List of U.S. government and military acronyms
of initialisms, acronyms, and other abbreviations used by the government and the military of the United States. Note that this list is intended to be specific to the United States government and military—other nations will have their own acronyms.
0–9
- 0K – Zero Killed
- 1LT – First Lieutenant
- 2LT – Second Lieutenant
- 2IC – Second In Command
- 1SG – First Sergeant
- 777 – Refers to the M777 howitzer, a towed 155 mm artillery weapon. It succeeded the M198 howitzer in the United States Marine Corps and United States Army in 2005. The M777 is also used by the ground forces of Australia, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine. It made its combat debut in the War in Afghanistan.
A
- A – Analog
- A1C – Airman First Class
- A2C2 – Army Airspace Command And Control
- A-3 –
- A-5 –
- AA – Anti-Aircraft
- AA – Armed Forces America
- AA – Assembly Area
- AA – Assessment Agent
- AA – Avenue Of Approach
- AAA – Army Audit Agency
- AAA – Antiaircraft Artillery
- AAA – Arrival And Assembly Area
- AAA – Assign Alternate Area
- AAAD – Airborne Anti-Armor Defense
- AAAS – Amphibious Aviation Assault Ship
- AABB – American Association of Blood Banks
- AABWS – Amphibious Assault Bulk Water System
- AAC – Activity Address Code
- AACG – Arrival Airfield Control Group
- AADC – Area Air Defense Commander
- AADP – Area Air Defense Plan
- AA&E – Arms, Ammunition, And Explosives
- AAEC – Aeromedical Evacuation Control Team
- AAFC – Australian Air Force Cadets
- AAFES – Army and Air Force Exchange Service
- AAFIF – Automated Air Facility Information File
- AAFS – Amphibious Assault Fuel System
- AAFSF – Amphibious Assault Fuel Supply Facility
- AAGS – Army Air-Ground System
- AAI – Air-To-Air Interface
- AAM – Air-To-Air Missile
- AAMDC – US Army Air And Missile Defense Command
- AAO – Approved Acquisition Objective
- AAOE – Arrival And Assembly Operations Element
- AAOG – Arrival And Assembly Operations Group
- AAP – Allied Administrative Publication
- AAP – Assign Alternate Parent
- AAR – After Action Report
- AAR – After Action Review
- AAS – Army Apprentice School
- AAST – Aeromedical Evacuation Administrative Support Team
- AAT – Automatic Analog Test
- AAT – Aviation Advisory Team
- AAU – Analog Applique Unit
- AAV – Amphibious Assault Vehicle
- AAW – Antiair Warfare
- AB – Airbase
- AB – Airman Basic
- ABCA – American, British, Canadian, Australian Armies Program
- ABCS – Army Battle Command System
- ABD – Airbase Defense
- ABU – Airman Battle Uniform
- ABV – Assault Breacher Vehicle
- ABFC – Advanced Base Functional Component
- ACU – Army Combat Uniform
- ADOS – Active Duty, Operational Support
- ADSW – Active Duty, Special Work
- AE – Armed Forces Europe
- AEW&C – Airborne Early Warning And Control
- AFI – Awaiting Further Instruction/Air Force Instruction
- AFMC – Armed Forces Medical College
- AFOQT – Air Force Officer Qualifying Test
- AFOSI – United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations
- AFSC – Air Force Specialty Code
- AHA – Ammunition Holding Area
- AIM – Airborne Intercept Missile
- AIP - Assignment Incentive Pay
- AIPD – Army Institute For Professional Development
- AIS – Automated Information System
- AIT – Advanced Individual Training
- Amn – Airman
- ALCON – All Concerned
- AMU – Aircraft Maintenance Unit
- AMXG – Aircraft Maintenance Group
- AMXS – Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
- ANG – Air National Guard
- AOC – Air Operations Center
- AOL – Absent Over Leave
- AO – Area Of Operations
- AOR – Area of responsibility
- A&P – Administrative And Personnel
- AP – Armed Forces Pacific
- AP – Armor-Piercing
- APC – Armored Personnel Carrier
- APFSDS – Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot
- APFT – Army Physical Fitness Test
- APFU – Army Physical Fitness Uniform
- APO – Army Post Office; See Also [|FPO]
- APPN – Appropriation Number
- APRT – Army Physical Readiness Test
- ARCENT/TUSA – US Army Central/HQ Third US Army
- ARPANET – Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
- ARM – Anti-Radar Missile
- ARM – Anti-Radiation Missile
- ARMS – Automated Recruit Management System
- ARMS – Aviation Resource Management System
- ARNG – Army National Guard
- ARS – Air Refueling Store
- ART – Alarm Response Team
- ARVN – Army Of The Republic Of Viet Nam
- ASA – Ammunition Supply Activity
- ASAP – Army Substance Abuse Program
- ASAP – As Soon As Possible
- ASEAN – Association Of South East Asian Nations
- ASM – Air-to-Surface Missile
- ASCM – Anti-Ship Cruise Missile
- ASROC – Anti-Submarine ROCket
- ASP – Ammunition Supply Point
- ASV – Anti-Surface Vessel
- ASVAB – Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
