Commonly Used Acronyms and Terms

B. Department of Defense Acronyms and Terms

AC: Active Component of the military.

AFFOR: Air Force forces.

ALCC: Airlift Control Center.

AMC: Air Mobility Command.

AO: Area of Operation.

AOR: Area of Responsibility. The U.S. military divides the world into five geographic areas of responsibility, each supervised by a regional Combatant Commander. See CENTCOM, EUCOM,NORTHCOM, PACOM, and SOUTHCOM.

APC: Armored Personnel Carrier.

ARFOR: Army forces.

ARG: Amphibious Readiness Group.

BDE: Army or Marine Corps Brigade (2,000 to 3,000 personnel).

billet: To quarter or house troops; job assignment or position.

BN: Army or Marine Corps Battalion (600 to 800 personnel).

C-5 (Galaxy): U.S. Air Force’s largest cargo aircraft.

C-9: U.S. military aircraft used for medical evacuations.

C-12: U.S. military small aircraft for passengers. Commercial version named King Air.

C-17 (Globemaster III): New generation military cargo aircraft.

C-130 (Hercules): U.S. military turboprop cargo aircraft.

C-141 (Starlifter): U.S. Air Force jet cargo aircraft.

CA: Civil Affairs Units. Part of Special Operation Forces. See SOCOM.

CAG: Marine Civil Affairs Group.

CAP: Crisis Action Planning.

CAT: Crisis Action Team.

CBRNE: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive.

CC: Combatant Commander. Head of a regional command. See AOR.

CCO: Complex Contingency Operations.

CENTCOM: Central Command. Regional command for Southand Central Asia, Horn of Africa, and countries bordering the Arabian Peninsula and the northern Red Sea. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

CFST: Coalition Forces Support Team.

CH-47 (Chinook): U.S. Army heavy-lift helicopter.

CH-53A (Sea Stallion): U.S. Navy heavy-lift helicopter.

CIMIC: Civil-Military Cooperation.

CINC: Commander in Chief. President of the United States.

CJTF: Commander, Joint Task Force.

CMO: Civil Military Operations.

CMOC: Civil Military Operations Center.

CMOT: Civil Military Operations Team.

CO: Commanding Officer.

Command Staff designations: S=Staff, G=General, J=Joint.

  • S/G/J 1 = Administration.
  • S/G/J 2 = Intelligence.
  • S/G/J 3 = Operations.
  • S/G/J 4 = Logistics.
  • G 5 = Civil Affairs.
  • J 5 = Plans and Policies.
  • S-6; G/J 6 = Communications.
  • J 7 = Transformation.
  • J 8 = Resources and Assessment.
  • J 9 = Civil Military Operations (can also be a division under J 5).

CONOPS: Concept of Operations.

CONUS: continental United States; i.e., the 48 contiguous States.

CP: Command Post.

CTF: Combined Task Force.

DAO: Defense Attaché Office.

DATT: Defense Attaché.

DIV: Army or Marine Corps Division (8,000 to 12,000 personnel).

DSN: Defense Switching Network. DOD telephone system.

echelon: Subdivision of a headquarters.

EUCOM: European Command. Regional command for Europe, Africa (except for the Horn of Africa), Mediterranean Sea, and bordering countries. Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

FAO: Foreign Area Officer.

FHA: Foreign Humanitarian Assistance.

FPA: Foreign Policy Advisor. See POLAD.

FUNCPLAN: Plans involving military operations in a peacetime or permissive environment, developed to address requirements such as humanitarian relief.

General Orders: Permanent instructions, usually concerning matters of policy or administration.

H-3 (Sea King): U.S. military medium-lift helicopter.

HACC: Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center.

HAP: Humanitarian Assistance Program.

HAST: Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team.

HMMWV: Highly Mobile Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.Humvee. Successor to the Jeep.

HOC: Humanitarian Operations Center.

