Afghan War News > Afghan War Glossary > T

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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T

T3. Train-the-Trainer.

T&E. Test and Evaluation.

TAA. Train, Advise, and Assist. What we are now doing in Afghanistan; with the emphasis on "Advise"; not so much on "Train" and "Assist" anymore. The "Train" and "Advise and Assist" are two parts of the five Security Force Assistance functions.

TAACOM. Theater Army Area Command.

TAAC. Train, Advise, and Assist Command. As in "TAAC East" or "TAAC West". TAA is two of five fundamental functions / tasks of Security Force Assistance. TAA equals "Train, Advise, and Assist". As of June 2015 there was TAAC-Air, TAAC-C, TAAC-E, TAAC-N, TAAC-S, TAAC-W and two AAC's - ACC-SE and ACC-SW.

TAAC-Air. Train, Advise, Assist Command - Air. The air advisors to the Afghan Air Force. Used to be called NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan (NATC-A). TAAC-Air was established in January 2014; basically a renaming of NATC-A.

TAAC-C. Train, Advise, and Assist Command - Capital. The framework nation for TAAC-C is Turkey - based on Kabul International Airport.

TAAC-E. The acronym for Train, Advise, and Assist Command - East. Regional Command East became TAAC-E. TAAC-E operates at FOB Gamberi. Visit the webpage for TAAC-E and the Facebook page for TAAC-E.

TAAC-N. Train, Advise, and Assist Command - North; the framework nation is Germany assisted by many European nations.

TAAC-S. Train, Advise, and Assist Command - South. Based in Kandahar, the framework nation is the United States.

TAAC-W. Train, Advise, and Assist Command - West. Based in Herat, the framework nation is Italy. For many years, Italy and Spain shared this responsibility.

TAC. Transparency and Accountability Committee.

TAC 1. Training Advisory Command 1 located at FOB Gamberi; covers the North of Kabul (NoK) area coinciding with the 201st Corps area. TAC 1 was one of two TACs for RC East. When the regional commanders (RCs) were replaced by the TAACs in 2014 TAC 1 became TAAC East.

TAC 2. Training Advisory Command 2 located at FOB Lightning; covers the South of Kabul (SoK) area coinciding with the 203rd Corps area. TAC 2 was one of two TACs found within Regional Command East. When the RCs were replaced by the TAACs; TAC 2 was disbanded - in the Fall of 2014. The 203rd Corps was left uncovered; although an Advise and Assist Cell was established in late 2014 to conduct "Fly to Advise" missions to the 203rd Corps area.

TACCP.  Tactical Command Post.

TACELINT. Tactical Electronic Intelligence Report.

TACLAN. Tactical Local Area Network.

TACP. Tactical Air Control Party.

TACOM. Tactical Command.

TACON. Tactical Control.

TACOPS. A QRC tactical aerial LIDAR sensing aircraft capability.

TACSAT. Tactical satellite; usually referring to communications equipment.

TACSOP. Tactical Standard Operating Procedures.

TAFA. Trade Accession and Facilitation in Afghanistan.

TALE. Transparency, Accountability, and Law Enforcement.

Tajiks. The Tajiks comprise the second largest ethnic group at about 26%. Most are located in the northern part of Afghanistan.

Talib. A student of religion. Talib is the Arabic/Persian/Pashto word for student.

Taliban. Religious students. An Afghan fundamentalist insurgent force supported by the Pakistan military and intelligence service. The Taliban, emerged from the religious schools in Pakistan. They were mostly young, poorly educated Pashtuns whose families had fought against the Soviets. The Taliban gained control over Afghanistan putting an end to the civil war amongst the mujahadeen groups and restored civil order after the chaos of the Soviet occupation and subsequent civil war.

Talon View. The Falcon View version fielded to the Afghan National Army.

TALOS. The Tactical Assault Light Operator's Suit is also know as the 'Iron Man Suit'. The body armor and multi-function suit known as TALOS is under development by USSOCOM and DARPA.

Tamerlane. Also know as Timur, was a Central Asian Turk who conquered a large part of Afghanistan and added it to his very large empire that ran from India to the Mediterranean.

TAO. Transparency, Accountability, and Oversight. Something lacking on the part of ISAF and the US during the entire Afghan conflict when applied to the ANSF and Afghan ministries. See www.sigar.mil for more info on the lack of TAO.

TAP. Trauma Assistance Personnel. An ANP medic training program.

TARP. Threat Awareness Reporting Program.

