Phoenix Program (77 page)

AA

Air America: subsidiary airline of the Central Intelligence Agency which was active in Asia during the Vietnam War

Agroville

(Khu Tru Mat): garrison community into which rural Vietnamese were forcefully relocated in order to isolate them from the Vietcong.

AID

Agency for International Development: branch of the U.S. State Department responsible for advising the government of Vietnam, including the National Police

AIK

Aid-in-Kind: nonmonetary aid

An Ninh

The Vietcong's internal security and propaganda service

APC

Accelerated pacification campaign: pacification program begun November 1968 to increase the number of villages rated “secure” under the Hamlet Evaluation System

APT

Armed propaganda team: platoon-size unit composed of soldiers with both a combat and psychological warfare mission

ARVN

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

ASA

Army Security Agency: branch of the National Security Agency working with the U.S. Army to locate the Vietcong through its radio communications

Biet Kich

Commando

Cadre

Nucleus of trained personnel around which a larger organization can be built

CAP

Combined Action Patrol: platoon-size unit composed of U.S. Marines and Vietnamese Territorial Forces

CAS

Controlled American source: an employee of the CIA

CD

Civilian detainee: Vietnamese civilian detained by U.S. or Vietnamese military forces

CDEC

Combined Document Exploitation Center: formed October 1966 to support allied military operations primarily through the translation of captured enemy documents

CG

Census Grievance: CIA covert action program designed to obtain information on the VCI through static agents in villages, or mobile agents in armed propaganda teams

CI

Counterintelligence: that aspect of intelligence devoted to destroying the effectiveness of enemy intelligence activities

CICV

Combined Intelligence Center, Vietnam: created in 1965 to coordinate U.S. and South Vietnamese intelligence operations

CID

Criminal Investigation Division: branch of the U.S. Army charged with investigating crimes committed by American soldiers

CIDG

Civilian Irregular Defense Group: U.S. Special Forces-trained village and tribal security and reaction forces

CINCPAC

Commander in Chief, Pacific: the U.S. military headquarters in Hawaii to which the commander of MACV reported

CIO

Central Intelligence Organization: formed in 1961 to
coordinate South Vietnamese foreign and domestic intelligence operations

CIS

Combined Intelligence Staff: formed in November 1966 to manage the attack against the VCI in Saigon and its environs

CMDC

Capital Military District Command: formed in June 1968 to coordinate military and pacification operations in Saigon and its environs

CMEC

Combined Materiel Exploitation Center: formed in 1965 to coordinate intelligence gained from the analysis of captured enemy materiel

CORDS

Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support: organization established in May 1967 under MACV, designed to coordinate U.S. military and civilian operations and advisory programs in South Vietnam

COSVN

Central Office of South Vietnam: mobile headquarters of the South Vietnamese insurgency, created in 1962

CPDC

Central Pacification and Development Council: formed in 1968 by William Colby, who was then chief of CORDS, as a liaison staff to the office of the prime minister of South Vietnam

CPHPO

Central Phung Hoang Permanent Office: formed in July 1968 to manage the South Vietnamese attack against the VCI

CSC

Combined Security Committee: formed in 1964 to protect U.S. government personnel and facilities in Saigon and its environs

CT

Counterterrorist: mercenary soldier employed by the CIA to kill, capture, and/or terrorize the VCI

CTIV

Cong Tac IV (also known as Counterterror IV): joint U.S.-South Vietnamese program begun in December 1966, designed to eliminate the VCI in Saigon and its environs

CTSC

Combined Tactical Screening Center: formed by the U.S. Army in 1967 to distinguish prisoners of war from civilian detainees

Cuc Nghien Cuu

Central Research Agency: North Vietnamese intelligence service

DAO

Defense Attaché Office: U.S. military headquarters that replaced MACV in 1973 after the cease-fire

DCI

Director of Central Intelligence: U.S. official in charge of managing the affairs of the CIA

DEPCORDS

Deputy to the MACV commander for Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support

DGNP

Director General of the National Police: Vietnamese official in charge of the South Vietnamese police

DIOCC

District Intelligence and Operations Coordination Center: office of the Phoenix adviser in each of South Vietnam's 250 districts

DMZ

Demilitarized zone: stretch of land along the seventeenth parallel, created in 1954 to separate North and South Vietnam

DSA

District senior adviser: senior CORDS official in each of South Vietnam's 250 districts

FI

Foreign Intelligence: branch of the CIA charged with inserting agents within foreign governments

Free Fire Zone:

