Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and terms

  • AAM, air-to-air missile
  • AAW, anti-air warfare
  • ABM, anti-ballistic missile
  • ABMDA, Army Ballistic Missile Defense Agency
  • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • AD, assured destruction
  • ADIZ, air defense identification zone
  • ADM, Atomic Demolition Munitions
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • ALCOM, Alaskan Command
  • AMSA, Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft
  • ANG, Air National Guard
  • ANZUS, Australia-New Zealand-United States (treaty organization)
  • AP, Associated Press
  • AREUR, Army Europe
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of (South) Vietnam
  • ASA, anti-submarine aircraft
  • ASM, air-to-surface missile
  • ASV, anti-submarine vessel
  • ASW, anti-submarine warfare
  • AVF, all-volunteer armed force
  • AWACS, Airborne Warning and Control System
  • B, billion
  • BMD, ballistic missile defense
  • BMEWS, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
  • BMS, ballistic missile submarine
  • BNSP, basic national security policy
  • BOB, Bureau of the Budget
  • BW, biological weapon(s)
  • C3, command, control, and communications
  • CBW, chemical and biological weapon(s)
  • CCP, Consolidated Cryptologic Plan
  • CEA, Council of Economic Advisers
  • CEP, circular error probability
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CHICOM, Communist China (People’s Republic of China)
  • CINC, Commander in Chief
  • CINCAL, Commander in Chief, Alaska
  • CINCEUR, Commander in Chief, European Command
  • CINCLANT, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command
  • CINCNORAD, Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command
  • CINCONAD, Commander in Chief, Continental Air Defense Command
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific Command
  • CINCSAC, Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command
  • CINCSTRIKE, Commander in Chief, STRIKE Command
  • CNO, Chief of Naval Operations
  • COB, close of business
  • COC, command operation center
  • COMIDEASTFOR, Commander, Middle East Forces
  • COMINT, communications intelligence
  • CONAD, Continental Air Defense Command
  • CONUS, Continental United States
  • CPR, People’s Republic of China (also PRC)
  • CVA, attack aircraft carrier
  • CVAN, attack aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered
  • CVS, support aircraft carrier
  • CW, chemical weapon(s)
  • CY, calendar year
  • D, deployment
  • D-day, deployment day
  • DEFCON, defense readiness condition
  • DFE, division force equivalent
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DICBM, depressed trajectory intercontinental ballistic missile
  • DLGN, nuclear-powered guided missile frigate
  • DOB, dispersed operating bases
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DPQ, Defense Planning Questionnaire
  • DPRC, Defense Program Review Committee
  • ECM, electronic countermeasures
  • ELINT, electronic intelligence
  • EMCON, emission control
  • EMP, electromagnetic pulse
  • ENDC, Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee
  • EUCOM, European Command
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs
  • EUR/RPM, Bureau of European Affairs, Office of NATO and Atlantic Political-Military Affairs
  • exo pen aids, exoatmospheric penetration aids
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FBM, fleet ballistic missile
  • FBS, forward-based systems
  • FOBS, Fractional Orbital Bombardment System
  • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYDP, Five-Year Defense Program
  • GNP, Gross National Product
  • GPF, general purpose forces
  • GRC, Government of the Republic of China
  • GTE, greater than expected
  • HEW, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
  • HPD, hard point defense
  • HSD, hard site defense
  • ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IOC, initial operational capability
  • IPMG, Interdepartmental Political-Military Group
  • IRBM, intermediate-range ballistic missile
  • ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • ISI, initial support increment
  • J–3, Operations Directorate of the Joint Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff Memorandum
  • JFM, Joint Force Memorandum
  • JSOP, Joint Strategic Objectives Plan
  • KGB, Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security, Soviet Secret Police)
  • KP, kitchen police KT, kiloton
  • LANTCOM, Atlantic Command
  • LOC, lines of communication; limited operational capability
  • LRA, long-range aviation
  • LSNW, limited strategic nuclear warfare
  • M, mobilization day; million
  • MAF, Marine Amphibious Forces
  • MAP, Military Assistance Program
  • MBFR, mutual and balanced force reductions
  • MIDEASTFOR, Middle East Forces
  • MIRV, multiple independently-targeted reentry vehicles
