vietnam
  • VIP, very important person
  • VN, Vietnam
  • VOA, Voice of America
  • WH, White House
  • WSAG, Washington Special Actions Group
  • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time)