HRO: Humanitarian Relief Operations. Also referred to as HUMRO.

HUMINT: Human Intelligence.

JCMOTF: Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force.

JCS: Joint Chiefs of Staff.

JFC: Joint Force Commander.

JFCOM: Joint Forces Command.

JIB: Joint Information Bureau. Focal point for the interface between the military and the media.

JMC: Joint Movement Center. Coordinates transportation of all operational assets. Also referred to as Joint Movement ControlCenter (JMCC).

JOA: Joint Operations Area.

JOPES: Joint Operations Planning and Execution System.

JPOTF: Joint Psychological Operations Task Force.

JSOTF: Joint Special Operations Task Force.

JTF: Joint Task Force.

LNO: Liaison Officer.

LOC: Line of Communication.

LOGCAP: Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program.

MARFOR: Marine Force.

MEF: Marine Expeditionary Force.

METL: Mission Essential Task/Training List.

METT-T: Mission Enemy Terrain Troops-Time.

MEU: Marine Expeditionary Unit.

MLO: Military Liaison Officer. DOD representative at U.S. Embassy.

MNF: Multinational Force.

MOOTW: Military Operations Other Than War.

MPF: Marine prepositioned force.

MPS: Marine prepositioned ship.

MRE: meal, ready-to-eat. Complete individual combat meal in a pouch.

NAVFOR: Navy forces.

NCA: National Command Authority. The President and the Secretary of Defense, or their authorized alternates or successors.

NEO: Noncombatant Evacuation Operation.

NORTHCOM: Northern Command. Regional command for North America, including Mexico and Canada, and the western half of the Atlantic Ocean, including Cuba and the Bahamas, but excluding the rest of the Caribbean. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

OCONUS: Outside the continental United States. See also CONUS.

OH-58 (Kiowa): U.S. Army light helicopter.

OHDACA: Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid. DOD funding authority for humanitarian assistance programs.

OOTW: operations other than war.

OPCOM: Operational Command.

OPCON: Operational Control.

OPLAN: Operations Plan.

OPORD: Operations Order.

OPS: Operations.

OPSEC: Operational Security.

OSD: Office of the Secretary of Defense.

PACOM: Pacific Command. Regional command for the Pacific Ocean, part of the Indian Ocean, and East and Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

PDD: Presidential Decision Directive.

PDD 25: Presidential policy on reforming multinational peaceoperations.

PDD 39: Presidential policy on response to CBRNE terrorism acts.

PDD 62: Expands on PDD 39.

POLAD: Political Advisor.

POTUS: President of the United States.

PSYOPS: Psychological Operations.

RC: Reserve Component of the military.

ROE: rules of engagement. Defines when and how force maybe used.

RORO: Roll-on/ roll-off. Type of transport ship.

SECDEF: Secretary of Defense.

SF: U.S. Army Special Forces.

SJA: Staff Judge Advocate.

SOCOM: Special Operations Command. Functional command for unconventional forces worldwide, including elite strike forces, psychological operations, and civil affairs units. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

SOF: Special Operations Forces.

SOFA: Status of Forces Agreement.

SOUTHCOM: Southern Command. Regional command for Latin America land area and the Caribbean. Headquartered in Miami, Florida.

SSC: small-scale contingencies.

TACOM: Tactical Command.

TACON: Tactical Control.

TALCE: Tanker Airlift Control Element.

TDY: temporary duty.

TF: Task Force.

Theater: Region of the world for which a Combatant Commander has responsibility for U.S. military operations.

TPFDD: time-phased force deployment data.

TRANSCOM: Transportation Command Functional command for all surface/air/sealift. Headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

UH-1H (Huey): U.S. military medium capacity helicopter.

UH-60 (Blackhawk): U.S. military medium capacity helicopter.

WMD: weapons of mass destruction.

WWMCCS: World Wide Military Command and Control System.

Zulu: Greenwich mean time. See GMT in section A.
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