Naval History and Heritage Command
The Navy Department Library
U.S. Naval Abbreviations
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--F--
Note: Where the same abbreviation has more than one meaning, the several meanings have been arranged alphabetically. Abbreviations preceded by an asterisk (*), other than Navy numbers, may never be used singly; those preceded by the symbol for number (#) are the Bureau of Personnel Condensation Code for use in dispatch orders to personnel.
F -- First letter in the Navy aircraft designation, incidcating a fighter plane
F -- Columbia Aircraft Corporation (manufacturer's symnbol)
F1 -- Commander-in-Chief, Plans Division (USN)
F2 -- Commander-in-Chief, Combat Intelligence Division (USN)
F3 -- Commander-in-Chief, Operations Division (USN)
F37 -- Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet
F4 -- Commander-in-Chief, Readiness Division (USN)
F -- Fairchild Aircraft, Ltd. (Canada) (manufacturer's symbol)
2F -- Two-seater Fighter Aircraft (Naval)
F -- Fitted as Flagship (suffix to plane designation); as: PB2Y-5F
F -- Gruman Aircraft Engineering Corporation (manufacturer's symbol)
F -- Officer designation for Fighter Director (used as suffix)
F -- Fighter Field
F -- Fireman
F -- Fixed (a continuous steady light)
F -- Fleet Reserve
F2 -- Fleet Reserve, 4 or more years
F3 -- Fleet Reserve, 16-20 years
F5 -- Fleet Reserve, 20 or more years
F -- Freight Boats (Army)
F -- French
F -- Frequency
F -- Office of Finance and Supply; Chief, Office of Finance and Supply (USCG)
FA -- Accounting Division (USCG)
FA -- Family Allowance
FA -- Field Artillery (Army)
F2A-# -- "Buffalo"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Brewster
F3A-# -- "Corsair"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Brewster
FAA -- Family Allowance Class A
FAA -- Fleet Air Arm (GB)
FAAB -- Family Allowance, Class A and B
FAB -- Family Allowance, Class B
FAB -- Fleet Air Base
FAB -- For'ca Aerea Brasileira
FABU -- Fleet Air Base Unit
*FAC -- Factory
FAC -- Frequency Allocation Committee (CCB)
FAD -- Fleet Air Detachment
"Fade" -- Disappearance of echo from radar screen
FADM -- Fleet Admiiral
FAETUA -- Fleet Airborne Electronics Unit, Atlantic
FEATUP -- Fleet Airborne Electronics Unit, Pacific
#FAGAIRTRANS -- (via) First Available Government Air Transportation
FAGT -- First Available Government Transportation
FAGTrans -- First Available Government Transportation
FAIR -- Fleet Air
FAIR -- Fleet Sir Wing
Fairships -- Fleet Airships
FairshipWing -- Fleet Airship Wing
#FAIRTRANS -- First Available Air Transportation
FAIRWestPac -- Fleet Air Wing, Western Pacific Area
FIARWing -- Fleet Air Wing
"Falcon -- See NSC-#
FAMU -- Fleet Aircraft Maintenance Unit
FANDT -- Fuel and Transportation
FAO -- Fleet Administration Office
FAPG -- Fleet Air Photographic Group
FAPRon -- Fleet Air Photo Squadron
FAS -- Free Alongside
FASA -- Fleet Airships, Atlantic
FASP -- Fleet Airships, Pacific
FASRon -- Fleet Air Service Squadron
FASTULant -- Fleet Ammunition Ship Training Unit, Atlantic
FASTUPac -- Fleet Ammunition Ship Training Unit, Pacific
FATU -- Fleet Air Tactical Unity
FAW -- Fleet Air Wing
FB -- Farrel-Birmingham (ship engines)
FB -- Fighter Bomber Aircraft
F/B -- Flying Boat
FBI -- Federal Bureau of Investigation
FBP -- Fleet Boat Pool
FC -- Fire Control
FC -- Fire Controlman
F4C -- Fleet Reserve, 16-20 years
FCA -- Farm Credit Administration
FCA -- Fire Control Area (Army)
FCA -- Flight Control Assemblies
FCB -- Facility Clearance Board (WPB)
FCC -- Federal Communication Commission
FCE -- Fleet Civil Engineer
FCNL -- French Committee of National Liberation
FCO -- Fire Controlman, Operation
FCO -- Flag Communications Officer
FCO -- Flying Control Officer