Area in South Vietnam where U.S. military personnel had the authority to kill anyone they targeted

GAMO

Group administrative mobile organization: French-advised and -outfitted combat unit composed of South Vietnamese soldiers

GCMA

Composite airborne commando group: French-advised and -outfitted antiguerrilla unit composed mostly of Montagnards

GVN

Government of Vietnam

HES

Hamlet Evaluation System: computer system developed by the U.S. Defense Department in 1967 to measure trends in pacification

HIP

Hamlet Informant program: CIA-funded program managed by CIA officers in liaison with the Special Branch of the South Vietnamese National Police in which secret agents were paid to identify VCI in hamlets

hooch:

Dwelling occupied by rural Vietnamese

Hop Tac:

Pacification Intensive Capital Area program, begun July 1964 to bring security to Saigon and its environs

HVRP

High Values Rewards Program: bounty program proposed by the Phoenix Directorate in July 1971 to induce low-level VCI to turn in high-level VCI

ICEX

Intelligence coordination and exploitation: original name of the Phoenix program, formed in June 1967

IOCC

Intelligence Operations and Coordination Center

IPA

International Police Academy: school in the United States where the Agency for International Development through its Office of Public Safety trained policemen from foreign countries from 1963 to 1974

ISA

International Security Affairs: office within the U.S. Defense Department responsible for supervising security asistance programs such as Phoenix in foreign countries, excluding NATO

JAG

Judge Advocate General: chief prosecuting general within the U.S. armed forces

JGS

Joint General Staff: command organization of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces

Jl

Personnel branch of the JGS or MACV

J2

Intelligence branch of the JGS or MACV

J3

Operations branch of the JGS or MACV

J4

Logistics branch of the JGS or MACV

JUSPAO

Joint U.S Public Affairs Office: formed in May 1965 under the office of the U.S. Information Agency in South Vietnam, to manage MACV psychological warfare operations and public relations

KKK

Khmer Kampuchea Krom: Cambodian exiles trained by the CIA in South Vietnam

KMT

Kuomintang: official ruling party of the Republic of China (Taiwan), formed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1911

LLDB

LRRP

Long-range reconnaissance patrol: small team of U.S. soldiers sent to gather behind-the-lines intelligence on enemy troops

LST

Landing Ship Transport: naval vessel in which troops are often quartered

MACV

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam: arrived in Saigon in February 1962 as a unified command under the Commander in Chief, Pacific, managing the U.S. military effort in South Vietnam

MAAG

Military Assistance and Advisory Group: arrived in South Vietnam in November 1955 to provide support and training to the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces. Its function was absorbed by MACV in 1964.

MASA

Military Assistance Security Adviser: U.S. military officer who manages a security assistance program in a foreign country

MAT

Mobile advisory team: team of U.S. military personnel assigned to CORDS, charged with training and supporting the Territorial Security Forces of South Vietnam in a province or district

Mike Forces:

Mobile strike force commands: corps-level units under the command of the 5th Special Forces

MOI

Ministry of the Interior: branch of the GVN with authority over pacification, including Phung Hoang

MSS

Military Security Service: counterintelligence branch of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces

MSUG

Michigan State University Group: employees of Michigan State University contracted in 1954 to provide technical assistance to the GVN

NIC

National Interrogation Center: CIA facility built in 1964 inside CIO headquarters in the naval shipyard in Saigon

NLF

National Liberation Front: formed in 1960 by the various insurgent groups in South Vietnam

NPC

National Police Command: organized in June 1971 to incorporate Phung Hoang within the existing National Police structure

NPCIS

National Police Criminal Information System: computer system designed to track identified VCI

NPFF

National Police Field Force: paramilitary branch of the National Police

NPIASS

National Police Infrastructure Analysis Sub-Section: data bank containing biographical information on the VCI, used to plan countermeasures

NPIC

National Police Interrogation Center: located at National Police headquarters on Vo Tanh Street in Saigon

NVA

North Vietnamese Army

oco

Office of Civil Operations: formed in Saigon in November 1966 to manage U.S. pacification programs in South Vietnam

OSA

Office of the Special Assistant: code name for the CIA station in Saigon

PA&E

Pacific Architects and Engineers: private company that did construction work for the GVN

PAAS

Pacification Attitude Analysis System: computer system designed to assess the political effects of CORDS pacification programs

PAT

PCOC

Phoenix Coordinators Orientation Course: begun November 1968 at Vung Tau's Seminary Camp to train Phoenix coordinators