Federal Contracting Acronyms: A Glossary for Smart Businesses

SBIRs, STTRs, DoD, and R&D. Vertx presents a Rosetta Stone for understanding the myriad of federal contracting acronyms businesses may encounter.

---

If you’re new to the world of federal contracting – particularly to contracting through the U.S. Air Force and/or Department of Defense – then this short guide can help you decipher several of the most commonplace acronyms/initialisms you’re likely to encounter. The distinction between an acronym and initialism, if you’re unfamiliar, is that an acronym takes the first letter of each word and arranges it into a new word to be pronounced, like NASA. Initialisms (sometimes called alphabetisms) see each letter pronounced separately, like the term CIA.

Let’s take a look at a few:

Governmental Entities

• USAF (initialism) – United States Air Force; the air service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• DoD (initialism) – Department of Defense; an executive branch agency that is the largest in the nation. They are charged with managing all national security efforts in the United States. The USAF and all other service branches fall under their jurisdiction.
• USA (initialism) – United States Army; the operational military branch of the U.S. Armed forces.
• UMSC (initialism) – United States Marine Corps; the maritime land branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• USN (initialism) – United States Navy; the maritime service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• USSF (initialism) – United States Space Force; the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• USCG (initialism) – United States Coast Guard; the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
• ARNG (initialism) – Army Reserve/National Guard; the state-based reserve wing of the United States Army and United States Air Force.
• FAA (initialism) – Federal Aviation Administration; the largest branch of the Department of Transportation which oversees civil aviation affairs.
• SBA (initialism) – Small Business Administration; a federal agency that supports small businesses and starting entrepreneurs.
• DARPA (acronym) – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) responsible for developing emerging technologies for use by the military.
• DHA (initialism) – Defense Health Agencies; is a joint, integrated combat support agency that enables the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime.
• DLA (initialism) – Defense Logistics Agency; manages the end-to-end global defense supply chain – from raw materials to end user disposition – for the five military services, 11 combatant commands, other federal, state, and local agencies partner, and allied nations.
• DOE (initialism) – Department of Energy; is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military’s nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy-related research and energy conservation.
• DTRA (initialism) – Defense Threat Reduction Agency; is both a defense agency and a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for countering weapons of mass destruction and supporting the nuclear enterprise.
• MDA (initialism) – Missile Defense Agency; is a component of the United States government’s Department of Defense responsible for developing a comprehensive defense against ballistic missiles.
• AOC (initialism) – Air Operations Center; is a type of command center used by the United States Air Force. It is the senior agency of the Air Force component commander to provide command and control of air operations.
• DCAA (initialism) – Defense Contract Audit Agency; provides audit and financial advisory services to the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal entities responsible for acquisition and contract administration.

