Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

  • ABM, anti-ballistic missile
  • acce, accordance
  • ACDA, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/D, Office of the Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/DD, Office of the Deputy Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACDA/IR, Office of International Relations, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
  • ACIS, arms control impact statement
  • ADM, air-launched decoy missile
  • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
  • ALCM, air-launched cruise missile
  • alrey, already
  • ARA, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
  • ASAT, anti-satellite
  • ASD (A), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Administration)
  • ASD (I), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Intelligence)
  • ASD (SA), Assistant Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis)
  • ATP, augmented test program
  • ATR, advanced test reactor
  • AWAC, airborne warning and control
  • backchannel, a method of communication outside normal bureaucratic procedure; the White House, for instance, used “backchannel” messages to pass the Department of State
  • BW, biological (bacteriological) warfare
  • CAP, Carlos André Peréz
  • CAT, conventional arms transfers
  • CBW, chemical and biological (bacteriological) warfare
  • CCD, Conference of the Committee on Disarmament
  • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
  • CJCS, Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • CNEA, Comisión Nacional de Energia Atómica (Argentine Atomic Energy Commission)
  • CPSU, Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  • CSCE, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • CTB, comprehensive test ban
  • CTBT, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
  • CV, Cyrus Vance
  • CW, chemical weapons
  • D, Office of the Deputy Secretary of State
  • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence
  • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
  • DD/P, Deputy Director for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency
  • Del, Delegate or Delegation
  • Dept, Department
  • Deptel, Department of State telegram
  • DG, Director General of the Foreign Service, Department of State
  • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
  • dissem, dissemination
  • DOD, Department of Defense
  • DOS, Department of State
  • DPRC, Defense Program Review Committee
  • EEC, European Economic Community
  • EOB, Executive Office Building
  • ER, enhanced radiation
  • ERDA, Energy Research and Development Agency
  • ERW, enhanced radiation weapon
  • EST, Eastern Standard Time
  • EUR, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • EURATOM, European Atomic Energy Community
  • Exdis, exclusive distribution
  • FBR, fixed bed reactor
  • FMS, foreign military sales
  • FonMin, Foreign Ministry
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • FRC, Federal Records Center
  • FRG, Federal Republic of Germany
  • FSO, Foreign Service Officer
  • FSS, full-scope safeguards
  • FY, fiscal year
  • FYI, for your information
  • GDR, German Democratic Republic
  • GOA, Government of Argentina
  • GOA, Government of Australia
  • GOB, Government of Brazil
  • GOF, Government of France
  • GOJ, Government of Japan
  • GOP, Government of Pakistan
  • HB, Harold Brown
  • HEL, high-energy laser
  • HEU, highly-enriched uranium
  • HMG, Her Majesty’s Government
  • HWR, heavy water reactor
  • HWT, heavy water technology
  • IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency
  • IAWG, Interagency Working Group
  • ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
  • ICC, International Control Commission
  • INFCE, International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation
  • 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/IL, Intelligence Liaison, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
  • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
  • IOC, initial operating capability
  • IPMG, Interdepartmental Political-Military Group
  • IRBM, intermediate-range ballistic missile
  • IRG, Interdepartmental Regional Group
  • ISA, Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
  • ISIS, internal seismic installations
  • ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations
  • JCC, Joint Consultative Committee
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff Memorandum
  • km, kilometers
  • LANFZ, Latin American Nuclear Free Zone
  • LDC, least/lesser-developed country
  • LEU, low-enriched uranium
  • Limdis, limited distribution
  • LMFBR, liquid metal fast breeder reactor
  • LRTNF, long-range theater nuclear forces
  • LTBT, Limited Test Ban Treaty
  • MAD, mutual assured destruction
  • MANPADS, man-portable air-defense systems
  • MAP, Military Assistance Program
  • MBFR, Mutual Balanced Force Reductions
  • Mbr, Member
  • MDW, mass destruction weapons
  • ME, Middle East
  • memcon, memorandum of conversation
  • MHV, miniature homing vehicle, a two-stage anti-satellite missile
  • MIRV, multiple independently-targeted reentry vehicle
  • MLF, multilateral force
  • mm, millimeter
  • MM, minuteman
  • MOD, Ministry of Defence (UK)
  • MR, Memorandum for the Record
