Chapter Text
A guidebook of sorts to the Monument -‘verse, which will be updated and linked accordingly in the notes for all individual stories in this series as needed. We have done our best to spell out acronyms and explain terminology where context permits, but we’ve also tried not to torque the narrative solely to accommodate common acronyms (e.g. FBI) or industry-specific terms all parties in a scene would know. Let this serve as an exhaustive list of all terms, explained and non. If you cannot find it here, please feel free to ask; we also kindly refer you to google, which, depending on when you contact us, may be faster than waiting for one of us to get online!
Sorted in alphabetical order
Scientific & Medical
AI: artificial intelligence (in this case, referring to “strong” AIs, e.g. JARVIS, as opposed to domain-specific “weak” AIs, e.g. machine learning, natural language processing, etc.)
APA: American Psychiatric Association
Benzos: shorthand for benzodiazepines (a class of medication most commonly used to treat anxiety)
C-PTSD: complex post-traumatic stress disorder
CBC: complete blood count (blood test, medical)
GSR: gunshot residue
NSAID: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (e.g. ibuprofen)
PCR: polymerase chain reaction
Government Agencies & Entities
ADX Florence: federal supermax prison (United States)
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency (United States, foreign intelligence agency; also referred to as “the Agency” or “the Company”)
DOD: Department of Defense (United States, department charged with national security and US Armed Forces)
FSB: Федеральная служба безопасности Россиискои Федерации—Federal Security Service (Russia, federal law enforcement and domestic intelligence agency; third post-Communist successor to the 8th and 16th Main Directorates of the KGB)
GSG 9: Grenzschutzgruppe 9 der Bundespolizei—Border Protection Group 9 of the Federal Police (Germany, CT taskforce)
GRU: Гла̀вное разведывательное управлѐние—Main Intelligence Agency; formally Главное разведывательное управление Генерального штаба Вооружённых сил Российской Федерации—Main Intelligence Agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russia, foreign military intelligence; post-Communist successor to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Soviet Union)
ICC: International Criminal Court
KGB: Комитет государственноӣ Безопасности—Committee for State Security (Soviet Union, security agency)
NIS: National Intelligence Service (used in multiple countries)
ODNI: Office of the Director of National Intelligence (United States, leader of the intelligence community)
POTUS: President of the United States
SIS: Secret Intelligence Service (United Kingdom, foreign intelligence agency; colloquially known as MI6 or 6)
State: Department of State (United States, leading department for foreign relations)
SVR: Служба внешней разведки—Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia, foreign intelligence agency; post-Communist successor to the First Main Directorate of the KGB)
Military, Operational, & Intelligence Terminology
CO: commanding officer
COIN: counterintelligence, or counterinsurgency (context-contingent)
CT: counterterrorism
EOD: explosive ordnance disposal
H&K: Heckler & Koch (German, gun manufacturer)
IC: Intelligence Community (United States, but not exclusive to)
Intel: intelligence (shorthand, referring to gathered information and not something measured by IQ points)
JAG: Judge Advocate General Corps (United States, military legal counsel)
JCS: Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States, military)
JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command (United States, military)
MANPAD: man-portable air-defense system (used to launch SLSAMs—shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles)
Opsec: operational security
SASS: semi-automatic sniper system (refers here to the M110 SASS; use of abbreviation belongs to Clint Barton)
SCI: Sensitive Compartmentalised Information (United States, classification level of intelligence; typically transcribed as TS/SCI)
SCIF: Sensitive Compartmentalised Information Facility
Sig: Sig Sauer (German, gun manufacturer)
SOCOM: Special Operations Command (United States, military command structure)
SOP: standard operating procedure