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State Department Resources for Foreign Service Families
Glossary of Government Acronyms M-Z
Click here to view Acronyms A-M
Contributed by the Transition Center at the Department of State. http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/.
M Office of the Undersecretary for Management, Department of State.
Main State Department of State main building (21st & C Street, NW). Harry S. Truman Building
MAP Military Assistance Program.
MED Office of Medical Services.
MEMCON Memorandum of Conversation recounting the details of an official conversation with a foreign contact or official, traditionally sent by pouch (although most cable reports of calls and meetings are also MEMCONS).
MFA Minister and/or Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Minimize A communications term used to describe a post using minimum communications to avoid overload during a crisis; e.g., "Embassy Beirut is on minimize." This reduces routine communications and means outgoing communications require very senior-level authorization.
Mission A generic term that can be used interchangeably with "embassy" or "post." The entirety of official U.S. representation in a given foreign country that functions under the supervision of the Ambassador, including civilian and military personnel (except U.S. military reporting to a unified command and official U.S. representation to a multilateral organization). However, USAID uses the word to mean specifically the USAID component of a diplomatic mission. Also used as the term for posts accredited to multilateral organizations; e.g., the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, the U.S. Mission to NATO.
LGF Local Guard Force. Post security group.
LMR Land Mobile Radio. Radio used by post security groups.
MED Medical Services, Department of State.
MOH Member of Household. An individual who falls outside the Department's legal and statutory definition of family member. An MOH could include a same or opposite sex unmarried partner, parents, other relatives, or adult children who have accompanied the employee overseas and whom the employee has declared to the COM are a part of his/her household and will reside at post with the employee.
MPP Mission Performance Plan. Budget planning tool for missions.
NAS Narcotics Affairs Section. Embassy anti-drug section.
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
NEA Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State.
NGO Non-governmental organization.
NIV Non-immigrant visa.
NOTAL Cables not received by all addresses.
NP Bureau of Nonproliferation.
NSA National Security Agency.
NSC National Security Council.
OAS Organization of American States.
OAU Organization of African Unity.
OB Official Building (Embassy Building).
OBC Overseas Briefing Center at the Foreign Service Institute.
OBO Overseas Buildings Operations (formerly FBO).
OCS Overseas Citizens Service.
OECD Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, headquartered in Paris.
OES Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State.
Official/Informal A term deeming a type of communication, either cable or letter, BOTH official and informal; may NOT be used for making action requests or for official reporting.
OIG Office of the Inspector General, Department of State.
OMB Office of Management and Budget.
OMS Office Management Specialist (formerly Foreign Service secretary).
OpenNet Intranet. Online resources available only within the Department of State.
ORE Official Residence Expense. A special account for funding official expenses of the Ambassador's (Chief of Mission) residence.
OSAC Overseas Schools Advisory Council.
OSAC Overseas Security Advisory Council.
OSCE Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
OSPB Overseas Security Policy Board.
P Undersecretary for Political Affairs.
PA Public Affairs, Department of State.
PA/PC Office of Public Communications. Office within PA.
p.c. Pour condolences (to express sympathy).
p.f. Pour feliciter (to extend congratulations).
p.p.c. Pour prendre conge (to take leave).
p.r. Pour remercier (to express thanks).
PA Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State.
PAO Public Affairs Officer. The title of Public Diplomacy officer assigned to the Public Affairs Section of an Embassy or Consulate. Responsible for managing programs of public information and cultural affairs.
PC Peace Corps (PC Rep-Peace Corps Representative, PCV-Peace Corps Volunteer).
PDD Presidential Decision Directive.
PERMREP See COM.
PIT Part-time/Intermittent/Temporary employee. This was the term applied to most dependent employment slots and is now obsolete (per Department directive).
PL 480 Public Law 480 dealing with the overseas sale of surplus agricultural products.
PM Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State.
PNG Persona Non Grata.
POL Political Section overseas.
POLCONS See Counselor.
Post Any diplomatic or consular establishment maintained by the United States abroad.
POTUS President of the United States.
Pouch Also called air pouch or diplomatic pouch. Used as a noun to refer to the mailbag by which communications and other materials are conveyed to and from posts. Pouches enjoy diplomatic protection and thus are exempted from customs search. They may travel by air or by sea, depending on bulk. Pouches may be unclassified (moving on their own like mail) or classified (moving under the care of a U.S. Department of State employee known as a Diplomatic Courier). The word can also be used as a verb, i.e., "to pouch."
