Office of the Historian

List of Terms & Abbreviations

  • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ADB, Asian Development Bank
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • AF, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State
  • AID, Agency for International Development
  • AID/AA/Asia, Bureau for Asia, Agency for International Development
  • AID/PPC, Bureau for Program and Policy Coordination, Agency for International Development
  • AK–47, Soviet-built assault rifle
  • ALP, Australian Labor Party
  • AMB, Ambassador
  • ANZUS, Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty
  • AP, Associated Press
  • APC, Armored Personnel Carrier
  • AR, Albanian Resolution (United Nations)
  • ARA, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
  • ARVN, Army of the Republic of Vietnam
  • ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  • BOP, balance of payments
  • BS, Brent Scowcroft
  • C, Confidential
  • CEA, Council of Economic Advisers
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CIEP, Council on International Economic Policy (United States)
  • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
  • CINCUNC, Commander in Chief, United Nations Command
  • COMNAVFORJAPAN, Commander, Naval Forces, Japan
  • COMSEVENTHFLT, Commander, Seventh Fleet
  • COMUS, Commander U.S. Forces
  • CONGEN, Consulate General
  • CONUS, Continental United States
  • CPM, Communist Party of Malaysia
  • CRA, Continuing Resolution Authority
  • CSCE, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • DAS, Deputy Assistant Secretary
  • DASD, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Department of Defense)
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission, United States Embassy
  • DE, Destroyer Escort
  • DEPTEL, Department of State telegram
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • DIS or DISS., dissemination
  • DMZ, Demilitarized Zone
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DOD/ISA, Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • DOJ, Department of Justice
  • DOS, Department of State
  • DPRK, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  • DR, Dual Representation (United Nations)
  • DRV, Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam)
  • DSAA, Defense Security Assistance Agency (Department of Defense)
  • DSP, Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
  • E, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Department of State
  • EA, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/ANP, Office of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Pacific Island Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/IMS, Office of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, Department of State
  • EA/J, Office of Japanese Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/K, Office of Korean Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/P, Public Affairs Advisor, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/PHL, Office of Philippines Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/RA, Office of Regional Affairs at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EA/TB, Office of Thailand and Burma, Department of State
  • Eagle Pull, a U.S. military operation for evacuating personnel from Phnom Penh during an emergency
  • EAP, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
  • EAPA, East Asia and Pacific Affairs, International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • EAPR, East Asia and Pacific Region, Department of Defense
  • EB, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Department of State
  • ECONCOM, Joint U.S.-Japan Economic Committee Meeting at the cabinet level
  • EMBTEL, embassy telegram
  • ERDA, Energy Research and Development Administration
  • EUR/IB, Office of Iberian Affairs, Department of State
  • EXDIS, exclusive distribution (indicates extremely limited dissemination)
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • F–4, (U.S. fighter-bomber aircraft)
  • F–5E, (U.S. fighter aircraft)
  • FAC, Foreign Assets Control
  • FANK, Cambodian Armed Forces
  • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
  • FCN, Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation (Treaty)
  • FMS, Foreign Military Sales
  • FONMIN, foreign minister
  • FONSEC, Foreign Secretary
  • FRC, Federal Records Center (U.S.)
  • FRD, formerly restricted data
  • FSO, Foreign Service Officer
  • FT, foreign trade
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • GA, General Assembly (United Nations)
  • GATT, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
  • GIMO, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi)
  • GKR, Government of Khmer Republic
  • GNP, gross national product
  • GOA, Government of Australia
  • GOI, Government of Indonesia
  • GOJ, Government of Japan
  • GOP, Government of the Philippines
  • GOVT, Government
  • GPO, Government Printing Office (U.S.)
  • GRC, Government of the Republic of China.
