| 1 ALSG | 1st Australian Logistic Support Group, based at Vung Tau |
| 1 ARU | 1st Australian Reinforcement Unit, based at Nui Dat |
| 1 ATF | 1st Australian Task Force, based at Nui Dat |
| 2IC | second-in-command |
| AATTV | Australian Army Training Team Vietnam |
| AK-47 | 7.62-mm, automatic Kalishnikov assault rifle |
| Anzac | Australian and New Zealand Army Corps |
| ARA | Australian Regular Army |
| armoured personnel | carrier the M113, a 10-tonne, tracked vehicle |
| ARVN | Army of the Republic of Viet Nam, the South Vietnamese Regular army |
| ATF | Australian Task Force, Nui Dat |
| avgas | aviation gasoline |
| B-52 | strategic US jet bomber |
| base wallah | a soldier who works in a base or rear area |
| BHQ | Battalion Headquarters |
| C-117 | a Super DC-3, twin-engined, 24-seater transport aircraft |
| C-123 | Provider, a twin-engined, short-range, tactical transport aircraft |
| C-130 | Hercules, a four-engined, medium-range transport aircraft |
| Caribou | twin-engined, De Haviland RAAF short-haul transport aircraft |
| Chinook | CH-47, twin-rotor, medium-lift helicopter |
| Claymore mine | M18A-1, Claymore, a directional anti-personnel mine that contained 1.25 pounds of HE (high explosive) and 500 steel ball bearings |
| CMF | Citizen Military Forces, once called Militia, the forerunners to today’s Army Reserve |
| CO | Commanding Officer, usually a lieutenant colonel in rank |
| CP | Command Post |
| D 445 | a Viet Cong Local Force battalion that operated in Phuoc Tuy Province |
| Dentcaps | dental civil aid projects/programs conducted under the Army’s Civil Affairs program in Vietnamese outlying villages |
| DMZ | demilitarised zone |
| Dustoff | dedicated helicopter for casualty evacuation |
| F-4 | Phantom jet bomber |
| FTD | Full-time duty; reservist soldiers who served full time in the ARA |
| GPS | Global Positioning System, a satellite-based navigation aid |
| grunt | slang for infantryman |
| HMAS | Her Majesty’s Australian Ship, Royal Australian Navy |
| HQ | headquarters |
| J | jungle |
| LZ | landing zone |
| M-16 mine | ‘Jumping Jack’, an anti-personnel mine that once tripped was blown into the air about a metre before detonating |
| M-16 rifle | 5.56-mm American automatic and semiautomatic rifle |
| Medcap | medical civil aid projects/programs conducted under the Army’s Civil Affairs program in outlying Vietnamese villages |
| Military Cross | an officers’ decoration for gallantry |
| Military Medal | a soldiers’ decoration for bravery |
| National Service | two-year full-time service, usually in the Army |
| NCO | Non-Commissioned Officer, soldiers above the rank of Private soldier and below the rank of commissioned officers |
| NVA | North Vietnamese Army |
| OC | Officer Commanding, usually a sub-unit commander and major in rank (Aust.) or captain (US) or lieutenant (ARVN) |
| OTU | the Officer Training Unit at Scheyville, near Sydney: a National Service officer training institution |
| piastre | the basic currency unit of Viet Nam during the war, now known as the Dong |
| PIR | Pacific Islands Regiment, the army of Papua New Guinea when under Australia’s Protectorate |
| Pogo | acronym (unsubstantiated) for ‘personnel on garrison operations’, see base wallah |
| Portsea | the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, Victoria; a 12-month commissioning course |
| Post Exchange | a duty-free store and commissary for soldiers |
| POW | prisoner of war |
| Psyops | psychological operations, designed to lower enemy morale, and gain support for the Allied forces |
| PTSD | post traumatic stress disorder |
| R&C | rest and convalescence leave, a short break from duties taken in Viet Nam |
| R&R | rest and recuperation (but usually recreation) leave, taken for 5–7 days outside Viet Nam |
| RAA | Royal Australian Artillery |
| RAAF | Royal Australian Air Force |
| RAAMC | Royal Australian Army Medical Corps |
| RAEME | Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers |
| RAN | Royal Australian Navy |
| RAP | Regimental Aid Post, a unit’s medical centre |
| RAR | Royal Australian Regiment, straight leg infantry |
| reo | a reinforcement soldier |
| RMC | Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra |
| RMO | Regimental Medical Officer, the unit doctor |
| RQR | Royal Queensland Regiment |
| RSL | Returned and Services League |
| SAS | Special Air Service |
| SEAL | US Navy Special Forces, acronym for Sea Air and Land forces |
| SLR | 7.62-mm, semi-automatic self-loading rifle, also known as the FN |
| SO3 | Staff Officer Grade 3, usually a captain-ranked staff position |
| SRV | Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
| Stokes litter | a wire-framed stretcher used to winch casualties into helicopters |
| TAOR | Tactical Area of Responsibility, an area assigned to a unit or sub-unit to patrol |
| Tracker Platoon | a group using Labrador dogs to track the Platoon enemy, formed out of the Anti-Tank, which had limited use in the jungles of South Viet Nam |
| uc dai loi | the formal Vietnamese expression for Australia. Colloquially translated, it refers to the ‘Great Continent’ or ‘Great South Land’ |
| USMC | the United States Marine Corps, the forces from the Department of the US Navy designed to establish a bridgehead on a beach for later military operations by the Army |
| VC | Viet Cong, a term invented by the Americans in the late 1950s to rename the Communist Viet Minh, which they considered too nationalistic |
| VD | venereal disease |
| Viet Minh | a contraction of Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi, the term applied to the Vietnamese resistance fighters from the First Indochina (French) War |
| Wallaby Airlines | a nickname given to the RAAF 35 Squadron and the Caribou short take-off and landing aircraft, owing to the squadron insignia on the tailplane |