Current as of February 10, 2020
SECTION 1: GENERAL PRINCIPLES 5
e. Abbreviations and Acronyms. Write terms out the first time they appear in the text and
place the abbreviation or acronym in parenthesis following it. Use the acronym consistently
thereafter: don’t repeat the term. A glossary of acronyms and abbreviations is mandatory for
issuances over 2 pages using acronyms other than “DoD,” “OSD,” or “U.S.” In accordance with
the Plain Writing Act of 2010, consider not using acronyms if the term is used infrequently in
your issuance. Do not establish acronyms if the term would be used fewer than three times in the
issuance, not including items in the table of contents or reference list.
(1) Acronym as Adjective Only. The acronym “U.S.” may be used in the adjective form
only. Spell out “United States” when using the noun form.
(2) Acronyms That Don’t Need to be Established. The acronyms “DoD,” “OSD,” and
“U.S.” don’t need to be established upon first use.
(3) Combatant Command Acronyms.
(a) The Combatant Commands are legally named “United States Central Command,”
“United States European Command,” etc. The acronyms are: USAFRICOM, USCENTCOM,
USCYBERCOM, USEUCOM, USINDOPACOM, USNORTHCOM, USSOCOM,
USSOUTHCOM, USSPACECOM, USSTRATCOM, and USTRANSCOM.
(b) The abbreviation for “Combatant Command” is “CCMD” – not “COCOM.” See
the DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; “COCOM” refers to “(combatant
command) command authority” and not to the Combatant Command itself.
(c) According to the DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, the
abbreviation for “Combatant Commander” is “CCDR.”
(4) Military Terms. Use the approved abbreviations and acronyms in the DoD
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms.
(5) Article Usage Use of the articles “the,” ”a,” and “an” before abbreviations and
acronyms will be determined by basic rules of grammar. The use of “a” and “an” depends on the
sound of the acronym that follows, not on the first letter. For example, the vowel sound at the
beginning of the acronym “MP” (pronounced “em-pea”) requires that “an” be used. However,
“a” is used before “MOOTW,” since the acronym is pronounced “moo-twah.”
f. Footnotes, Endnotes, and Use of the Term “Note.” Don’t use the term “NOTE” in DoD
issuances. Don’t use endnotes in DoD issuances. Use footnotes only to indicate in the
References section where the reader may obtain a reference that isn’t readily available on a
government website.
g. Use of the Term “See” and of Parenthetical Remarks. When the term “see” is used as
directional material, place the phrase in parentheses at the end of the sentence as a stand-alone
sentence, as in the following parenthetical remark. (See Paragraph 1.2.f. for use of the term
“note.”) Avoid the use of other parenthetical remarks. If the information’s important to the
issuance, incorporate it into the appropriate sentence or paragraph.