Tashakor. Thank you.

Tashkil. Refers to ANSF MTOE.

Task Force 2010 (TF 2010) A team set up by USFOR-A in 2010 to combat contract extortion, theft, and prevent U.S. funds from ending up in enemy hands. The TF operates audit, intelligence, law enforcement, and legal sub-units. At one time the TF was operating in Kabul, Bagram and Kandahar; but now it is based on an air base near Doha, Qatar.

Task Force 42. TF 42 was a UK Special Forces unit that operated in Afghanistan. It was comprised of a number (over time) of different SF units from the UK to include the Special Boat Service (SBS), Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), and the 21, 22, and 23 Special Air Service (SAS).

Task Force BAGRAM. This TF was established in November 2001 by CFLCC with the mission to establish a headquarters at Bagram Air Field, coordinate the repair of the 8,000-foot runway built by the Soviets, and establish a key support base close to Kabul for follow-on operations.

Task Force BOWIE. This TF, commanded by BG Gary Harrell was a joint and interagency task force with an intelligence fusion cell established at Bagram Air Field in the fall of 2001.

Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO). Task Force for Business and Stability Operations in Afghanistan. The TFBSO has been criticized by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Almost $800 million was spent by the TFBSO but SIGAR says that the program "accomplished nothing". See http://tfbso.defense.gov/.

Task Force Dagger. Task Force Dagger was the first operational task force in Afghanistan from October 2001 to April 2002 and its actions led to the fall of the Taleban government and eviction of al-Qaeda leadership from Afghanistan. Read more about Task Force Dagger.

TAT. DoD's Telecom Advisory Team. Based in Kabul at ISAF HQs.

Taverna du Libon. The Lebanese restaurant bombed in January 2014 causing 21 deaths including 13 foreign expats.

TB. Taliban.

TBD. To Be Determined.

TBSG. Taliban Shadow Governor.

TBSL. Taliban Senior Leadership / Leaders.

TDY. Temporary Duty Yonder.

TCCC/T3C. Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

TCoE. Training Center of Excellence. It can't just be TC for Training Center. It has to be an "excellent" training center. More words to write and spell in my opinion. Just saying.

TCN. Third country national or Troop Contributing Nation.

TCP. Tactical Command Post.

TCP. Theater Campaign Plan.

TCP. Traffic Control Point.

TC-PED. Tasks, Collect, Process, Exploit, and Disseminate. An intelligence term.

TCoE. Training Cente of Excellence (Shindand Air Base).

TCOI. Training Community of Interest.

TDY. Temporary Duty.

Teaching. Providing instruction and / or education to develop skills or knowledge necessary to do a particular job.

TEB. Theater Engineer Brigade.

TECHCON. Directives, guidance, and advice along technical lines of communication; as in computer support, maintenance, or logistics.

TECHINT. Technical Intelligence.

TED-C. Training, Education, Doctrine Command.

TEK. Traffic Encryption Key.

TEL. Transporter Erector Launcher.

Telecom Advisory Team. The TAT is an entity of ISAF that works with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to foster the growth of the telecommunications sector of Afghanistan.

TERP. Slang for interpreter. It is more polite to say "interpreter"; especially in front of your terp. Interpreters can come from the local population or they can be Afghans who have resettled in the United States and who are U.S. citizens.

TF. Task Force.

TF 2010. See Task Force 2010 above.

TF 333. An Afghan special operations police force.

TF 444.  Task Force 444 is an elite Afghan commando unit operating in Helmand province that is partnered with the British Special Forces Support Group (SFSG). See a related news story here.

TFBSO. See Task Force for Business and Stability Operations in Afghanistan above.

TFH. Task Force Helmand.

TF Odin. An ISR task force in Afghanistan. See Task Force Odin.

TF Phoenix. The TF was established in April of 2003 to train and mentor the ANSF.  Many of the mentors working in Task Force Phoenix were from the U.S. Army National Guard.

TFH. Task Force Helmand.

TG. Tactical Group.

TGA. Transitional Government Afghanistan.

TGC. Tactical Ground Commander.

TGM. Tactical Ground Movement.

TGC. Training General Command.

Third Anglo-Afghan War. This took place in May to August of 1919 and was part of a long term strategic British-Russian rivalry in Afghanistan.

T-HOUSE. Taliban House.

THT. Tactical Human Intelligence Team.

Thuraya. A satellite phone used by the military as a backup to radio communications.

TI. Thermal Imaging.