  • MK, Mark
  • MM, Minuteman missile
  • MRBM, medium-range ballistic missile
  • MRCA, multi-role combat aircraft
  • MRV, multiple reentry vehicles
  • MSC, Military Sealift Command
  • MSR, missile site radar
  • MT, megaton(s)
  • NAC, North Atlantic Council
  • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NCA, National Command Authority; National Capital Area
  • NE, Northeast
  • NEA, Northeast Asia; Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • NIC, National Intelligence Council
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NIPP, National Intelligence Projections for Planning
  • NK, North Korea
  • NLT, not later than nm, nautical mile
  • NOA, new obligational authority
  • NORAD, North American Aerospace Defense Command
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NSAM, National Security Action Memorandum
  • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
  • NSF, National Science Foundation
  • NSSM, National Security Study Memorandum
  • NVN, North Vietnam; North Vietnamese
  • NW, Northwest
  • OASD, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • OEP, Office of Emergency Preparedness
  • O&M, operations and maintenance
  • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
  • OP&MA, Objectives, Plans and Military Assistance Division
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OSD (ISA), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • OSD (SA), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis
  • OST, Office of Science and Technology
  • OTH–B, over the horizon—backscatter radar
  • PACOM, Pacific Command
  • PAR, perimeter acquisition radar
  • PDB, President’s Daily Brief
  • pen aids, penetration aids
  • PF, police force; popular force
  • PFIAB, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
  • PLA, People’s Liberation Army
  • POL, petroleum, oils, lubricants
  • PM, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • POM, Program Objectives Memorandum
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China (also CPR)
  • PSAC, President’s Science Advisory Committee
  • psi, pounds per square inch
  • PWs, prisoners of war
  • RCA, riot control agent
  • RCS, remote control system
  • R&D, research and development
  • RDF, radio-direction-finding
  • RDT&E, research, development, test, and evaluation REFORGER, Return of Forces to Germany
  • RF, reserve force; regional force
  • RG, Review Group; Record Group
  • ROK, Republic of Korea
  • ROTC, Reserve Officer Training Corps
  • RV, reentry vehicle
  • RVN, Republic of Vietnam
  • SAB, Science Advisory Board
  • SAC, Supreme Allied Commander; Strategic Air Command
  • SACEUR, Supreme Allied Commander, European Command
  • SACLANT, Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic Command
  • SAL, strategic arms limitation
  • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
  • SAM, surface-to-air missile
  • SAM–D, surface-to-air missile development
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • SECDEF, Secretary of Defense
  • SFD, Special Facilities Division (OEP)
  • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • SG, Safeguard
  • SIGINT, signals intelligence
  • SIOP, Single Integrated Operational Plan
  • SLBM, submarine launched ballistic missile
  • SLCM, submarine launched cruise missile
  • SOSUS, sound surveillance system
  • SOUTHCOM, Southern Command
  • SPN, Spartan missile
  • SRAM, short-range attack missile
  • SRG, Senior Review Group
  • SSBN, nuclear ballistic missile submarine
  • SSI, sustaining support increment
  • SSN, nuclear submarine
  • SSO, special security officer
  • STRAF, Strategic Army Forces
  • STRIKE, STRIKE Command
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • SWWA, Stop-Where-We-Are proposal
  • TOA, total obligational authority
  • TO&E, table of organization and equipment
  • TOE, term of enlistment
  • UAR, United Arab Republic
  • UCP, unified command plan
  • U/I, urban/industrial
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • ULMS, Undersea Long-Range Missile System
  • UN, United Nations
  • UPI, United Press International
  • US, United States
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USARPAC, United States Army, Pacific
  • USC, Under Secretaries Committee, National Security Council
  • USCINCEUR, United States Commander in Chief, European Command
  • USCINCSO, United States Commander in Chief, Southern Command
  • USEUCOM, United States European Command
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USMC, United States Marine Corps
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USSOUTHCOM, United States Southern Command
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • VN, Vietnam
  • VP, Verification Panel
  • WG, working group
  • WRT, with respect to
  • WSAG, Washington Special Actions Group
  • WWMCCS, Worldwide Military Command and Control System