Afghan War News > Afghan War Glossary > N

The military community uses a multitude and variety of terms, phrases, and expressions in its vocabulary. This is especially true in the Afghan theater of operations. Some terms, phases, and words are formal in nature while others are derived from common usage. This glossary is intended to assist those new to the Afghan theater or others unfamiliar with terminology or slang used by those working or serving in Afghanistan.

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N

N2K. The provinces of Nangarhar, Nuristan, and Kunar located along the eastern border with Pakistan.

Naan. Flat bread; very common addition to almost every Afghan meal.

NABDP.  See National Area-Based Development Program below.

NAC. North Atlantic Council.

NAC-A. NATO Air Command - Afghanistan.

NACC. North Atlantic Cooperation Council.

NADR. Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs.

NAI. Named Area of Interest

NAO. National Audit Office.

NAOCC. NATO Air Operation Coordination Center.

NAP. National Action Plan or the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. See a White House paper explaining.

NAR. Non-conventional Assisted Recovery.

NARSAT. Also known as the National Threat Intelligence Center.

NAS. National Airspace System.

NASTC. National Aviation Service Transition Contract.

NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATC-A. NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan. As of September 2014 there were over 650 personnel assigned to NATC-A from 17 countries and almost 200 contractors. The NATC-A is aiding a struggling Afghan Air Force to grow more capable and fill the capability gap left by departing U.S. close air support and MEDEVAC assets.

NATC-A Nine. An insider attack by an Afghan Air Force colonel killed eight American Airmen and one civilian advisor at Kabul airport. The fallen victims are now referred to as the "NATC-A Nine".

NATF. NATA ANA Trust Fund.

National Area-Based Development Program. This program, administered by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), was established in 2002 with the goal of contributing to a sustainable reduction of poverty and an improvement in the livelihoods in rural Afghanistan. It is a joint initiative of the MRRD and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). See www.mrrd-nabdp.org for more info.

National Mine Removal Group (NMRG). An Afghan military unit that conducted counter-mine and counter-IED missions. Conducts route clearance and mine reduction.

National Security and Justice Development Division (NSJDD). The NSJDD's mission is to train, advise, and assist the Afghan national security justice sector, provide humane care and custody of third country national Law of Armed Conflict detainees and to strengthen the Afghan Rule of Law.

National Solidarity Programme. The NSP was created by the MRRD with assistance from the international community to improve Afghan sub-governance and community development.

NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan. See NATC-A above.

NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence (NATO HCOE). This organization has the mission of providing the highest quality services and products in response to the requirements and needs of the NATO command structure, NATO forces structure, of the NATO nations, and when feasible, of Partner Nations. NATO HCOE.

NATO SOFA. NATO Status of Force Agreement.

NAVC. National Army Volunteer Center.

NAVFOR. Naval Forces. Something the Afghans don't have yet.

NBD. Non-Battle Death.

NBI. Non Battle Injury.

NBTSU. Nordic Baltic Transition Support Unit. A unit based at Camp Northern Lights in Mazar-e-Sharif (Regional Command North) composed of units and individuals from Sweden, Finland, Latvia, and Norway. Camp Northern Lights was closed in May 2014.

NCA. National Command Authority.

NCO. Non-Commissioned officer.

NCOES. Non-Commissioned Officer Education System.

NCOIC. Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge.

NCOPD. Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development.

NCR. National Capitol Region.

NCS. Net Control Station.

ND. Negligent Discharge. It was your fault; vs. an AD which is an Accidental Discharge.

NDAA. National Defense Authorization Act.

NDF. National Development Framework.

NDN. Northern Distribution Network. The NDN is the transportation system the coalition uses to move supplies and equipment into and out of Afghanistan; primarily through the Central Asian states. The NDN is tied into the New Silk Road Strategy or NSRS.

NDP. National Development Program.

NDS. National Directorate of Security; Afghan intelligence agency funded, trained and advised by the . . .

NEB. The Afghan National Army's National Engineer Brigade. The NEB is advised by the EBAAT.

NEPS. Northeast Power System.

NET. New Equipment Training.

NET. No Earlier Than.

New Silk Road Strategy. The NSRS is a U.S. State Department initiative to promote trade and economic links in the Central Asian States in an attempt to aid Afghanistan's integration into the regional economic environment.

NFA. No Fire Area.

NFI. No Further Information.

NFDK. No Further Details Known.

NFTR. Nothing Further to Report.

NFZ. No Fly Zone.

NGA. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. See GEOINT.

NGO. Non Governmental Organization.

NG SF. See National Guard Special Forces.

N-Hour. Notification Hour.

NIC. National Intelligence Cell.

Night Raids. The use of night raids to capture or kill insurgents and terrorist in Afghanistan by U.S. Special Operations Forces is a highly effective yet controversial tactic. Learn more about night raids in Afghanistan.

NIMA. National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

NIMS. National Information Management System. The MoD and MoI use the National Information Management System to provide intelligence products and information at all levels among several different types of organizations and units.

NIPR. Non-Secure Internet Protocol Routing.

NIPRNET. Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router Network.