POV Privately Owned Vehicle.
Precedence How fast a cable is to be transmitted electronically. Precedence is: Routine, Priority, Immediat, or Night Action (NIACT) Immediate, Flash, Critic.
PRM Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Department of State.
Protocol Officer Officer assigned to deal with protocol and ceremonial matters.
PSC Personal Services Contract.
PSO Post Security Officer.
Public Diplomacy Section Formerly the United States Information Agency (USIA). See PAO.
R Under Secretary for Public Affairs & Public Diplomacy.
R&R Rest and recuperation leave.
RCSO Regional Computer Security Officer.
REFTEL Reference Telegram.
RFE/RL Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
RFSC Regional Financial Service Center.
RMO Regional Medical Officer.
RPSO Regional Procurement Service Office. Overseas logistics support center.
RSO Regional Security Officer. Reports directly to the Deputy Chief of Mission.
RUF Revolutionary United Front.
S Office of the Secretary, Department of State
SA Bureau of South Asian Affairs, Department of State.
SA State Annex. A Department of State building besides Main State.
SAIT School of Applied Information Technology at the Foreign Service Institute.
SC Shultz Center, also known as the George P. Shultz National Foreign AffairsTraining Center.
S&E Salary & Expenses (2026).
Secretary Overseas A diplomatic rank, as in Third Secretary, Second Secretary, and First Secretary, in ascending order of seniority. In the Department of State (or Defense or Commerce, etc.) usually prefaced with "The" and referring to the cabinet officer in charge.
Section A A subdivision of a Foreign Service post abroad; e.g., the Administrative Section, the Economic Section. Officers in charge of these are section heads, and large Embassies usually hold the title of Counselor.
SEP Special Embassy Program. A program reflecting the reduced communications and reporting capabilities of the smallest Foreign Service Posts abroad. SEPposts are exempted from certain reporting requirements.
SEA Subsistence Expense Allowance.
SEPTEL Separate Telegram.
Seventh Floor Department of State terminology referring to the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary and the Under Secretaries.
SFS Senior Foreign Service.
Sixth Floor State Department terminology referring to the next lower echelon within the Department; i.e., the Assistant Secretary level.
SLS School of Language Studies at the Foreign Service Institute.
SMA Separate Maintenance Allowance.
SOS Security Overseas Seminar.
S/CPR Chief of Protocol.
S/P Policy Planning Staff.
SPAS School of Professional and Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute.
S/S Executive Secretariat.
SR Standardized Regulations.
STAFFDEL See CODEL.
Stud book See Biographic Register.
T Under Secretary of State for Arms control and International Security.
TAGS Traffic Analysis by Group and Subject. A distribution and filing system for telegraphic traffic.
TC FSI Transition Center (OBC, Training Division, and CTC)
TCC Temoporary Continuation of Coverage Program. For family member's health insurance benefits in case of the death of or divorce from employee.
TC/T Training Division of the Transition Center at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center.
TCN Third country national. A citizen of a country other than the United States or the host country.
TDY Temporary Duty.
The Residence Living quarters of the Ambassador.
TM Travel message.
TQSA Temporary Quarters Subsistence Allowance
TSP Thrift Savings Plan.
UAB Unaccompanied Air Baggage.
UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
USAID United States Agency for International Development. An agency responsible to the Secretary of State, with missions attached to U.S. Embassies, under USAID Mission Directors, in countries where the United States maintains economic aid programs.
USDA United States Department of Agriculture.
USG United States Government.
USEU U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels.
USIA United States Information Agency. (Former foreign affairs agency incorporated into the DOS in 1999.)
USNATO U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels.
USO Unit Security Officer.
USTR U.S. Trade Representative's office.
USUN United States Mission to the United Nations in New York.
VIP Very Important Person.
VOA Voice of America; the broadcasting service that beams programs overseas.
WAE When actually employed; generally a retiree who returns to work for short periods.
WDIDN What Do I Do Now. Handbook on regulations, allowances, and finance published by the Transition Center.
WHA Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State (formerly ARA).
WHO World Health Organization, United Nations.
WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction.
WTO World Trade Organization in Geneva