  • mtg, meeting
  • mws, megawatts
  • MX, missile experimental
  • NAC, North Atlantic Council
  • NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • NCA, National Command Authority
  • negative security assurance, pledge not to use nuclear weapons against Non-Nuclear Weapon States that signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • NGO, non-governmental organization
  • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
  • NNPA, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act (1978)
  • NNWS, Non-Nuclear Weapon States
  • Nodis, no distribution
  • NPG, Nuclear Planning Group
  • NPT, Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • NRP, National Reconnaissance Program
  • NSA, National Security Agency
  • NSC, National Security Council
  • NSCID, National Security Council Intelligence Directive
  • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
  • NSF, National Science Foundation
  • NSG, Nuclear Suppliers Group
  • NTM, national technical means
  • NUF, non-use of Force
  • NWFZ, nuclear weapons free zone
  • NWS, Nuclear Weapon States
  • O, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration
  • O/DDI, Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
  • OAS, Organization of American States
  • OASD, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • OASD, ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs
  • OASD, SA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Systems Analysis
  • OES, Bureau of Oceans and Scientific and Environmental Affairs, Department of State
  • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
  • ONE, Office of National Estimates
  • OPANAL, Organization for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America
  • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • OSI, Office of Scientific Intelligence
  • OSI, on-site inspection
  • OST, Office of Science and Technology
  • P.L., Public Law
  • para, paragraph
  • PCW, Paul C. Warnke
  • PD, Presidential Directive
  • PermRep, Permanent Representative
  • PM, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • PM/ISP, Office of International Security Policy and Planning, Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, Department of State
  • PMG, Politico-Military Group
  • PNE, peaceful nuclear explosion
  • Polad, political adviser
  • PRC, People’s Republic of China
  • PRC, Policy Review Committee
  • PrepCom, Preparatory Committee
  • Pres, President
  • PRM, Presidential Review Memorandum
  • PSAC, President’s Science Advisory Committee
  • PU, plutonium
  • R&D, research and development
  • RB, reduced blast
  • RDT&E, research, development, test, and evaluation
  • Ref or Reftel, reference telegram
  • Rep, Representative
  • Res, Resolution
  • RG, Record Group
  • rpt, repeat
  • RPV, remotely piloted vehicle
  • RW, radiological weapons
  • RWE, Ralph W. Earle
  • S, Office of the Secretary of State
  • S/P, Policy Planning Council or Staff, Department of State
  • S/PC, Planning and Coordination Staff, Department of State
  • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • S/S–I, Information Section, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
  • SAC, Strategic Air Command
  • SAG, South African Government
  • SAGSI, Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation
  • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
  • SAM, surface to air missile
  • SC, Security Council
  • SCC, Special Coordination Committee
  • SCI, Office of International Scientific and Technological Affairs, Department of State
  • SCICOUNS, Scientific Counselor
  • SEA, Southeast Asia
  • SecDef, Secretary of Defense
  • Secto, backchannel message from Secretary of State
  • SELA, Sistema Económico Latinoamericano
  • Septel, separate telegram
  • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • SIG, Senior Interdepartmental Group
  • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
  • SNM, special nuclear materials
  • SOP, standard operating procedure
  • SOV, Office of Soviet Union Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs, Department of State
  • SS–20, Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile
  • SSM, surface-to-surface missile
  • SSOD, Special Session on Disarmament
  • SU, Soviet Union
  • SYG, Secretary General
  • T, Bureau of Security Assistance, Science, and Technology, Department of State
  • TASS, Telegrafnoye Agentsvo Sovetskogo Soiuza (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union)
  • Telcon, telephone conversation
  • TIAS, Treaties and Other International Acts Series
  • TNF, Theater Nuclear Forces
  • TS, top secret
  • TTBT, Threshold Test Ban Treaty
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNCTAD, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  • UNDC, United Nations Disarmament Commission
  • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
  • UNSYG, Secretary General, United Nations
  • URENCO, Uranium Enrichment Company (UK)
  • US, United States
  • USAEC, United States Atomic Energy Commission
  • USG, United States Government
  • USINT, United States Interest Section in Cuba
  • USNATO, United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • WDC, World Disarmament Conference
  • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time)