Federal Contracting Terms

• R&D (initialism) – Research and Development; a set of pursuits focused on emerging technology and innovation.
• SBIR (initialism or acronym) – Small Business Innovation Research; a federal program designed to stimulate small business R&D. As an acronym, it is pronounced ‘sibber.’
• STTR (initialism or acronym) – Small Business Technology Transfer; similar to the SBIR program, but with particular emphasis on small business partnerships with the nonprofit research sector. As an acronym, it is pronounced ‘sitter.’
• SWaP-C (acronym) – Size, Weight, Power, and Cost; common evaluation criteria for assessing technical merit. For example, does an innovation decrease size, weight, power consumption, and cost? As an acronym, it is pronounced ‘swap see.’
• PI (initialism) – Principal Investigator; a designated team member in any SBIR/STTR proposal who bears primary responsibility for the project. The main stipulation is that the small business or research institution principally employs this person for STTR proposals.
• POM (initialism) – Program Objective Memorandum; is the principal programming document that details how a component proposes to respond to assignments in the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) and satisfy its assigned functions over the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP).
• LEO (initialism) – Law Enforcement Officers; are a public-sector or private-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws, protecting life & property, keeping the peace, and other public safety-related duties.
• EMS (initialism) – Emergency Medical Services; are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilization for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care.
• TRL (initialism) – Technology Readiness Levels; are a method for estimating the maturity of technologies during the acquisition phase of a program.
• TRA (initialism) – Technology Readiness Assessments; are used to evaluate the maturity of technologies and whether these technologies are adequately developed 
• BAA (initialism) – Broad Agency Announcements; are a tool used by government agencies for acquisition of basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement.
• FAR (acronym/initialism) – Federal Acquisition Regulation; is the primary regulation for use by all executive agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds.
• CFR (initialism) – Code of Federal Regulations; are the codification of the general and permanent regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States.
• OTAs (initialism) – Other Transaction Agreements; is a legal contract with the federal government that is not a grant, cooperative agreement, or a federal contract. The federal government uses OTAs to streamline research and development, prototype development, and other projects with nonprofit research institutions.
• OTA (initialism) – Other Transaction Authority; this authority grants businesses the ability to award OTAs: Other Transaction Agreements. 
• OT Consortia (initialism) – Other Transaction Consortia; an “enterprise partnership” between the government and technology providers in a specific domain.
• CA (initialism) – Cooperative Agreement; reflects a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient and is used when the government’s purpose is to assist the intermediary in providing goods or services to the authorized recipient.
• TIA (initialism) – Technology Investment Agreement; is a special type of assistance instrument used to increase involvement of commercial firms in the DOE research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) programs.
• SCCI (initialism) – Supply Chain Consortium Initiative; leverages an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the military.
• CAS (initialism) – Cost Accounting Standards; designed to ensure uniformity and consistency in the measurement, assignment, and allocation of costs to contracts with the United States Government.
• IAE (initialism) – Integrated Award Environment; uses innovative processes and technologies to improve systems and operations for those who award, administer, or receive federal financial assistance (i.e.; grants, loans), contracts, and intergovernmental transactions.
• SOSSEC (acronym/initialism) – Systems of Systems Consortium; works with DoD customers to seek solutions from consortium members, mentor members that are new to government acquisition/contracting, and compete for new OTA projects, to increase opportunities for members to apply their technical expertise to crucial government problems.

Aerial Terms

• UTM (initialism) – Unmanned/Uncrewed Traffic Management; per the FAA website, “a ‘traffic management’ ecosystem for uncontrolled operations that is separate from, but complementary to, the FAA’s Air Traffic Management (ATM) system.”
• AAM (initialism) – Advanced Air Mobility; work focused on the next generation of aviation, with a broad emphasis on logistics transportation, cargo, personal travel, military affairs, etc.
• UAM (initialism) – Urban Air Mobility; a subset of Advanced Air Mobility focused on intracity aerial transportation, whether in mass-public transit or Personal Air Vehicles.
• UAS (initialism) – Unmanned/Uncrewed Aerial System; aircraft or equipment devoid of human passengers that can operate remotely.
• UAV (initialism) – Unmanned/Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle; an aircraft devoid of human passengers that grounded operators autonomously direct. Usually referred to as a drone.
• PAV (initialism) – Personal Air Vehicle; a private, as-needed aircraft that individuals can operate to transport themselves or others.
• LDAV (initialism) – Logistics Delivery Air Vehicle; a type of drone which transports cargo and goods.
• VTOL/eVTOL (initialism or acronym) – Vertical Takeoff and Landing/electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing; a method of propulsion most popularly associated with helicopters. As an acronym, it is pronounced ‘vee-tol’ or ‘ee-vee-tol.’

---

Conclusion

You don’t need to look far to find a wide array of federal contracting acronyms/initialisms. Most comprehensive lists are overwhelming, and the challenge of finding the term you’re looking for can be daunting. The Department of Defense employs acronyms/initialisms to convey unwieldy information effectively and timely – familiarizing yourself with several of these terms will help as you dive into the world of federal contracting.

Please visit the Ohio Federal Research Network’s (OFRN) glossary for more information regarding unfamiliar terms.

Vertx Partners remains committed to assisting potential clients in their quest to do business with the federal government. If you have any questions or need assistance in navigating the world of federal contracting, reach out to us, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.