- ASW – Anti-Submarine Warfare
- ATC – Air Training Corps
- ATC – Air Traffic Control
- ATFU – Ate The Fuck Up
- ATO – Air Tasking Order
- ATO – Antiterrorism Officer
- ATP – Ammunition Transfer Point
- ATRRS – Army Training Requirements And Resources System
- AWACS – Airborne Warning and Control System
- AWOL – Absent Without Leave
B
- BAH – Basic Allowance for Housing
- BAMCIS – Begin planning, Arrange recon, Make the plan, Complete the plan, Issue the order, Supervise
- BAR – Browning Automatic Rifle
- BAS - Basic Allowance for Subsistence
- BAU – Behavioral Analysis Unit
- BCD – Battlefield Coordination Detachment
- BCD – Bad Conduct Discharge
- BCG – Birth Control Glasses
- BCT – Basic Combat Training
- BCT – Brigade Combat Team
- BDA – Bomb Damage Assessment or Battle Damage Assessment
- BDE – Brigade
- BDF – Barbados Defence Force
- BDU – Battle Dress Uniform
- Be – Beriev
- BEA – Budget Execution Authority
- BEQ – Batchelor Enlisted Quarters
- BFT – Blue Force Tracker
- BG – Bodyguard
- BGHR – By God He's Right
- BLUF – Bottom Line Up Front
- BMNT – Begin Morning Nautical Twilight
- BMOW – Boatswain's Mate Of The Watch
- BN – Battalion
- BOHICA – Bend Over Here It Comes Again
- BRAC – Base Realignment And Closure
- BRAT – Born Raised And Transferred Usually pronounced "Military Brat".
- BRAT – British Regiment Attached Traveler, or "Born, Raised and Trapped". Usually pronounced "Military Brat" or "Base Brat".
- BUB – Battle Update Brief
- BVR – Beyond Visual Range
- BX – Base Exchange
- BZ – spoken "Bravo Zulu", meaning "congratulations, job well done"
C
- C1 – Command
- C2 – Command And Control
- C3 – Command Control And Communication
- C4ISTAR – Command, Control, Communication, Computers; Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, And Recognition
- C6ISR – Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber-defense and Combat systems, and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance
- CAC – Common Access Card
- CAG – Commander, Air Group
- CAG – Civil Affairs Group. Term used for military members assigned to assist civilian governments with restoring infrastructure
- CAGE – Commercial and Government Entity
- CALL – Center for Army Lessons Learned
- CAP - Combat Air Patrol
- CAP - Civil Air Patrol
- CAPT – Captain
- Capt – Captain
- CPT – Captain
- CAS – Close Air Support
- CASEX – Coordinated Anti-Submarine EXercise
- CASEVAC – Casualty Evacuation
- CAT – Combat Application Tourniquets
- CBRN – Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear
- CBU – Cluster Bomb Unit
- CCD - Camouflage, Concealment, and Detection
- CCIP – Continually Calculated Impact Point
- CCIR – Commanders Critical Information Requirements
- CCP – Casualty Collection Point
- CCRP – Continually Calculated Release Point
- CDAT – Computerized Dumb Ass Tanker
- CDD – Capabilities Development Document
- CDIAC – Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center
- CDRUSPACOM – Commander United States Pacific Command
- CENTCOM – Central Command
- CF – Cluster Fuck
- CHU – Containerized Housing Unit
- Chief – Chief Warrant Officer
- CIA – Central Intelligence Agency
- CIB – Combat Infantry Badge
- CIC – Command Intelligence Center
- CINCLANT – Commander-in-chief, Atlantic Forces
- CINCLANTFLT – Commander-in-chief, Atlantic Fleet
- CINCPAC – Commander-in-chief, Pacific Forces
- CIV – Civilian, performing work as an employee for the Department of Defense
- CIWS – Close-In Weapon System
- CJOTUS – Chief Justice of the United States
- CMB – Combat Medical Badge
- CMSgt – Chief Master Sergeant
- CMSAF – Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
- CO – Commanding Officer
- COA – Course of Action
- COB – Chief Of the Boat
- CoB – Close of Business
- COCOM – Combatant Commander
- CODELS – Congressional Delegations
- COL – Colonel
- COMINT – Communications Intelligence
- COMPACFLT – Commander, Pacific Fleet
- COMSEC – Communication Security
- CONUS – Continental United States
- CONUSA – Continental United States Army
- CORDS – Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support
- COP – Combat Out Post
- CoS – Chief of Staff
- COT – Commissioned Officer Training
- CPL – Corporal
- CPO – Chief Petty Officer
- CPT – Captain
- CP – Check Point
- CPX – Command Post Exercise
- CQB – Close Quarters Battle
- CRC – CONUS Replacement Center
- CSM – Command Sergeant Major )
- CSAR – Combat Search And Rescue
- CT – Counter-terrorism Team
- CTA – Common Table of Allowances
- CTR – Close Target Reconnaissance
- CUB – Commander Update Brief
- CVN – Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier
- CWO – Chief Warrant Officer
- CZN – Nuclear-powered Airship Carrier