TIC. Troops in Contact.

Tiger Swan. A firm that provides support and services to the military in Afghanistan. One such contract (in conjunction with Oak Grove) provided agricultural advisors to CJSOTF-A to support the VSO. Learn more from this news report here.

TIP. Target Intelligence Packet.

TIP. Trafficking in Persons.

TIU. Technical Investigation Unit.

TLA. Target Location Accuracy.

TLAM. Tactical Land Attack Missile.

TLP. See Troop Leading Procedures below; what Afghans prefer over MDMP.

TLSR. Transer of Lead Security Responsibility. On June 2013 the lead for security for Afghanistan was transferred from ISAF to the ANSF. Somewhere in the bowels of the ISAF staff organization a staff officer thought we needed an acronym to describe that historic event.

TMAF. Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework. More unofficially known as the Tokyo Declaration.

TMCC. Theater Movement Coordination Center.

TMO. Traffic Management Office. I guess these guys are responsible for posting the 15 MPH signs on the big FOBs where you can clearly drive 50 MPH. But I could be wrong.

TMR. Transportation Movement Request.

TNG. Training.

TOA. Transfer of Authority.

TOC. Tactical Operations Center.

Tocano 29. A close air support aircraft very suitable for the Afghan counterinsurgency battle that "may" be purchased for the Afghan Air Force.

TOE. Table of Organization and Equipment.

T/O&E. Table of Organization and Equipment.

TOF. Time of Flight.

Tokyo Declaration. More commonly known as the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework or TMAF.

Tolay. Afghan name for an ANA company-equivalent unit. Somtimes spelled Toli.

TOPO. Topographic.

TOR. Terms of Reference.

TOR. Time of Receipt.

Torkham Gate. The border crossing in the Kyhber Pass in eastern Nangarhar province at the Pakistan border. The Khyber Border Coordination Center (KBCC) is located at this location.

TOS. Time on Station.

TOT. Time Over Target (Air), Time On Target (Artillery).

TPA. Track Production Area.

TPE. Theater Property Equipment.

TPFDD. Time-Phased Force and Deployment Data.

TPOR. Transition Provincial Outlook Report.

TPSO. Training Program Support Office.

TPT. Tactical Psychological Operations Team.

TRADOC. Training and Doctrine Command.

Train. All activities taken to create, improve, and integrate training, leader development, and education at the individual, leader, collective, and stall levels. This may include the development and execution of programs of instruction, training events, and leader development activities.

TRAT. Training and Readiness Assessment Tool.

TREX. Training and Exercises. A part of CJ7 of ISAF and then later RS HQs. The TREX replaced the CAAT.

TRICARE. The current medical plan for military members and retirees will soon be replaced. There are several medical plans under the TRICARE system to include TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Standard, and TRICARE for Life. Under the Affordable Care Act, these plans will soon give way to ACAMIL Prime, ACAMIL Standard, and ACAMIL for LIfe. This is the conversion of TRICARE into the Affordable Care Act medical system that will improve medical services for the military, military dependents, and miltary retirees. Learn more here about the TRICARE to Affordable Care Act conversion.

Troop Leading Procedures. A dynamic process used by small unit leaders to analyze a mission, develop a plan, and prepare for an operation (FM 5-0).

TRP. Target Reference Point.

TSCM. Tactical Surveillance Counter Measures.

TSGT. Transportable Satellite Ground Terminal.

TSGT. A "Tech Sergeant" in the Air Force.

TSOC. Theater Special Operations Command.

TSP. Tactical SIGINT payload.

TS/SCI. Top Secret / Secret Compartmented Info.

TST. Time Sensitive Target.

TSU. Transition Support Unit.

TTA. Troop to Task Analysis.

TTHS. Training, Transient, Holding & Student.

TTiP. Tehrik-e Taliban in Pakistan. Or TTP.

TTPs. Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.

TUAS. Tactical Unmanned Aerial System. This is a drone or UAV with all of its support components (launcher, control station, aircraft, etc.). In 2016 the Afghan National Army recieved its first TUSA - the ScanEagle. It took a while for ISAF and Resolute Support to realize the Afghans would need a tactical ISR capability; especially after the Coaltion nations re-deployed their ISR assets out of Afghanistan. But hey, better late than never.

Turkmens. This ethnic group comprises about 3% of the Afghan population.

TWIED. Trip Wire IED.

Type A PHQ. A Provincial Police Headquarters that is also responsible for other PHQs in its region.

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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. 

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