Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

    • ACDA, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
    • AF, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State
    • AGIP, General Italian Oil Company (Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli)
    • AID, U.S. Agency for International Development
    • AN–22, Soviet military transport designed by the Antonov Design Bureau
    • AP, Associated Press
    • BHN, basic human needs
    • BP, British Petroleum
    • C–130, military cargo plane
    • CAE, Central African Empire
    • CAT, Conventional Arms Transfer
    • CEAO, Economic Community of West Africa (Communauté Économique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest)
    • CH–47C, Chinook helicopter
    • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
    • CIEC, Conference on International Economic Cooperation
    • CILSS, Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (Comité permanent Inter-États de Luttes contre la Sécheresse au Sahel).
    • COMIDEASTFOR, Commander, Middle East Forces
    • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
    • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
    • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
    • DOD, Department of Defense
    • DOE, Department of Energy
    • ECOWAS, Economic Community of West African States
    • EEC, European Economic Community
    • EG, Equatorial Guinea
    • ELF, France Gasoline and Lubricants (Essence et Lubrifiants de France)
    • ELINT, electronic intelligence
    • EPA, Environmental Protection Agency
    • ERA, Economic Regulatory Administration
    • ESF, Emergency Support Function
    • EST, eastern standard time
    • EUCOM, U.S. European Command
    • EXIM, Export-Import Bank of the United States
    • F5–E, U.S. supersonic jet fighter designed by the Northrop Corporation
    • FAPLA, Peoples Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola)
    • FAZ, Zairian armed forces (Forces Armées Zairoïses)
    • FERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
    • FGN, Federal Government of Nigeria
    • FMG, Federal Military Government of Nigeria
    • FMS, Foreign Military Sales
    • FNLC, National Front for the Liberation of the Congo
    • FonMin, Foreign Minister
    • FPC, Federal Power Commission
    • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
    • G–77, Group of 77, a United Nations intergovernmental group of developing countries
    • GATT, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
    • GDR, German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
    • GNP, gross national product
    • GOCAE, Government of the Central African Empire
    • GOCV, Government of Cape Verde
    • GOF, Government of France
    • GOG, Government of Guinea
    • GOK, Government of Kenya
    • GOL, Government of Liberia
    • GOU, Government of Uganda
    • GSP, Generalized System of Preferences
    • HEW, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, predecessor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
    • HIRC, House International Relations Committee
    • IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency
    • IAF, Inter-African Forces
    • IBRD, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
    • ICA, International Cooperation Administration, predecessor to the U.S. Agency for International Development
    • IDCA, International Development Corporation Agency
    • IFI, international financial institutions
    • IG, Inspector General
    • ILHR, International League for Human Rights, United Nations
    • ILO, International Labour Organization
    • IMET, International Military and Education Training
    • IMF, International Monetary Fund
    • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • JFK, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
    • LAMCO, Liberian-American-Swedish Mining Company
    • LANDSAT, program to acquire satellite imagery of Earth, administered through the U.S. Geological Survey
    • LDC, less developed country
    • LNG, liquefied natural gas
    • LPH, landing platform helicopter
    • LTG, Lieutenant General
    • MAC, Military Air Command
    • MGen, Major General
    • MIG–21, Soviet supersonic jet fighter designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau
    • MOD, Ministry of Defense
    • MPLA, People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Merimento Popular de Libertacão de Angola)
    • MPR, Popular Revolutionary Movement (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution) (Zaire)
    • MT, metric ton
    • MTT, mobile training teams
    • NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
    • NAM, Non-Aligned Movement
    • NAS, National Academy of Sciences
    • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • NCC, French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de L’homme)
    • NCO, Non-commissioned Officer
    • NFAC, National Foreign Assessment Center, Central Intelligence Agency
    • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
    • NIH, National Institutes of Health
    • NNPC, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
    • NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    • NPT, Non-proliferation Treaty
    • NSC, National Security Council
    • NSF, National Science Foundation
    • NUC, National Universities Commission (Nigeria)
    • OAU, Organization of African Unity
    • OGEDEP, National Debt Management Office (Zaire)
    • OJCS, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
    • OPEC, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
    • OPIC, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
    • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
    • PL, public law
    • PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization
    • POL, petroleum oil lubricants
    • POW, prisoner of war
    • PPP, Progressive People’s Party (Liberia)
    • PRA, People’s Republic of Angola
    • PRC, People’s Redemption Council (Liberia)
    • PriMin, Prime Minister
    • PRM, Presidential Review Memorandum
    • rpt, repeat
    • reftel, reference telegram
    • S&T, science and technology
    • SA–3, Soviet surface-to-air missile system
    • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
    • SAM, surface-to-air missiles
    • SAWG, Special Activities Working Group
    • SCC, Special Coordinating Committee
    • SDR, Special Drawing Right, an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund
    • septel, separate telegram
    • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
    • STR, Special Trade Representative
    • SWAPO, South West African People’s Organization
    • T–34, World War II-era military tank
    • TU–95, Soviet strategic bomber and missile platform
    • TOW, tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missiles
    • TPDF, Tanzania People’s Defense Force
    • TWA, Trans World Airlines
    • UN, United Nations
    • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
    • UNICEF, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
    • UNITA, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola)
    • UNLF, Uganda National Liberation Front
    • UNO, Ugandan Nationalist Organization
    • UNSC, United Nations Security Council
    • UPA, Ugandan People’s Congress
    • UPC, Ugandan People’s Congress (Union pour le Progrès National)
    • UPG, Ugandan People’s Government
    • UPI, United Press International
    • UPM, Ugandan People’s Movement
    • UPRONA, Union for National Progress
    • USAF, U.S. Air Force
    • USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development
    • USCINCEUR, Commander in Chief, Europe
    • USCINCNAVEUR, Commander in Chief, U.S. Navy, Europe
    • USDOC, U.S. Department of Commerce
    • USEUCOM, U.S. European Command
    • USG, U.S. Government
    • USICA, U.S. International Cooperation Administration
    • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
    • VOA, Voice of America
    • VP, Vice President
    • ZANU, Zimbabwe African National Union
    • ZAPU, Zimbabwe African People’s Union