Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

    • AA/LA, Office of the Assistant Administrator and Deputy U.S. Coordinator
    • AFL–CIO, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
    • AID, Agency for International Development
    • AMB, Ambassador
    • ACAN–EFE, Panamanian news service
    • ASD/ISA, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • APO, Army Post Office
    • ARA, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
    • ARA/ECP, Office of Regional Economic Policy, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
    • ARA/PAN, Office of Panamanian Affairs, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
    • ARA/USOAS, Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, Department of State
    • ASA, Assistant Secretary of State
    • ASAP, as soon as possible
    • BG, Brigadier General
    • BEQ, Bachelor Enlisted Quarters
    • BWG, Binational Working Group
    • CA, covert action
    • CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System
    • CEC USN, Civil Engineer Corps, United States Navy
    • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
    • CIEC, Conference on International Economic Cooperation
    • CINC, Commander in Chief
    • CINCLANT, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command
    • CINCSO, Commander in Chief, Southern Command
    • CINCSOUTH, Commander in Chief, Southern Command
    • CJCS, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • CODEL, Congressional Delegation
    • COB, close of business
    • COL, Colonel
    • CONDECA, Central American Defense Council
    • CONUS, Continental United States
    • CRV, Cyrus R. Vance
    • CV, Cyrus Vance
    • D, Office of the Deputy Secretary of State; also Democrat
    • DA, David Aaron
    • DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission
    • DCI, Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DDCI, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DDO, Deputy Director of Operations, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DDO/LA, Deputy Director of Operations for Latin America, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DEF, Defense
    • DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency
    • DISSEM, Dissemination Information
    • DO, Director of Operations, Central Intelligence Agency
    • DOA, Department of the Army
    • DOD, Department of Defense
    • DOD/ISA, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • DOI, Department of Interior
    • DOT, Department of Transportation
    • E, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
    • EB, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Department of State
    • EDT, Eastern Daylight Time
    • EIS, Environmental Impact Statement
    • EMB, Embassy
    • EXDIS, Exclusive Distribution
    • EXIM, Export Import Bank
    • Ex-Im, Export Import Bank
    • FAA, Federal Aviation Administration
    • FFB, Federal Financing Bank
    • FM, from
    • FMS, Foreign Military Sales
    • FSLN, Sandinista National Liberation Front (Nicaragua)
    • FSO, Fund for Special Operations, Inter-American Development Bank
    • FY, Fiscal Year
    • FYI, For Your Information
    • GA, Georgia
    • G–2, Military Intelligence Unit
    • Gen., General
    • GN, Guardia Nacional (Panamanian National Guard)
    • GNP, Gross National Product
    • GOI, Government of Iran
    • GON, Government of Nicaragua
    • GOP, Government of Panama; also Grand Old Party (Republican Party)
    • GPO, Government Printing Office
    • GSP, Generalized System of Preferences
    • H, Bureau of Congressional Relations, Department of State
    • HA, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Department of State
    • HB, Harold Brown
    • HEW, Department of Health, Education and Welfare
    • HFAC, House Foreign Affairs Committee
    • HIRC, House International Relations Committee
    • HR, House Resolution
    • HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development
    • I, Independent
    • IA, Inter-America
    • IACHR, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
    • IADB, Inter-American Development Bank
    • IDB, Inter-American Development Bank
    • IMET, International Military Education and Training
    • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/IL, Intelligence Liaison, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/RAR, Office of Research and Analysis for the American Republics, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • J, Jimmy Carter
    • JC, Jimmy Carter
    • JCE, Joint Commission on the Environment
    • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • JRG, United States-Panama Joint Review Group; also Junta Revolucionario de Govierno (Revolutionary Governing Junta; Junta of Revolutionary Government of El Salvador)
    • KY, Kentucky
    • L, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
    • LIMDIS, Limited Distribution
    • Lt., Lieutenant
    • LTG, Lieutenant General
    • M, Million
    • MAAG, Military Assistance Advisory Group
    • Memcon, memorandum of conversation
    • MHD, Magnetohydrodynamic generator
    • MIL, Military
    • Milcon, military construction
    • MPH, Miles Per Hour
    • NAM, Non-Aligned Movement
    • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • NEPA, National Environmental Policy Act
    • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
    • NIACT, Night Action, Needs Immediate Attention
    • NOCONTRACT, Not releasable to contractors or contractor/consultants
    • NODIS, No distribution
    • NOFORN, Not releasable to foreign nationals
    • NSA, National Security Agency
    • NSAM, National Security Action Memorandum
    • NSC, National Security Council
    • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
    • NY, New York
    • OAS, Organization of American States
    • OASGA, Organization of American States General Assembly
    • OD, Operating Directive
    • OEOB, Old Executive Office Building
    • OES, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State
    • OES/EN, Directorate for Environmental Affairs, Office of Environmental and Population Affairs, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State
    • OJCS, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • OMB, Office of Management and Budget
    • OPIC, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
    • OPR/LS, Office of Language Services, Bureau of Administration, Department of State
    • ORCON, Dissemination and extraction of information controlled by originator
    • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
    • OSD/ISA, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Bureau of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
    • OSM, Office of Spectrum Management, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce
    • P, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
    • PCA, Panama Canal Authority
    • PCC, Panama Canal Company; also Panama Canal Commission
    • PCNWG, Panama Canal Negotiations Working Group
    • PFC, Private First Class
    • PL, Public Law
    • PNA, Panama
    • PRC, Policy Review Committee; also Panama Review Committee; also People’s Republic of China
    • PRM, Policy Review Memorandum
    • PX, Post exchange
    • R, Republican
    • RE, regarding
    • Reftel, reference telegram
    • RI, Karl “Rick” F. Inderfurth
    • RIFS, reductions in force
    • RG, Record Group
    • RP, Robert Pastor
    • RPT, Repeat
    • S, Office of the Secretary of State
    • S/AB, Ambassador-at-Large Ellsworth Bunker
    • S/P, Policy Planning Staff, Department of State
    • S/PTA, Special Representative of the Secretary for Panama Treaty Affairs, Department of State
    • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • S/S–I, Information Management Section, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • S/S–O, Operations Center, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • SSCI, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
    • SAC, Senate Appropriations Committee
    • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
    • SC, Security Council, United Nations
    • SecDef, Secretary of Defense
    • Septel, separate telegram
    • SFRC, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
    • SOFA, Status of Forces Agreement
    • SOUTHCOM, United States Southern Command
    • SSO, Special Security Office
    • STADIS, distribution within the Department of State only
    • T-Day, Treaty into force day
    • TNT, Trinitrotoluene
    • TOSEC, designation for a message sent to the Secretary of State
    • UN, United Nations
    • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
    • UPI, United Press International
    • US, United States
    • USAID, see AID
    • USG, United States Government
    • U.S., United States
    • USA, United States of America
    • USAF, United States Air Force
    • USCINCSO, Commander in Chief, Southern Command
    • USD/P, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
    • USG, United States Government
    • USMILGP, United States Military Group
    • USMC, United States Marine Corps
    • USN, United States Navy
    • USOAS, United States Representative to the Organization of American States
    • USS, United States Senate
    • USSOUTHCOM, United States Southern Command
    • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
    • USUN, United States United Nations Mission
    • VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars, USA
    • VP, Vice President
    • WC, Warren Christopher
    • WHSITRM, White House Situation Room
    • WY, Wyoming
    • Z, Zulu (Greenwich) Mean time
    • ZB, Zbigniew Brzezinski