Here are the DOD Dictionary terms beginning with the letter U and organized alphabetically. Browse terms from the official DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms that start with U and view definitions. Read on for military definitions that begin with U such as Unified Command Plan, Universal Time, unstuffing, and more.
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See also Official DOD Shortened Word Forms.
LETTER U – TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
unanticipated target — A target of opportunity that was unknown or not expected to exist in the operational environment. See also operational area; target; target of opportunity.
unauthorized commitment — An agreement that is not binding solely because the United States Government representative who made it lacked the authority to enter into that agreement on behalf of the United States Government.
uncertain environment — Operational environment in which host government forces, whether opposed to or receptive to operations that a unit intends to conduct, do not have totally effective control of the territory and population in the intended operational area.
unconventional assisted recovery — Nonconventional assisted recovery conducted by special operations forces. Also called UAR. See also evader; recovery.
unconventional assisted recovery coordination cell — A compartmented special operations forces cell, established to coordinate, synchronize, and deconflict nonconventional assisted recovery operations within the operational area assigned to the joint force commander. Also called UARCC. See also joint operations center; joint personnel recovery center; special operations forces; unconventional assisted recovery.
unconventional warfare — Activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area. Also called UW.
undersea warfare — Military operations conducted to establish and maintain control of the undersea portion of a maritime operational area. Also called USW. See also antisubmarine warfare; mine warfare.
underwater demolition — The destruction or neutralization of underwater obstacles that is normally accomplished by underwater demolition teams.
underwater demolition team — A group of officers and enlisted specially trained and equipped to accomplish the destruction or neutralization of underwater obstacles and associated tasks.
unexploded explosive ordnance — Explosive ordnance that has been primed, fused, armed or otherwise prepared for action, and that has been fired, dropped, launched, projected, or placed in such a manner as to constitute a hazard to operations, installations, personnel, or material and remains unexploded either by malfunction or design or for any other cause. Also called UXO. See also explosive ordnance.
unified action — The synchronization, coordination, and/or integration of the activities of governmental and nongovernmental entities with military operations to achieve unity of effort.
unified combatant command — See unified command.
unified command — A command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander and composed of significant assigned components of two or more Military Departments that is established and so designated by the President, through the Secretary of Defense with the advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also called unified combatant command. See also combatant command; subordinate unified command.
Unified Command Plan — The document, approved by the President, that sets forth basic guidance to all unified combatant commanders; establishes their missions, responsibilities, and force structure; delineates the general geographical area of responsibility for geographic combatant commanders; and specifies functional responsibilities for functional combatant commanders. Also called UCP. See also combatant command; combatant commander.
unified geospatial-intelligence operations — The collaborative and coordinated process to assess, align, and execute geospatial intelligence across the National System for Geospatial Intelligence and its partner organizations. Also called UGO.
uniformed services — The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Services. See also Military Department; Service.
unit — 1. Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority. 2. An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.
unit aircraft — Those aircraft provided to an aircraft unit for the performance of a flying mission.
United States — Includes the land area, internal waters, territorial sea, and airspace of the United States, including a. United States territories; and b. Other areas over which the United States Government has complete jurisdiction and control or has exclusive authority or defense responsibility.
United States Armed Forces — Used to denote collectively the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. See also Armed Forces of the United States.
United States-controlled shipping — Shipping under United States flag and selected ships under foreign flag considered to be under effective United States control. See also effective United States-controlled ships.
United States message text format — A program designed to enhance joint and combined combat effectiveness through standardization of message formats, data elements, and information exchange procedures. Also called USMTF.
United States Naval Ship — A public vessel of the United States that is in the custody of the Navy and is: a. Operated by the Military Sealift Command and manned by a civil service crew; or b. Operated by a commercial company under contract to the Military Sealift Command and manned by a merchant marine crew. Also called USNS. See also Military Sealift Command.
United States person — A United States citizen; an alien known by the concerned intelligence agency to be a permanent resident alien; an unincorporated association substantially composed of United States citizens or permanent resident aliens; or a corporation incorporated in the United States, except for those directed and controlled by a foreign government or governments.
United States Transportation Command patient movement requirements center — A United States Transportation Command activity responsible for intratheater patient movement management (medical regulating and aeromedical evacuation scheduling), the development of theater-level patient movement plans and schedules, the monitoring and execution in concert with the Global Patient Movement Requirements Center. Also called TPMRC.
unit identification code — A six-character, alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies each Active, Reserve, and National Guard unit of the Armed Forces. Also called UIC.
unit line number — A seven-character alphanumeric code that describes a unique increment of a unit deployment, i.e., advance party, main body, equipment by sea and air, reception team, or trail party, in the time-phased force and deployment data. Also called ULN.
unit movement data — A unit equipment and/or supply listing containing corresponding transportability data. Also called UMD.
unit personnel and tonnage table — A table included in the loading plan of a combat- loaded ship as a recapitulation of totals of personnel and cargo by type, listing cubic measurements and weight. Also called UP&TT.
unit type code — A Joint Chiefs of Staff-developed and -assigned code, consisting of five characters that uniquely identify a “type unit.” Also called UTC.
unity of command — The operation of all forces under a single responsible commander who has the requisite authority to direct and employ those forces in pursuit of a common purpose.
unity of effort — Coordination and cooperation toward common objectives, even if the participants are not necessarily part of the same command or organization, which is the product of successful unified action.
Universal Joint Task List — A menu of tasks that may be selected by a joint force commander to accomplish the assigned mission. Also called UJTL.
Universal Time — A measure of time that conforms, within a close approximation, to the mean diurnal rotation of the Earth and serves as the basis of civil timekeeping. Also called ZULU time.
unknown — 1. A code meaning “information not available.” 2. An unidentified target. An aircraft or ship that has not been determined to be hostile, friendly, or neutral using identification friend or foe and other techniques, but that must be tracked by air defense or naval engagement systems. 3. An identity applied to an evaluated track that has not been identified. See also assumed friend; friend; neutral; suspect.
unmanned aircraft — An aircraft that does not carry a human operator and is capable of flight with or without human remote control. Also called UA.
unmanned aircraft system — That system whose components include the necessary equipment, network, and personnel to control an unmanned aircraft. Also called UAS.
unrestricted reporting — A process that a Service member uses to disclose, without requesting confidentiality or restricted reporting, that he or she is the victim of a sexual assault.
unscheduled target — A target of opportunity that is known to exist in the operational environment. See also operational area; target; target of opportunity.
unstable patient — A patient whose physiological status is in fluctuation and for whom emergent, treatment, and/or surgical intervention are anticipated during treatment or evacuation, and the patient’s rapidly changing status and requirements are beyond the standard en route care capability and requires medical/surgical augmentation.
unstuffing — The removal of cargo from a container. Also called stripping.
use of force policy — Policy guidance issued by the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, on the use of force and weapons.
US forces — All Armed Forces (including the Coast Guard) of the United States, any person in the Armed Forces of the United States, and all equipment of any description that either belongs to the US Armed Forces or is being used (including Type I and II Military Sealift Command vessels), escorted, or conveyed by the US Armed Forces.
US national — US citizen and US permanent and temporary legal resident aliens.
| A | B | C | D |
| E | F | G | H |
| I | J | K | L |
| M | N | O | P |
| Q | R | S | T |
| U | V | W | XYZ |
See also Official DOD Shortened Word Forms.
Source: Official DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms.