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Special
Operations Glossary > D
The Special Forces community and the military
services in general use a multitude of words, phrases, and acronyms in its
vocabulary, documentation, correspondence, and publications. This
glossary is intended to aid those unfamiliar with specific special
operations terminology.
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D
DA. Direct Action. One of the
primary missions of Special Forces. See definition below.
DACO. Departure Airfield
Control Officer.
DAMA. Demand-Assigned
Multiple Access.
DAO. Defense Attache
Officer.
DAP. Direct Action
Penetrator (MH-60L). This aircraft carries 2.75-inch rockets and chain
guns.
DATT. Defense Attache.
DCM. Deputy Chief of Mission.
DCU. Desert Camouflage
Uniform. Used during early OIF war timeframe. Repaced with the ACUs.
DEA. Drug Enforcement
Adminstration.
Dead Drop Spike. Use for
communication between agens and their handlers. A "dead drop" allows
secure communication by one person leaving and the other person picking up
the material later at a prearranged location. This eliminates the need for
direct contact. A dead drop spike is a device that is pushed into the
ground, is hollow, and can hold messages, documents or film. View a
picture on the
CIA website.
Deception. Those measures
designed to mislead the enemy by manipulation, distortion, or
falsification of evidence to induce him to react in a manner prejudicial
to his interests.
Delta Force. U.S. Army
Special Forces Operational Detachment unit tasked with counterrorist
operations.
Demo. Demolitions or
explosives.
Det 101. Detachment 101.
Det 101, a sub-unit of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World
War II, created, supplied, trained, led and fought with the Kachin Rangers
in the Asian theater (Burman) against the Japanese. See
OSS Det 101.
Det A. A detachment of Special
Forces stationed in Berlin, Germany that conducted unconventional warfare
and intelligence missions during the Cold War. Learn more about Det A
here.
Det Cord. Detonating Cord.
Det cord is used to initiate detonators and other explosives. It
usually consists of an explosive (PETN) wrapped in plastic coating.
Det cord is similiar to U.S. Military time fuse.
DF. Direction Finding - as in
homing in on your or the enemy's radio transmissions.
DIA. Defense Intelligence
Agency.
Direct Action. Or DA.
Short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions by special
operations forces to seize, destroy, capture, recover, or inflict damage
on designated personnel or material. In the conduct of these
operations, special operations forces may employ raid, ambush, or direct
assault tactics; emplace mines and other munitions; conduct standoff
attacks by fire from air, ground, or maritime platforms; provide terminal
guidance for precision-guided munitions; and conduct independent sabotage.
DISUM. Daily Intelligence
Summary.
DMA. Defense Mapping Agency.
DNC. Digital nautical chart.
DoDD. Department of Defense
Directive.
DOS. Department of State.
DPPC. Deployable Print
Production Center.
DS. Direct Support.
DSN. Defense Switched
Network. As in DSN phone.
DTG. Date Time Group.
As in 1734LSEP11.
DTOC. Division Tactical Operations
Center.
DZ. Drop Zone.
DZSO. Drop Zone Safety
Officer.
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