FCP -- Fire Control Personnel (USMC)
FCR -- Fire Controlman, Range-finder Operator
FCS -- Fire Controlman, Submarine
FCST -- Forecast
FCT -- Fire Control Technician
FD-# -- Twin-engine Navy Fighter (VF), manufactured by McDonnell
FD -- Fighter direction
FD -- Finance Department (Army)
F3D -- Fleet Reserve, 20 or more years
F4D -- Fleet Reserve, 20 or more years
FDA -- Food Distribution Administration
FDC -- Fire Direction Center (Army)
FDCS -- Fighter Director Control Schools
FDD -- Floating Drydock
FD Net -- Fighter Direction Net
FDO -- Fighter Director Officer
FDS -- Fighter Director Ship
FDT -- Fighter Director Tender
FE -- Far East
FEA -- Foreign Economic Administration
FEAF -- Far Eastern Air Forces
FEC -- (Office of) Foreign Economic Coordination
FECB -- Far East Combined Bureau (Singapore, 1940)
*FED -- Federal
FEO -- Flag Engineering Officer (GB)
FEPC -- Farm Employment Practices Committee
*FER -- Ferry
#FERON -- If transferred, forward this directive immediately to his commanding officer for compliance or further transmittal as appropriate, notifying originator in each case the activity to which transferred and your action in forwarding
FF -- Force Flagship
F2F-# -- Single-engine Navy fighter (VF), biplane, manufactured by Grumman
F3F-# -- Single-engine Navy fighter (VF), biplane, manufactured by Grumman
F4F-# -- "Wildcat"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Grumman
F6F-# -- "Hellcat"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Grumman
F6F-#K -- Navy target training drone (VTD), manufactured by Grumman (converted from F6F)
F7F-# -- "Tigercat"; twin-engine Navy fighter (VF(M)), manufactured by Grumman
F8F-# -- "Bearcat"; single-engine Navy fighter, (VF), manufactured by Grumman
FFA -- For Further Assignment
FFDO -- Force Fighter Director Officer
FFI -- Forces Françaises de l'Interieur
FFI -- Fixed and Flashing
FFP -- Fleet Frequency Plans
FFT -- For Further Transfer
FG-# -- "Corsair"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Goodyear
FGO -- Flag Gunnery Officer
FGpFl -- Fixed and Group Flashing
FH -- Flag Hoist
FHA -- Federal Housing Administration
FIAT -- Field Information Agency, Technical (under G-2, SHAEF)
FIDO -- Fog, Intensive Dispersal of
FIGHT -- Fighting
FightRon -- Fighting Squadron
FIN -- Finance
Fin O -- Finance Officer (Army)
FinSupScol -- Finance and Supply School (USCG)
FIO -- Fleet Intelligence Officer
"Fireball" -- See FR-#
FirsTaskFlt -- First Task Fleet
Fis -- Fiscal
FIU -- Forward Interpretation Unit (Army)
FJ -- Single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by North American
Fl -- Flashing
FL -- Florida
FL -- Small Signal Search Light
FLA -- Florida
FlaGrp -- Florida Group
Flak -- German anti-aircraft fire; now applied generally to all anti-aircraft fire
FLC -- Foreign Liquidation Commission
FldCk -- Field Cook (*USMC)
FldCk(B) -- Field Cook (Baker (USMC)
FldCK(C) -- Filed Cook (Commissary) (USMC)
*FLE -- Fleet
FliCon -- Flight Controller
FLO -- Florida
FLO -- Follow(ing)
*FLOT -- Flotilla
FLP -- Fighting Landplane
FLP or Flt -- Fleet
Flt -- Flight
FltAct -- Fleet Activities
FltCert -- Flight Certificate
FltGunSch -- Fleet Gunnery School
FltLOSCAP -- Fleet Liaison Officer, Supreme Commander Allied Powers
FltServScol -- Fleet Service School
FltSoundScol -- Fleet Sound School
FltTraCen -- Fleet Training Center
*FLY -- Flight
"Flying Fortress" -- See PB-1W
F.M. -- Fairbanks, Morse & Company
FM -- Field Music (USMC)
FM -- Field Manual (Army)
FM -- Frequency Modulation
FM -- Titanium Tetrachloride
FM-# -- "Wildcat"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by General Motors
FMAW -- First Marine Aircraft Wing
FMCorp -- Field Music Corporal (USMC)
FMCpl -- Filed Music Corporal (USMC)
