Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

    • AAA, anti-aircraft artillery
    • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
    • ACQ, acquired
    • AD, Anatoliy F. Dobrynin
    • A/DCM, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission
    • Af, Afghan
    • AINTELG, Air Intelligence Group
    • ALF, Afghan Liberation Front
    • Amb, Ambassador
    • Amcit, American citizen
    • ANLF, Afghan National Liberation Front
    • ANZUS, Australia, New Zealand, United States
    • A/O, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Operations
    • AP, anti-personnel
    • APC, armored personnel carrier
    • ASAP, as soon as possible
    • ASD/ISA, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations
    • ASW, anti-submarine warfare
    • AT, anti-tank
    • AWACS, Airborne Warning and Control System
    • BMD, ballistic missile defense
    • BVB, Brzezinski-Vance-Brown
    • C, Confidential; Carter
    • CA, covert action
    • CAT, Civil Aviation Talks (U.S.-Soviet)
    • CCD, Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
    • CDE, Conference on Disarmament in Europe
    • CEMA, Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
    • CENTO, Central Treaty Organization
    • Cherokee, telegraphic distribution channel for eyes only messages between the Secretary of State and an Ambassador
    • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
    • CIA/DDO, Deputy Director for Operations, Central Intelligence Agency
    • CINCEUR, Commander in Chief, European Command
    • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific Command
    • CJCS, Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • CNO, Chief of Naval Operations
    • COCOM, Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls
    • COMNAVINTCOM, Commander, Naval Intelligence Command
    • ConGen, Consul General; Consulate General
    • COS, Chief of Staff; Chief of Station
    • CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union
    • CSCE, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
    • CTB, Comprehensive Test Ban
    • CV, Cyrus Vance
    • CW, chemical weapons
    • D, Office of the Deputy Secretary of State
    • DA, David Aaron
    • DAS, Deputy Assistant Secretary
    • DATT, Defense Attaché
    • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
    • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
    • DDCI, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
    • DDO, Deputy Director for Operations, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DDPMA, Deputy Director, Politico-Military Affairs (Joint Staff)
    • Depsec, Deputy Secretary
    • Dept, Department
    • DI, Directorate of Intelligence
    • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
    • Dissem, dissemination
    • DOD, Department of Defense
    • DOI, date of information
    • DRA, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
    • EA, East Asia
    • EC, European Community
    • EE, Eastern Europe
    • EM, Edmund Muskie
    • EmbOff, Embassy officer
    • ER, Office of Economic Research, Central Intelligence Agency
    • ESF, Economic Support Fund
    • EST, Eastern Standard Time
    • EUR, 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/SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
    • Exdis, Exclusive Distribution
    • FBIS, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
    • FGI, foreign government information
    • FMS, Foreign Military Sales
    • FonSec, Foreign Secretary
    • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany
    • FSN, Foreign Service National
    • FY, Fiscal Year
    • FYI, for your information
    • GDR, German Democratic Republic
    • GOA, Government of Afghanistan
    • GOP, Government of Pakistan
    • Govt, Government
    • H and I, harassment and interdiction
    • HI, Hezbe-i-Islami Afghanistan
    • IALA, Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Afghanistan
    • ICA, International Communication Agency
    • ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
    • ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross
    • IFI, international financial institution
    • IIM, Interagency Intelligence Memorandum
    • IMET, International Military Education and Training
    • INI, Islamic nationalist insurgents
    • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/DDC, Office of the Deputy Director for Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/EEA, Office of East European Assistance within the Office of Research and Analysis for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/PMT, Office of Research and Analysis for Politico-Military Research, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/RNA, Office of Research and Analysis for the Near East and South Asia, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/RNA/SOA, Office of Research and Analysis for Near East and South Asia, South Asia Division, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/RSE, Office of Research and Analysis for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
    • IO/UNP, Office of United Nations Political Affairs, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
    • ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • ISID, Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (Pakistan)
    • IWG, Interagency Working Group
    • J–5, Plans Directorate (Joint Staff)
    • J, Jimmy Carter
    • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • KGB, Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Soviet Committee for State Security
    • km, kilometer
    • L/PM, Assistant Legal Adviser for Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
    • LAW, light anti-tank weapon
    • LDC, less developed country
    • LOC, line of communication
    • LOU, Limited Official Use
    • LRTNF, long-range theater nuclear forces
