AK-47 The standard weapon carried by communist forces. This assault rifle was ideal for combat in Vietnam since it was simple to operate, was easy to maintain in the harsh tropical environment, and was capable of providing both semi-automatic and automatic fire. Most NVA troops were equipped with this reliable and effective infantry assault rifle.
AO Aerial observer. The AO was trained to control artillery and air strikes while flying as the observer in the back seat of a single engine prop-driven aircraft.
ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
CAP Combined Action Platoon. A village defense platoon made up of three squads of Popular Forces and one squad of U.S. Marines.
CAS Close Air Support.
CHICOM Chinese Communist.
CIA Central Intelligence Agency.
CIDG Civilian Irregular Defense Group. South Vietnamese military units made up of ethnic minorities, such as Montagnards and Cambodians, and initially organized by the CIA and commanded by U.S. Special Forces but later turned over to the South Vietnamese Special Forces.
CO Commanding Officer.
COC Combat Operations Center.
CORDS Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support. A program established in 1967 to manage all U.S pacification activities in South Vietnam.
COSVN Central Office for South Vietnam. This organization served as the headquarters of the Lao Dong Party in South Vietnam. It directed the military and political activities of communist insurgency. Until 1967 it was located inside South Vietnam but was driven into eastern Cambodia by U.S. military forces.
Deep Reconnaissance The insertion of Marine Corps reconnaissance teams outside the range of friendly artillery and deep into enemy-controlled territory. These missions were the most dangerous missions assigned to Marine Corps reconnaissance units during the Vietnam War.
DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the name of the communist state of North Vietnam.
DZ Drop Zone (for parachutists).
GVN Government of Vietnam. The name of the South Vietnamese Government.
H&I Harassment and Interdiction. This term applies to artillery fire that is unobserved and used to harass or disrupt the enemy.
Hamlet The smallest administrative entity in South Vietnam, usually a small grouping of houses within the larger entity of a village. Hamlets varied in size from 100 to 1,000 people.
KIA Killed in Action.
Lao Dong Party The name of the communist party of Vietnam. It literally means “Workers Party.” All communist forces and political organizations in South Vietnam were commanded and controlled by the Lao Dong Party, but the communists often tried to hide this reality by creating front organizations, such as the National Liberation Front, or bogus political organizations, such as the Provisional Revolutionary Government, to make it appear there were non-communists in leadership positions within the insurgency.
LP Listening Post.
LZ Landing Zone (for helicopters).
M-16 The assault rifle used by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces after 1967. Initially, there were many problems with this rifle due to deficiencies in design, lack of training, and faulty ammunition.
M-26 The standard U.S. anti-personnel fragmentation grenade.
M-60 The standard U.S. machine gun.
M-79 A 40-mm grenade launcher that had a maximum effective range of approximately 250 meters.
MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam.
MR Military Region. There were four South Vietnamese military regions. Military Region 1 consisted of the five northern provinces in South Vietnam. Military Region 2 consisted of the next twelve provinces. Military Region 3 consisted of the ten provinces surrounding Saigon. The remaining southernmost sixteen provinces were in Military Region 4.
NFZ No Fire Zone.
NLF National Liberation Front.
NVA North Vietnamese Army. Sometimes referred to as the People’s Army of Vietnam, or PAVN.
OP Observation Post. An OP can be either overt or covert.
PF Popular Forces. Lightly armed South Vietnamese village militia organized in platoon strength.
Phoenix The American name for the South Vietnamese pacification program called Phung Hoang. This was a program, which began in 1967, aimed at defeating the communist political infrastructure in the villages of South Vietnam by forcing all of the American and South Vietnamese organizations involved with defeating the VCI to cooperate and coordinate their efforts at every administrative level of the South Vietnamese Government. The Phoenix Committees at the national and regional level addressed policy, while the Phoenix committees at the province and district level dealt with operational matters.
Phung Hoang The South Vietnamese organization that paralleled Phoenix with committees at each administrative level of the South Vietnamese Government down to district level.
POSREP Position Report. A report used by American forces to give their location using grid coordinates.
PRG Peoples’ Revolutionary Government.
Province A grouping of districts.
PRU Provincial Reconnaissance Unit. This was the primary action arm of the CIA’s war against the Viet Cong political infrastructure
PSDF People’s Self Defense Force. A local anti-communist militia made up of rural villagers.
R and R Rest and Recuperation. A five-day holiday that allowed U.S. servicemen to travel at U.S. Government expense to various locations in Asia and Hawaii.
Radio Relay Site A location, usually on a prominent terrain feature, that allowed for the retransmission of radio traffic. Such sites were frequently employed by U.S. Marine reconnaissance units since many of their patrols were conducted in areas of steep mountainous terrain where line of sight radio transmissions were masked.
RF Regional Forces. These were South Vietnamese company-sized light infantry militia units at district level. They were used by district chiefs to reinforce PF units who were under attack by communist forces.
RPD Light machine gun used by communist forces.
RPG Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher used by communist forces that was often called the B-40 for the earliest version and the RPG-7 for the later, improved version.
RVN Republic of Vietnam. The name for South Vietnam.
RVNAF Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces.
S-1 The administrative staff section for a unit below brigade level.
S-2 The intelligence staff section for a unit below brigade level.
S-3 The operations staff section for a unit below brigade level.
S-4 The logistics staff section for a unit below brigade level.
SALUTE Report A report used by American forces to identify and describe enemy activity.
SEA Hut Southeast Asia Hut. A wood framed structure with a corrugated steel roof and screened siding which was commonly constructed by U.S. engineer units for rear area cantonments and bases.
782 Gear Individual field equipment issued to Marines, such as cartridge belt, ammunition pouches, canteens, packs, etc. Also called deuce gear or web gear.
SITREP Situation Report.
SKS A semi-automatic rifle used by communist forces.
Snake and Nape A combination of fin-stabilized bombs and napalm canisters used by fixed-wing aircraft in support of ground troops.
Stingray A Marine Corps reconnaissance tactic that used small reconnaissance teams to call in supporting arms on the enemy, often far from friendly lines.
TAOR Tactical Area of Responsibility. This term applies to the geographical area assigned to a combat unit and for which that unit is responsible for security and operational control.
VC Viet Cong. The name used to identify southern communists. In actuality, all communist forces in both North and South Vietnam were either military or civilian organizations controlled by the Lao Dong Party headquartered in Hanoi.
VCI Viet Cong Infrastructure. The term used to describe the Lao Dong Party’s political organization in South Vietnam.
Village A grouping of hamlets that constituted the basic rural administrative entity in South Vietnam. They ranged in size from 1,000 to 10,000 people and often were spread over significant terrain due to dispersed land holdings and rice fields separating hamlets within the village structure.
VNQDD Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, a South Vietnamese anti-communist political party.
VR Visual reconnaissance. A term used to describe a helicopter overflight of a projected reconnaissance patrol area.
XO Executive Officer. The second in command of a unit, who normally was given the responsibility of managing the staff of a unit.