| AAT | Office of Advanced Analytic Tools |
| ABM | Antiballistic Missile |
| ACDA | Arms Control and Disarmament Agency |
| ADSI | Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence |
| AEC | Atomic Energy Commission |
| AFSC | Air Force Systems Command |
| AIR | American Institutes for Research |
| AIT | Office of Advanced Information Technology |
| APL | Applied Physics Laboratory (Johns Hopkins University) |
| ARDE | Democratic Revolutionary Alliance |
| ARS | Advanced Reconnaissance System |
| ATP | Office of Advanced Technologies and Programs |
| BND | Bundesnachrichtendienst (West German Foreign Intelligence Service) |
| CCD | Charge-Coupled Device |
| CIA | Central Intelligence Agency |
| CIG | Central Intelligence Group |
| CIO | Central Imagery Office |
| CITO | Clandestine Information Technology Office |
| COMINT | Communications Intelligence |
| COMIREX | Committee on Imagery Requirements and Exploitation |
| COMOR | Committee on Overhead Reconnaissance |
| DCI | Director of Central Intelligence |
| DCID | Director of Central Intelligence Directive |
| DDI | Deputy Director for Intelligence |
| DDP | Deputy Directorate for Plans Deputy Director for Plans |
| DDR | Deputy Director for Research |
| DEFSMAC | Defense Special Missile and Astronautics Center |
| DIA | Defense Intelligence Agency |
| DMA | Defense Mapping Agency |
| DNRO | Director National Reconnaissance Office |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| DPD | Development Projects Division |
| DPS | Development Projects Staff |
| DS&T | Directorate of Science and Technology |
| EARL | Edgewood Arsenal Research Laboratories |
| ELINT | Electronic Intelligence |
| ERTS | Earth Resources Technology Satellite |
| ESO | ELINT Staff Officer |
| FBIS | Foreign Broadcast Information Service |
| FMSAC | Foreign Missile and Space Analysis Center |
| FROG | Film-Readout GAMBIT |
| FSTC | Foreign Science and Technology Center |
| FTD | Foreign Technology Division |
| HALSOL | High-Altitude Solar Energy |
| HN | Headquarters Notice |
| ICBM | Intercontinental Ballistic Missile |
| IDF | Israeli Defense Forces |
| IEG | Imagery Exploitation Group |
| INR | Bureau of Intelligence and Research |
| IPO | Investment Program Office |
| IRBM | Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile |
| JCS | Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| JPRS | Joint Publications Research Service |
| JRDB | Joint Research and Development Board |
| LOROP | Long-Range Oblique Photography |
| MASINT | Measurement and Signature Intelligence |
| MIRV | Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles |
| MPS | Ministry of Public Security (PRC) |
| MRBM | Medium-Range Ballistic Missile |
| MRV | Multiple Reentry Vehicles |
| MSX | Midcourse Space Experiment |
| NACA | National Advisory Council on Aeronautics |
| NARA | National Archives and Records Administration |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NEL | National Exploitation Laboratory |
| NIA | National Imagery Agency |
| NIA | National Intelligence Authority |
| NIDL | National Information Display Laboratory |
| NIMA | National Imagery and Mapping Agency |
| NIE | National Intelligence Estimate |
| NORAD | North American Aerospace Defense Command |
| NPIC | National Photographic Interpretation Center |
| NRO | National Reconnaissance Office |
| NRP | National Reconnaissance Program |
| NRPEC | National Reconnaissance Program Executive Committee |
| NSA | National Security Agency |
| NSC | National Security Council |
| NSCID | National Security Council Intelligence Directive |
| NURO | National Underwater Reconnaissance Office |
| NVA | North Vietnamese Army |
| OAP | Office of Advanced Projects |
| OCS | Office of Computer Services |
| OD&E | Office of Development and Engineering |
| OEL | Office of ELINT |
| OIA | Office of Imagery Analysis |
| ORD | Office of Research and Development |
| ORE | Office of Reports and Estimates |
| OSA | Office of Special Activities |
| OSI | Office of Scientific Intelligence |
| OSO | Office of Special Operations |
| OSO | Office of SIGINT Operations |
| OSP | Office of Special Projects |
| OSR | Office of Strategic Research |
| OSS | Office of Strategic Services |
| OTC | Office of Technical Collection |
| OTH | Over-the-Horizon |
| OTS | Office of Technical Service |
| OWI | Office of Weapons Intelligence |
| PBCFIA | President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities |
| PDB | President’s Daily Brief |
| PFIAB | President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board |
| PEG | Priority Exploitation Group, NPIC |
| PIBS | Presidential Intelligence Briefing System |
| PIC | Photographic Interpretation Center |
| PID | Photographic Intelligence Division |
| PPMS | Power and Pattern Measurement System |
| PRC | People’s Republic of China |
| PSAC | President’s Scientific Advisory Committee |
| RDD | Radiation Detection Device |
| RPV | Remotely Piloted Vehicle |
| SAC | Strategic Air Command |
| SALT | Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty |
| SAM | Surface-to-Air Missile |
| SAVA | Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs |
| SCS | Special Collection Service |
| SCMC | Shuangchengzi Missile Test Complex |
| SDS | Satellite Data System |
| SEATO | Southeast Asia Treaty Organization |
| SEI | Scientific Engineering Institute |
| SIC | Scientific Intelligence Committee |
| SIGINT | Signals Intelligence |
| SLBM | Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile |
| SNA | Somali National Alliance |
| SNIE | Special National Intelligence Estimate |
| SOD | Special Operations Division |
| SOSUS | Sound Surveillance System |
| SRI | Stanford Research Institute |
| TCP | Technological Capabilities Panel |
| TIO | Technology Investment Office |
| TRW | Thompson-Ramo-Woolridge |
| TSD | Technical Services Division |
| TSS | Technical Services Staff |
| UAV | Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
| UCLAs | Unilaterally Controlled Latino Assets |
| USAF | United States Air Force |
| USIB | United States Intelligence Board |
| VC | Vietcong |