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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
AGS - Surveying Ship
AGSS - Auxiliary Submarine
AH - Hospital Ship
AHCO - Aviation Helicopter Company
AID Agency for International Development.
Air America - CIA sponsored airlines and clandestine operations
Air Burst – Explosion of a monitions (ordnance - bombs/rockets/grenades) in the air.
Air Cav – Air Cavalry, referring to helicopter-borne infantry soldiers.
Aircraft - Approximately 9,000 US military aircraft were lost by the end of the Vietnam War.
Airmobile - Helicopter borne combat personnel.
Airborne - Personnel trained to parachute into combat.
AIT - Advanced Individual Training: the period following Basic Training, specialized training given each soldier
based on their job code.
AK - Cargo Ship
AK-47 - Russian Kalashnikov rifle,11.3 lbs loaded with a 30 round magazine, used by the VC: an excellent and
reliable weapon for the Vietnam War. Originally made in Russia, most of the later weapons were
manufactured in China and in Czechoslovakia. A notable aspect were the green tracers.
AKA - Attack Cargo Ship
AKD - Cargo Ship, Dock
AKL - Light Cargo Ship
AKR - Vehicle Cargo Ship
AKS - Stores Issue Ship
AKV - Aircraft Ferry
ALCE – Airlift Control Element – a regional Tactical Airlift Command.
Alpha-Alpha - An automatic ambush – a combination of claymore mines designed to detonate simultaneously when
triggered by a trip-wire/battery mechanism.
Alvarez, Lt. Everett - The first U.S. military pilot taken prisoner (August 5, 1964).
AN - Net Laying Ship
ANA - Antonov Transport
An Hoa - US Marines nicknamed this valley, i.e., "The Badlands."
Annamite - The mountain range traversing South Vietnam.
Anti-Malaria Pills - Ingested on a daily basis, and/or once a week while stationed in South East Asia.
AO - Area of Operation.
AO - Oiler
Ao Dia - A long shirt like garment. Traditional Vietnamese female dress (split) worn over pants.
Apache Snow - See: Operations. An operation in the A Shau Valley also known as Hamburger Hill.
APC - Armored Personnel Carrier, amphibious, M-113.
Arc-Light - See: Operations. Code name for the B-52 Stratofortress raids against enemy positions in South Vietnam.
The first Arc Light attack took place in III Corps just north of Saigon on June 18, 1965, on a suspected
Viet Cong base camp. In November 1965, B-52’s directly supported American ground forces for the
first time, and were used regularly in that role.
ARCOM – Army Commendation Medal
AOE - Fast Combat Support Ship
AOG - Gasoline Tanker
APA - Attack Transport
APB - Self-Propelled Barracks Ship
APD - High-Speed Transport
APL - Barracks Craft (non-Self-Propelled)
APSS - Transport Submarine
AR - Repair Ship
ARG - Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship
ARG - Ampibious Ready Group
ARL - Repair Ship, Light
ARS - Salvage Ship
Article 15 - A summary disciplinary judgment of a soldier by his commander; action less than court martial. May
result in monetary fines or confinement in the barracks or stockade. Named for its section in the
Uniformed Code of Military Justice (see UCMJ).
ARVH - Aircraft Repair Ship (Helicopter)
ARVN - Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Army of South Vietnam.
ARTY - Artillery
ASPB or Alpha boats - Assault Patrol Boat or Assault Support Patrol Boat
ASPB - Assault Support Patrol Boat - PC
ASW - Antisubmarine Warfare
ATC - Armored Troop Carrier.
ATC (H) - Armored Troop Carrier (Helicopter)
ATF - Fleet Ocean Tug
ATFV/ATFG – Australian Task Force
ATSB - Advanced Support Patrol Base
AV - Seaplane Tender
AWOL - Absent Without Leave.
Axiom of the sixties culture - You can't trust anyone over thirty.
Azimuth - A bearing from the North
Foliage Use
Broad Leaf
Narrow Leaf
Anything
Broad Leaf
Fungicide
Description
Agent Orange
Agent Blue
Agent Pink (Red)
Agent White (Green)
Silvex
2,4,5-T (Current)
Dioxin (TCDD) Amount
1.77 to 40 ppm
32.8 to 45 ppm
65.6 ppm
65.6 ppm
1 to 70 ppm
0.1 ppm or less
Different Types of "Agent Orange Contaminants
-- A --
A1-E / A1-G Sky Raider - A US fighter-bomber developed at the end of WWII. There were both one and two seat versions used
in Vietnam. Many, if not all, of the planes used in Vietnam were left over from the US Navy. Used
primarily for close support missions, they were well liked by US servicemen as they had over 20
stations/points for various types of ordnance and could stay on site for many hours.
A Shau - A valley in the Southwest corner of Thua Thien province - a stronghold of the VC/NVA.
AA – “Air America”, a CIA controlled airline used through out SEA.
AA – Automatic Ambush
AAA - Anti-aircraft artillery – usually called “triple A” – primarily 12.7mm, 14.5mm, 23mm, 37mm, 57mm, 85mm.
AAR - After Action Report.
Abrams, Creighton - The US General who commanded US military forces in South Vietnam (1968+). General Abrams was a
former tank commander under General Patton in WWII.
ACAV - Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle.
Acid - Another term for LSD.
ACTOC - Accelerated Turnover Plan
ACTOV - Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese
ACTOVLOG - Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese, Logistics
ADD - Destroyer Tender
AE - Ammunition Ship
AF - Store Ship
AFDL - Small Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock (Non-self-propelled)
AFN - Armed Forces Network
AFVN - Armed Forces Vietnam Network
AFRTS - Armed Forces Radio and Television Service
AFSC - Air Force Specialty Code.
AFSC Combat Store Ship
AG - Adjutant General.
AGC - Amphibious Force Flagship
Agent Orange - At the time of its first use, it was called 50/50 2,4D and 2,4,5T. It did save many lives at the time by
removing heavy vegetation} and other herbicides): A defoliant / herbicide containing trace
amounts of the toxic contaminant dioxin that was used during the Vietnam War to defoliate
areas of jungle growth. The name was derived from the orange identifying strip on drums in
which it was stored. Agent Orange was a 1:1 mixture of the n-butyl esters of 2,4-dichloro-
phenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). A byproduct contami-
nant of the manufacturing process for 2,4,5-T is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD),
commonly referred to as dioxin. Demand for military Agent Orange resulted in higher levels of
dioxin contamination than in the 2,4,5-T produced for civilian applications. Agent Orange caused
Vietnamese farmers to lose about 70% of their crops. 18 million gallons of Agent Orange were
reported to have been dumped on areas in South Vietnam (this is debated to this day about the
crops). Over 6250 square miles of South Vietnam cannot be farmed because of defoliation.
C-123 (Provider) was the plane used in Operation Ranch Hand that dumped 11,000 lbs of Agent
Orange over 300 acres in just four minutes. A class action suit against seven chemical companies
was settled out of court in 1984 for victims and families of those exposed to herbicides for
$180,000,000 (the lawyers got a staggering 100 million dollars). More recently, the Veteran's
Administration has declared that being in Vietnam automatically equaled exposure to Agent
Orange and a wide range of cancers have been found to have been caused by Agent Orange.
If you were in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and have been diagnosed as having any kind
of cancer, please see the attached "The VVA SELF-HELP GUIDE to Service-Connected Disability
Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange."
An "Unofficial" Vietnam
Dictionary
Written by Paul Kasper
Edited by Bob Nelson
Dedicated to all Vietnam Veterans--"Especially those who didn't come home."