    • LTDP, Long-Term Defense Plan (NATO)
    • MAP, Military Assistance Program
    • MBFR, Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
    • MDS, Marshall D. Shulman
    • MEA, Ministry of External Affairs
    • Memcon, memorandum of conversation
    • MFA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    • MFN, most favored nation
    • mm, millimeter
    • MR, motorized regiment
    • NAC, North Atlantic Council
    • NAM, Non-Aligned Movement
    • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • NEA, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
    • NEA/PAB, Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
    • NESA, Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Central Intelligence Agency
    • NFAC, National Foreign Assessment Center
    • NFI, national foreign intelligence
    • NFIRA, National Front for the Islamic Revolution of Afghanistan
    • Niact, Night Action
    • NIC, National Intelligence Council
    • NID, National Intelligence Daily
    • NIO, National Intelligence Officer
    • NLF, National Liberation Front (Vietnam)
    • NMRC, National Military Revolutionary Council (Afghanistan)
    • Nocontract, not releasable to contractors
    • Nodis, no distribution
    • Noforn, no foreign distribution
    • Notal, not received by all addressees
    • NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
    • NSA, National Security Agency
    • NSC, National Security Council
    • NWFP, Northwest Frontier Province
    • OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
    • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
    • OPA, Office of Political Analysis, Central Intelligence Agency
    • Ops, Operations
    • OPEC, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
    • Orcon, originator controlled
    • PAB, Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Department of State
    • Pak, Pakistan; Pakistani
    • PD, Presidential Directive; Presidential Determination
    • PDB, President’s Daily Brief
    • PDPA, People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
    • PDRY, People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen
    • Perm Rep, Permanent Representative
    • P.L., Public Law
    • PM, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
    • POL, political
    • POL/ECON, Political/Economic Sections of the Embassy
    • POLAD, Political Advisor
    • PPP, Pakistan Peoples Party
    • PRC, People’s Republic of China; Policy Review Committee
    • PRM, Presidential Review Memorandum
    • PTT, postal, telegraph, and telephone
    • RA, Radio Afghanistan
    • RDF, Rapid Deployment Force
    • Ref, reference
    • refair, reference airgram
    • reftel, reference telegram
    • RG, Record Group
    • RMO, Regional Medical Officer
    • Roger Channel, channel for communications between the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) and the Chief of Mission
    • rpt, repeat
    • RSO, Regional Security Officer
    • RV, re-entry vehicle
    • S, Secret; Office of the Secretary of State
    • SA–7, man-portable, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile
    • SACEUR, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
    • SAG, Saudi Arabian Government
    • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
    • SecDef, Secretary of Defense
    • Secto, series indicator for telegrams from the Secretary of State while traveling
    • SC, Security Council (United Nations)
    • SCC, Special Coordination Committee
    • Septel, separate telegram
    • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
    • SHAPE, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe
    • SIGINT, signals intelligence
    • sitrep, situation report
    • S/MS, Office of Marshall Shulman, Special Adviser to the Secretary of State
    • S/P, Policy Planning Staff, Department of State
    • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
    • Specat, special category message
    • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • SSCI, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
    • S/S–I, Information Management Section, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • S/S–O, Operations Center, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • S/S–S, Secretariat Staff, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • Stadis, (Department of) State Distribution
    • SU, Soviet Union
    • Subj, Subject
    • SY, Scotland Yard
    • SYG, Secretary-General
    • tacair, tactical aircraft
    • TASS, official Soviet news agency
    • TDY, temporary duty
    • TNF, theater nuclear forces
    • Tosec, series indicator for telegram to the Secretary of State while traveling
    • TS, Top Secret
    • TT, Thomas Thornton
    • Tudeh, Iranian Communist Party
    • U, Unclassified
    • U.S., United States
    • UIA, United Islamic Alliance
    • UILFA, United Islamic Liberation Front of Afghanistan
    • UK, United Kingdom
    • UN, United Nations
    • UNDP, United Nations Development Program
    • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
    • UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
    • UNSC, United Nations Security Council
    • USAF, United States Air Force
    • USAID, United States Agency for International Development
    • USC, United States Code
    • USDA, United States Department of Agriculture
    • USDEL, United States Delegation
    • USG, United States Government
    • USIA, United States Information Agency
    • USICA, United States International Communication Agency
    • USLO, United States Liaison Office
    • USNATO, United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
    • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
    • VOA, Voice of America
    • VP, Vice President
    • WH, White House
    • YAR, Yemen Arab Republic
    • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time)
    • ZB, Zbigniew Brzezinski