FMF -- Fleet Marine Force (USMC)
FMFPac -- Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Ocean Areas
FMO -- Fleet Maintenance Office(r)
FMO -- Fleet Medical Officer
FMR -- Fairbanks Morse Reversible Diesel Drive
FMS -- Field Music School (USMC)
FMSgt -- Field Music Sergeant (USMC)
FNOIO -- Fleet Naval Ordnance Inspecting Officer
FO -- Field Order (Army)
FO -- Flag Officer
FO -- Flight Order
FOB -- Forward Observer Bombardment
FOB -- Free On Board
FOBAA -- Flag Officer British Assault Area (GB)
FOCWA -- Flag Officer Commanding West Africa (GB)
FOIC -- Flag Officer-in-Charge (British controlled port)
FONAP -- Flag Officer, Naval Air, Pacific (GB)
FONF -- Flag Officer Newfoundland (GB)
FOO -- Forward Observation Officer
*FOR -- Force(s)
FORD -- Foreign Office Research Department (GB)
"Forwarder" -- See GK-#
FOTALI -- Flag Officer Taranto and Adriatic and for liaison
FOWABPF -- Flag Officer Western Area, British Pacific Fleet
Fox -- "F" in the phonetic alphabet
Fox -- A broadcast method of communication which does not require an answer from the stations addressed
FP -- Freight and Passenger Vessels (Army)
FPA -- Food Production Administration
FPC -- Federal Power Commission
FPHA -- Federal Public Housing Authority
FPL -- Final Protective Line (Army)
FPO -- Fleet Post Office
FPT -- Full Power Trial
FR -- Fighter Reconnaissance
FR-# -- "Fireball"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF) manufactured by Ryan
FR -- Flash Ranging (Army)
FR -- Fleet Reserve
FR -- Fragmentation
FR -- From
FRAG Bomb -- Fragmentation Bomb
FRB -- Federal Reserve Bank
FRC -- Faculty Review Committee
Frcu -- Fractocumulus
Frd Enl -- Fraudulent Enlistment
FREN -- French
Freq -- Frequency
FrF -- Free French
FRO -- Fleet Records Office
FrOF -- Freight Office
*FRON -- Frontier
Fr P -- Parachute Fragmentation Bomb
FRPS -- Foreign Research and Press Service (GB)
FRRU -- Freight Receiving and Redistribution Unit
FRS -- Federal Reserve System
FRU -- Fleet Requirements Units (Aircraft)
FRUPac -- Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific
FS -- Feet per second (ordnance)
FS -- Final Settlement
Fs -- Fractostratus
FS -- Sulphur Trioxide in Chlorosulfonic Acid
FS -- Supply Division (USCG)
FSA -- Travel chargeable to applicable allotment authority under Finance Service, Army
FSB -- Federal Specifications Board
FSD -- Foreign Sea Duty
FSEC -- Federal Specifications Executive Committee (now FSB)
FSO -- Fleet Supply Officer
F.S.Powder -- Flashless, Smokeless Powder (for ammunition)
FSR -- Field Service Regulations (Army)
FSR -- Fin Stabilized Rockets
FSS -- Fleet Service School
FSS -- Foreign Shore Service (USMC)
FS Ships -- Fire Support Ships
FSU -- Ferry Service Unit
F&T -- Fuel and Transportation
FT-# -- "Black Widow"; two-engine Navy fighter (VF(M)), manufactured by Northrop
FTC -- Federal Trade Commission
FtgDives -- Footage Drives
FTP -- Fleet Training Publication
Ftr -- Fighter
FTT -- Fever Therapy Technician
FTU -- Field Torpedo Unit
F4U -- "Corsair"; single-engine Navy fighter (VF), manufactured by Chance Vought
(FUBAR) -- (Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition)
(FUMTU) -- (Fouled Up More Than Usual)
Fur -- Furlough
#FURAS -- For Further Assignment
#FURASPERS -- For Further Assignment by the Bureau of Naval Personnel
#FURASUB(S) -- For Further Assignment to Duty in Submarine(s)
FURNARSER -- Furnish full names, rates, and service numbers of men transferred in accordance with this directive
FUSA -- First United States Army
FUSAG -- First United States Army Group
FUT -- Fleet Utility
FW -- Foster Wheeler (boilers)
FWA -- Federal Works Agency
FWD -- Forward
FwdArea -- Forward Area
FWI -- French West Indies
FWOP -- Furloughed Without Pay
FX -- Tenth Fleet
FY -- Fiscal Year