  • GSP, Generalized System of Preferences
  • GVN, government of Vietnam (South)
  • H, Bureau of Congressional Relations, Department of State
  • HAK, Henry A. Kissinger
  • HICOM/HICOMRY, High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands
  • HK, Hong Kong; initials for Henry Kissinger
  • HQ, headquarters
  • IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency
  • IBRD, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)
  • ICCS, International Commission of Control and Supervision
  • IG, Interdepartmental Group
  • IGGI, Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia
  • IMF, International Monetary Fund
  • INFO, information
  • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • INR/EAP, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, East Asia and the Pacific
  • INR/REA, Office of Research and Analysis for East Asia and Pacific
  • INTEL, intelligence
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • IO/UNP, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Office of United Nations Political Affairs
  • IPS, Office of Information Programs and Services (Department of State)
  • IQ, important question (United Nations)
  • IRBM, intermediate range ballistic missile
  • ISA, Bureau of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • ITAC, Interagency Textile Administrative Committee
  • JAEC, Japanese Atomic Energy Commission
  • JCRC, Joint Casualty Resolution Center
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum
  • JDA, Japanese Defense Agency
  • JFY, Japanese fiscal year
  • JGLO, Japanese Government Liaison Office, Ryukyu Islands
  • JHH, John Herbert Holdridge
  • JSA, Joint Security Area (Korea)
  • JSDF, Japanese Self-Defense Forces
  • JSP, Japanese Socialist Party
  • JUSMAGTHAI, Joint United States Military Advisory Group Thailand
  • KC, Khmer (Cambodian) Communists
  • KCP, Khmer (Cambodian) Communist Party
  • Khmer Rouge, Khmer (Cambodian) Communists
  • KMT, Kuomintang (Nationalist Party, ROC), also called the Guomindang (GMD)
  • KPA, Korean People’s Army
  • L, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • L/EA, Assistant Legal Adviser for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • LC, Laos-Cambodia
  • LDP, Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
  • LIMDIS, limited distribution (see also EXDIS)
  • LSD, Landing Ship, Dock
  • M, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management
  • M16, U.S.-manufactured assault rifle
  • MAC, Military Armistice Commission (Korea)
  • MACTHAI, Military Assistance Command, Thailand
  • MAP, Military Assistance/Aid Program
  • MASF, military assistance service-funded
  • MBA, Military Base Agreement
  • MDAA, Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement
  • MDT, Mutual Defense Treaty
  • MEMCON, memorandum of conversation
  • MFA, Multifiber Agreement
  • MIA, Missing-in-Action
  • MITI, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Japan)
  • mm, millimeter
  • MND, Minister or Ministry of National Defense; Mission Need Determination (Department of Defense)
  • MNLF, Moro National Liberation Front (Philippines)
  • MOD, Minister/Ministry of Defense
  • MSP, Minimum Safeguard Price
  • MST, Mutual Security Treaty (United States-Japan)
  • MTN, Multilateral Trade Negotiations
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NEA, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
  • NF, no foreign dissemination
  • NIACT, night action (indicator of precedence level in a telegraphed message)
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NIO, National Intelligence Officer
  • NODIS, no distribution
  • NOFORN, no foreign dissemination
  • NOTAL, not all (telegram A, referenced in telegram B, was not sent to all the recipients of telegram B)
  • NPT, Nonproliferation Treaty
  • NPW, Nuclear Powered Warship
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
  • NSSM, National Security Study Memorandum
  • NVA, North Vietnamese Army
  • NZ, New Zealand
  • O&M, operation and maintenance (Department of Defense)
  • OASD/ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • OBE, overtaken by events
  • OCI, Office of Current Intelligence (Central Intelligence Agency)
  • ODDPA&E/ISA, Office of the Director of Defense Program Analysis and Evaluation/International Security Affairs
  • OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
  • OEO, Office of Economic Opportunity
  • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
  • OMSN, Office of Micronesian Status Negotiations
  • ONE, Office of National Estimates (Central Intelligence Agency)
  • OPCON, Operational Control (Department of Defense)
  • OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
  • OPIC, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
  • Orcon, dissemination and extraction of information controlled by originator (dissemination control abbreviation)
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OUSD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
  • P, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Department of State
  • PACAF, Pacific Air Force (U.S.)
  • PACOM, Pacific Command (U.S.)
  • PARA, paragraph
  • PDB, President’s Daily Brief (Central Intelligence Agency)
  • PFIAB, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
  • PGET, Provisional Government of East Timor
  • PHIL, Philippines
  • PL, Public Law
  • PL–480, an assistance program that provides agricultural commodities to foreign countries on behalf of the U.S. public
  • PM, Prime Minister; also Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs at the Department of State
  • PNG, Papua New Guinea; Persona non grata
  • POL, political
  • POLAD, political adviser (usually Department of State representative assigned to a military commander)
  • POW, Prisoner of War
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • PRES, the President
  • PRG, Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam
  • PriMin, Prime Minister
  • PT, Portuguese Timor
  • QR, Quota Restriction
  • QTE, quote
  • RA, Regional Affairs (DOS/EA)
  • RADM, Rear Admiral
  • REFTEL, reference telegram
  • REP, representative
  • RES, resolution (United Nations)
  • RET’D, returned (indicates when President Nixon finished reading a document)
  • RG, record group (National Archives and Records Administration)
  • RN, Richard Nixon
  • RNC, Republican National Committee
  • ROC, Republic of China (see also GRC)
  • ROK, Republic of Korea (South Korea)
  • ROKG, Republic of Korea Government
  • RP, Republic of the Philippines
  • RPT, repeat
  • RTG, Royal Thai Government
  • RVN, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State; also Secret
  • S/P, Policy Planning Council, Department of State
  • S/PC, Planning and Coordination Staff, Department of State
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • SA, Studies and Analysis (Department of Defense)
  • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
  • SC, Security Council (United Nations)
  • SCA, Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, Department of State
  • SCC, United States—Japan Security Consultative Committee
  • SCI, Bureau of International Scientific and Technological Affairs, Department of State; also sensitive compartmented information
  • SCM, Security Consultative Meeting
  • SDR, Special Drawing Rights (International Monetary Fund)
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  • SECDEF, Secretary of Defense
  • SECSTATE, Secretary of State
  • SECTO, from the Secretary of State (used for telegrams from the Secretary or his party while he is on travel)
  • SECY GEN, Secretary General (United Nations)
  • SECY, Secretary of State
  • SEPTEL, separate telegram
  • SGU, Special Guerrilla Unit (manned by Thai “volunteers” in Laos and financed by the United States)
  • SIG, Senior Interdepartmental Group (National Security Council)
  • S–N, South-North (Korea)
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SOF(A), Status of Forces (Agreement)
  • SPNFZ, South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone
  • S/PRS, Office of Press Relations, Department of State
  • SRG, Senior Review Group (National Security Council)
  • SRV, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
  • STADIS, Distribution within State Department Only
  • STR, Special Trade Representative
  • SVN, South Vietnam
  • T, Office of the Under Secretary for Security Assistance, Department of State
  • TOHAK, to Henry A. Kissinger
  • TOSEC, to the Secretary of State (used for telegrams to the Secretary while he is on travel)
  • TOSIT, to the White House Situation Room
  • TS, Top Secret
  • TTPI, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
  • U, Office of the Under Secretary of State; also Unclassified
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNC, United Nations Command (Korea)
  • UNCTAD, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  • UNCURK, United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea
  • UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • UNHCR, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • UNQTE, unquote
  • UPI, United Press International
  • U/DM, Under Secretaries Decision Memorandum
  • U–S/M, Under Secretaries Memorandum
  • USA, United States Army
  • USAF, United States Air Force
  • USC, Under Secretaries Committee
  • USFY, United States fiscal year
  • USG, United States Government
  • USIA, United States Information Agency
  • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
  • USIS, United States Information Service
  • USLO, United States Liaison Office (People’s Republic of China)
  • USN, United States Navy
  • USSAG, United States Support Activities Group (Thailand)
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • VADM, Vice Admiral
  • VN, Vietnam
  • VOA, Voice of America
  • VP, Vice President
  • WESTPAC, Western Pacific
  • WH, White House
  • WNRC, Washington National Records Center
  • WSAG, Washington Special Action Group
  • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time)