Glossary of Vietnam Vocabulary (A)

A

  • Aboard: On base; with us
  • Actual: Unit commander
  • Advisers: Military personnel assigned to assist units of the South Vietnamese Army, training them in combat arms and often working with them during operations in the field
  • AFB: Air Force Base
  • AFVN: Armed Forces Vietnam Network radio station
  • Agent Orange: An herbicide containing minute amounts of a type of dioxin sprayed by the Air Force from C-123 aircraft in a defoliation operation called Ranch Hand from 1962-70; blamed by many as the cause of several ailments suffered by Vietnam veterans and their offspring
  • AHB: Assault Helicopter Battalion
  • Air America: The cover name for a fleet of aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency throughout Southeast Asia
  • Air Cav, Cav: Air cavalry; infantry traveling by helicopter, specifically the 1st Cavalry Division
  • Air Force Cross: The nation’s second highest award for bravery, for “extraordinary heroism” while engaged in an action against the enemy; akin to the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross
  • Air Medal: An award recognizing single acts of merit or heroism or for meritorious service during an aerial flight in connection with military operations against the enemy; a notch below the Air Force Cross
  • AIT: Advanced Individual Training; specialized training taken after Basic Training, also commonly referred to as “Advanced Infantry Training”
  • Airborne: Paratrooper or parachutist-qualified
  • Airburst: The explosion of a munition in the air
  • Airmoble: Helicopter-borne
  • AK-47: Soviet or Chinese manufactured combat assault rifle used by Communist forces with a reputation among many GIs of performing better than the M-16 used by American and South Vietnamese troops; also known as the Kalashnikov, after its Russian inventor
  • All Hands: Everyone
  • Alpha-Alpha: Automatic ambush, as when a configuration of Claymore mines are set to detonate simultaneously when tripped
  • Alpha Boat: An Assault Support Patrol Boat; a light, fast vessel designed to provide close support for riverine infantry
  • Alpha Bravo: Slang expression for ambush
  • Americal: 23rd Infantry Division
  • Amtrack: An amphibious armored personnel carrier used by the Navy and the Marine Corps; used as a landing craft
  • Annam: This name, first applied to Vietnam by the Chinese in the seventh century, was later used by the French for their protectorate over central Vietnam (see also: Cochin China and Tonkin); along with Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam formed French Indochina
  • Anti-War Movement: A loosely organized effort by numerous organizations and peace coalitions opposed to the American involvement in Southeast Asia that featured protests and demonstrations against the war on college campuses, in major cities, in the nation’s capitol, and perhaps most spectacularly during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968
  • AO: Area of Operations
  • Ao Dai: Traditional slit skit and trousers, often quite beautiful, worn by Vietnamese women
  • APC: Armored Personnel Carrier; a track vehicle used to transport troops or supplies, usually armed with a .50-calibre machine gun; the mainstay of armored cavalry formations of both the U.S. and the South Vietnamese armies
  • APO: Army Post Office; located in San Francisco for overseas mail to Army personnel stationed in Vietnam
  • ARA: Aerial Rocket Artillery
  • ARC Lights: A B-52 bombing run
  • Arcom: The Army Commendation Medal
  • Armor-Piercing: Ordinance for a machinegun or larger weapon that could pierce armor
  • Armor-piercing Incendiary: Ordinance for a machinegun or larger weapon that could pierce armor and then burn
  • Article 15: Summary, non-judicial punishment of a soldier by his/her commanding officer; could result in a fine, a drop in grade, or confinement in a stockade
  • Arty, Artie: Shorthand terminology for “artillery,” long known as the “king of battle”
  • ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the South Vietnamese regular army
  • AHC: Assault Helicopter Company
  • Aussies: Australian troops, part of the allied presence in Vietnam
  • AWOL: Absent Without Official Leave; leaving a post or position without permission
  • Azimuth: A bearing from North