Afghan War News > Afghan War Glossary > U

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.

To search for the term, acronym or phrase
click on the first letter of the word below.

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U

UA. Unauthorized Absence.

UA. Unmanned Aircraft.

UAA. Union Aid for Afghanistan.

UAE. United Arab Emirates.

UAH. Up Armored HMMWV.

UAMTV. Up-Armored vehicle. Used by the Afghan Route Clearance Elements for the heavy mine clearing equipment.

UART. Unconventional Assisted Recover Team.

UAS. Unmanned Aerial System. Same thing as a UAV or drone.

UAV. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or drone.

UBL. Unit Basic Load.

UBL. Usama Bin Laden. Someone the Pakistanis were hiding for about ten years; someone the US Navy SEALs visited in Pakistan. (Now gone fishing).

UGS. Unattended Ground Sensors or Unmanned Ground System.

UGV. Unmanned Ground Vehicle.

UH-60. Black Hawk helicopter made by Sirkorsky.

UHF. Ultra High Frequency. Associated with signals and communications equipment.

U/I. Unidentified.

UIC. Unit Identification Code.

Uighur. The Uighur people live in Xinjiang province of China which borders on the northeastern border of Afghanistan. This province is a serious security concern of China's because it is populated with people similar in language and culture of Central Asia. There is a Uighur separatist movement that could benefit from an extremist Islamic state established in Afghanistan.

UIP. Unified Implementation Plan.

UK. The true meaning of the word "partner"; they overlook our faults and continue to call us friends.

Ulema. Plural of 'alim.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Commonly known as UAVs in the military community and as drones in the civilian community.

UN. United Nations.

UNAMA. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

UNANBP. United Nations Afghanistan New Beginning Program.

UNCO. United Nations Coordinator's Office.

Unconventional Warfare or UW. Activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency. See unconventional warfare.

UNDAC. United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination.

UNDCP. United Nations Drug Control Programme.

Underground. A covert unconventional warfare organization established to operate in areas denied to the guerrilla forces or conduct operations not suitable for guerrilla forces (FM 1-02).

UNDAC. United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination. UNDAC teams have deployed to stricken countries around the world to help the UN and the host nation government during the first phase of an earthquake. The UNDAC will also assist in the coordination of incoming international relief.
www.unocha.org/what-we-do/coordination-tools/undac/overview

UNDESA. United Nations Development for Economic and Social Affairs.

UNDMT. United Nations Disater Management Team.

UNDP. United Nations Development Programme.

UNDP-ELECT. A UN project that works with the two main Afghan electoral bodies, the Independent Election Commision (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

UNFPA. United Nations Population Fund Agency.

UN-HABITAT. United Nations Human Settlement Program.

UNHAS. United Nations Humanitarian Air Service.

UNHCR. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNHSP. United Nations Human Settlement Program.

UNIDO. United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

UNICEF. United Nations Childrens Fund.

UNJLC. United Nations Joint Logistics Center.

UNK. Unknown.

UNLB. United Nations Logistics Base.

UNMACC. United Nations Mine Action and Coordination Centre.

UNMAS. United Nations Mine Action Service.

UNMO. UN Military Observer.

UNOCHA. United Nations Officer of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs for Afghanistan.

UNODC. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

UNOE. United Nations Owned Equipment.

UNOPS. United Nations Office of Project Services. Visit UNOPS Afghanistan page.

UNPF. United Nations Peacekeeping Force.

UNRC. United Nations Resident Coordinator. Not all countries have one; Afghanistan may or may not have one at this time.

UNSC. United Nations Security Council.

UNSCR. United Nations Security Council Resolution.

UNSECCOORD. United Nations Security Coordinator.

UNSMA. United Nations Special Mission for Afghanistan.

UOR. Urgent Operational Requirement.

UPT. Undergraduate Pilot Training. Yep, training Afghans to fly. Scary stuff.

U.S. United States.

US DAO. US Defense Attache Office.

USAAA. U.S. Army Audit Agency.

USACE. United States Army Corps of Engineers.

USACE-TAN. USACE Afghanistan Engineer District North.

USAICS. US Army Intelligence Center and School.

USAJFKSWCS. United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

USAF. United States Air Force.

USAFE. US Air Force Europe.

USAID. United States Agency for International Development.

USAID OIG. USAID Office of the Inspector General.

USAREUR. US Army Europe.

USASOC. United States Army Special Operations Command.

USB. Universal Serial Bus.

USC. United States Code.

USCENTCOM. United States Central Command - based in Tampa, Florida.

USCG. United States Coast Guard.

USD. Under Secretary of Defense.

USD. US Dollar. A lot of these "USDs" can be found in Karzai's Dubai bank account.

USDA. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

USDCS. US Diplomatic Courier Service.

USEUCOM. US European Command.

USFOR-A. United States Forces - Afghanistan.

USG. United States Government.

USGS. United States Geological Survey.

Ushr. A religious tax, usually around ten percent and provided in agricultural goods.

USIP. United States Institute of Peace. Publishes many publications about Afghanistan and at times operated as an implementing partner for USAID.

USMC. United States Marine Corps.

USML. United States Munitions List.

USNAVWARCOL. US Navy War College.

USSF. United States Special Forces.

USSOCCENT. US Special Operations Command Central. Located in Tampa, FL.

USSOCOM. United States Special Operations Command.

UTC. Unified Training Command.

UTC. Unit Technical Code.

UTEDC. Unified Training Education and Doctrine Command.

UTM. Universal Transversal Mercator.

UTP. Unified Transition Plan.

UW. See unconventional warfare above.

UWOA. Unconventional Warfare Operational Area.

UXB. Unexploded Bomb.

UXO. Unexploded ordnance.

Uzbeks. The Uzbeks comprise about 9% of the population of Afghanistan. This ethnic group is principally located in the northern part of Afghanistan.

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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 > U