slang term for US infantry soldier
brigade military headquarters, controlling up to 5,000 men
cadre communist functionary
CAP combat air patrol
cherry green infantryman
chieu hoi literally ‘welcome return’, name of Saigon’s programme to process and rehabilitate defectors from the VC or NVA, often used to categorise the many thousands who joined it – ‘He’s a chieu hoi’
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
Claymore M-18 directional anti-personnel mine, spraying a hundred steel balls across a 40-degree arc, triggered manually or remotely
company military unit, a captain’s command, comprised of 100–180 men, in three or four platoons
CORDS Civilian Operations and Revolutionary [later changed to Rural] Development Support
corps military headquarters directing two/three divisions, commanded by a lieutenant-general
COSVN communist headquarters – the Central Office for South Vietnam, or Trung Uong Cuc Mien Nam, usually located near the Cambodian border
CP command post
division military formation, comprised of 8–15,000 men, organised in two/three brigades, commanded by a US major-general or sometimes by a Vietnamese colonel
DMZ the Demilitarized Zone, created near the 17th Parallel by the 1954 Geneva Accords, separating the new North and South Vietnams
dust-off slang for a medevac helicopter
DZ dropping zone for paratroops
ECM electronic counter-measures deployed by US aircraft against North Vietnamese ground defences
FAC forward air controller
flak slang term for anti-aircraft fire
FO [artillery or mortar] forward observer, accompanying infantry
FOB forward operating base
FSB fire support base
GCMA French special forces – Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés
grunt slang term for US infantry soldier
hooch slang term for soldiers’ quarters, alternatively a bunker or hut
ICC International Control Commission, established under the 1954 Geneva Accords with Indian, Polish and Canadian membership to monitor implementation. It persisted, albeit little heeded, until the 1973 Paris Accords, following which it was supplanted by a new
ICCS, International Commission for Control and Supervision, which had a wider membership to address an alleged 18,000 ceasefire violations, but proved equally ineffectual
JCS US Joint Chiefs of Staff
Kit Carson scouts NVA or VC defectors serving with US units
LAW shoulder-fired 66mm Light Anti-tank Weapon, used by US and South Vietnamese forces
LRRP long-range reconnaissance patrol
LZ landing zone for a helicopter assault – a ‘hot’ LZ was one defended by the enemy
M-14 US Army 7.62mm semi-automatic infantry rifle, standard until 1966–68, when progressively withdrawn
M-16 5.56mm rifle, a much lighter automatic weapon than the M-14 that it replaced, of which 1966–68 versions proved prone to jam in action
MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam, US headquarters in Saigon – pronounced ‘Mac-V’
MEDCAP Medical Civil Action Program – deployment of military medical teams to provide care to the civil population
montagnards originally French term for Vietnamese hill tribes, often abbreviated by Americans to ‘Yards’, who were almost universally anti-communist and often recruited by special forces as irregulars
NLF National Liberation Front: the supposed political coalition – in reality entirely communist-run – movement, established in 1960 to promote and direct Southern resistance to the Saigon government
NSC National Security Council
NVA North Vietnamese Army, a contemporary American usage adopted below, in preference to the more common modern PAVN, People’s Army of Vietnam
platoon element of 30–40 men, normally four to each company, customarily commanded by a lieutenant, seconded by a sergeant
PRC-10, later replaced by PRC-25, US infantry voice radio set, weighing 23.5lb including battery. A company commander might be accompanied by up to three RTOs – operators – each carrying a set tuned to different nets
PRG Provisional Revolutionary Government-in-waiting created by the communists in June 1969 to supersede the NLF. It was initially located at COSVN, then from February 1973 at South Vietnam’s ‘provisional capital’ at Loc Ninh, north of Saigon
RoE Rules of Engagement, whereby US forces were permitted to attack communist forces and installations; entirely different in South and North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and varied during the course of the war
recoilless rifle relatively portable Soviet-designed short-range artillery pieces ranging in calibre from 57mm to 106mm, that could penetrate armour at a range of 500 yards, or propel an explosive bomb up to 4,000 yards, mounted either on a tripod or a two-wheeled carriage; extensively used by the VC and NVA
regiment military unit normally composed of three battalions, commanded by a full colonel
RF, PF Regional Forces, Popular Forces – militias recruited by Saigon for local defence, lightly-armed and commanded by province chiefs, totalling 525,000 men and sometimes known as Ruff-Puffs
RPG rocket-propelled grenade-launcher, a superbly effective communist shoulder-fired weapon, delivering a rocket with a range of 150 yards, that could penetrate seven inches of armour
R&R rest and recuperation – a week-long out-of-country leave granted to all US personnel at least once during a Vietnam tour, usually in Hawaii, Hong Kong or Australia
SAC USAF Strategic Air Command, of which the B-52 bomber force was the principal component
SAM Soviet-built surface-to-air missile, most commonly the SAM-2, deployed in North Vietnam from 1965
sappers VC and NVA elite spearhead units, specially trained in the use of explosives
SF Special Forces
‘short’ a term used by US soldiers – ‘I’m short’ – to denote a man close to his DEROS – Date of Estimated Return from Overseas Service, and thus exceptionally reluctant to die
slick troop transport helicopter, most often a Huey
SOP
