1. The Department of Defense (DOD) Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms is prepared under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in coordination with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Military Services, and the Defense agencies, for planning and operational usage. The Secretary of Defense has directed its use throughout DOD by DOD Directive 5000.9, dated 20 August 1969, Subject: "Standardization of Military Terminology."

2. Terms defined herein which are designated by "DOD" will not be defined otherwise within DOD. When a term has been included in the DOD Dictionary, DOD issuances will use the definitions established. Supplementary information or additional explanatory matter necessary to provide technical clarity or convey a special connotation, when set off by brackets, or otherwise qualified, will not be construed as changing or conflicting with a standardized DOD definition. This does not preclude the use, in context, of standard dictionary definitions of the individual words comprising the terms. Definitions which identify a different application should be submitted to the Joint Military Terminology Group for consideration. (See subparagraph 8b below.)

3. All appendix terms and titles, with their meaning, are entered in alphabetical sequence in the main body of the DOD Dictionary. For convenience and to facilitate usage in the functional areas involved, the terms and titles only, without definitions, are listed in the appendices. These specialized terms, titles, and definitions relating to tactical command and control procedures are prescribed for standard use by activities performing specific tactical tasks encountered in joint operations.

4. Those terms and definitions identified with "NATO," "SEATO," "CENTO," represent the official position of the United States in international standardization agreements. Those entries identified with "IADB" represent terms standardized and agreed for use between member countries of the Inter-American System. The DOD Dictionary is the implementing document for these agreements. To insure the integrity of these commitments, terms so designated will be used by U.S. members of working parties, groups or panels of experts, etc., in the processing of all standardization agreements. When an agreed international term does not exist, the DOD term will be used in establishing the U.S. position.
Note: The United States is a signatory to NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 3680, entitled "NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions for Military Use (AAP-6)." Under the provisions of this STANAG, the NATO Glossary, AAP-6, is established as the authoritative NATO terminology reference. Participating member nations agree to the terms and definitions contained in AAP-6 for use by NATO forces.

5. Separate dictionaries or glossaries containing terms and definitions for joint usage within DOD will not be published without prior coordination and approval by the Director for Personnel (J-1), Joint Staff, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

6. The DOD Dictionary is concerned only with the standardization of military and associated terms and definitions. Pursuant to a joint policy agreement, abbreviations are published in Service publications.

7. The DOD Dictionary is not to be used as an editorial and style guide and, therefore, recommendations relating to matters of capitalization, singular and plural forms, hyphenation, compounding, etc., should not be submitted.

8. a. Criteria for inclusion of terms in the DOD Dictionary, as well as in the NATO, SEATO, and CENTO Glossaries and in the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) Dictionary, may be found in the Introduction on page v.

b. Recommendations for additions, changes, and deletions to these publications will be submitted for consideration by the Joint Military Terminology Group in the format outlined on page vii. Submissions will be addressed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Attn: Director for Personnel (J-1), through the following Military Service or appropriate agency channels:

Army: HQDA (DAAG-AMP)
Navy: CNO (OP-953D1)
Air Force: HQ USAF (DAAT)
Marine Corps: CMC (Code MPA-20)

9. Changes or revisions to the DOD Dictionary will be published as required. Copies may be obtained through normal publications channels or by purchase from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office.

For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

E. A. WILCOX
Brigadier General, USMC
Secretary