NIST. National Intelligence Support Team.

NISTA. Not in Service Training Account.

NIU. National Interdiction Unit.

NKC. New Kabul Compound.

NLA. National Logistics Agency.

NLC. National Logistics Center.

NLE. Non Lethal Effects.

NLOS. Non-Line-of-Sight.

NLW. Non-Lethal Weapons.

NM. Nautical Miles.

NMA. NATO Military Authorities.

NMAA. National Military Academy of Afghanistan.

NMB. National Mission Brigade. The Afghan NMB was to be formed up in 2016 to conduct special operations missions.

NMC. Non-mission capable. A vehicle, aircraft or piece of equipment that cannot be used because of damage, maintenance, or lack of spare parts. As in ". . . 65% of the ANA vehicles are NMC . . ."

NMCC. National Military Coordination (or Command) Center.

NMH. National Military Hospital.

NMIC. National Military Intelligence Centre. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) operates the National Military Intelligence Center at the ANA MI Intelligence Center and School located at Sia Seng.

NMJIC. National Military Joint Intelligence Center.

NMRG. National Mine Removal Group. An Afghan military unit that conducted counter-mine and counter-IED missions. Conducts route clearance and mine reduction.

NMS. National Maintenance Strategy.

NMS. National Military Strategy.

NMS.  Non-security ministries. Meaning not MoI and MoD.

NMSGVS. National Maintenance Strategy Ground Vehicle Support.

NMU. National Mission Unit of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). For instance, ATF 444, CF 333, and CRU 222. ASSF portion of GCPSU.

NMW. ANP National Medical Warehouse.

NOA. Notice of Availability.

NOFORN. No Foreigners. A security classification for intelligence or documents.

NOK. Next of Kin.

NoK. North of Kabul. Region where the 201st ANA Corps is located.

Nonlethal Fires. Any fires that do not directly seek the physical destruction of the intended target and are designed to impair, disrupt, or delay the performance of enemy operational forces, functions, and facilities. Psychological operations, electronic warfare (jamming), and other command and control countermeasures are all nonlethal fires (FM 6-20).

Noorzai. A Pashtun tribe of southern Afghanistan.

Northern Alliance. Sometimes called the United Front. A military alliance of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and others who opposed the Taliban in the 1990s. They were backed by U.S. Special Forces and the occasional CIA agent in the fall of 2001 and toppled the Taliban regime.

Northern Distribution Network. Seen NDN above.

NOTAM. Notice to Airmen.

NPCC. National Police Command Center.

NPP. National Priority Program.

NPTC. National Police Training Center.

NRT. Near Real Time.

NSA. National Security Agency.

NSC. National Security Council.

NSE. Nonstandard Equipment.

NSG. National System for Geospatial-Intelligence.

NSJDD. See National Security and Justice Development Division above.

NSOCC-A. NATO Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan. Located on Camp Integrity in 2012-2014; now based at Bagram Airfield. A two-star command that had various SOF components such as ISAF SOF, CJSOTF-A, and . . . . others. The commander of NSOCC-A (usually an American) also commands Special Operations Joint Task Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A).

NSP. National Security Policy.

NSP. See National Solidarity Programme above.

NSRS. See New Silk Road Strategy above.

NSRWA. The Army's "Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aircraft" office is in Huntsville, Alabama. The NSRWA is currently under investigation (as of Aug 2013) for "non-standard" procedures in managing Mi-17 contracts for the Afghan Air Force with some Russian firms. See news story.

NSS. National Security Strategy.

NSS. National Security Systems.

NSTR. Nothing Significant to Report.

NSWG. Naval Special Warfare Group.

NSA. National Security Agency.

NSDD. National Security Decision Directive.

NSDM. National Security Decision Memorandum.

NSE. National Support Element.

NSJDD. National Security Justice Development Directive. The mission of the NSJDD is to promote national security through development of a justice system to include detention side and legal aspects.

NSTR. Nothing Significant to Report.

NTA. National Threat Assessment.

NTB. National Transportation Brigade.

NTC. National Training Center.

NTEC. National Targeting Exploitation Center. Learn more about the Afghan NTEC.

NTIC. National Threat Intelligence Center. Learn more about the Afghan NTIC. NTIC is sometimes referred to as Nasrat Center. NTIC is an operational element of the Afghan Intelligence Enterprise.

NTISR. Non-Traditional ISR. Is this someone holding a digital camera out the window of a C-208 fixed wing aircraft? I am not sure.

NTM-A.  NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan.

NTR. Nothing to Report.

NTV. Non-Tactical Vehicle

NUOC. National Unit Operators Course (GCPSU).

NVD. Night Vision Device.

NVG. Night Vision Goggles.

NWA. North Wazirstan Agency.

NWFP. Northwestern Frontier Province.

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The definitions provided in this Afghan War Glossary are from many different sources to include publications, documents, and personal knowledge. In some instances, there are several definitions or meanings to a word or phrase.

To suggest additional terms for the glossary or to correct any inaccuracies or broken links send an email to staff@afghanwarnews.info. All external sites open up in an new window. 

Afghan War News > Afghan War Glossary > N