There are several abbreviations used by top US officials in the Signal group chat detailing the Yemen attack plan of March 15, which was inadvertently leaked to a journalist.  Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic magazine editor, published details and screenshots of the chats on Wednesday (Mar 26). Here is a lowdown on what the codes and abbreviations possibly mean, and the context of the messages. Dive in:

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PC GROUP

First up, what does 'Houthi PC Small Group', the name of the Signal chat group, mean? It most likely refers to the principals committee, the top officials in the National Security Council or NSC.

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TIGER TEAM

At the start of the messages, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says he is setting up a 'tiger team'.

"My deputy Alex Wong is pulling together a tiger team at deputies/agency Chief of Staff level," he writes. 

So what is a tiger team? A tiger team is a group of people assembled for a particular task, in this case, by the  NSC. The phrase has its origins in the military and aviation industries. It denotes a team assembled to solve a challenging problem.

POC

Waltz writes: "Pls provide the best staff POC from your team for us to coordinate with over the next couple days".
Here, POC refers to a Person/Point of Contact, a representative from each key department for communications on this particular mission. In the chat, various group members are seen nominating their department POCs.

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HIGH SIDE INBOX

Michael Waltz says: "Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents guidance this morning in your high side inboxes."

So, what is a 'high side inbox'? In national security-speak, 'high side' might refer to classified documents, details, or data which is seemingly highly protected or encrypted.

COS, DOD, COS, OVP, POTUS

In another message, Waltz uses a lot of abbreviations: "COS Joint Staff is sending this am a more specific sequence of events in the coming days and we will work w DOD to ensure COS, OVP and POTUS are briefed."

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'COS Joint Staff' is most likely a reference to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking military official of the US.

DOD is Department of Defence.

COS could also mean the Chief of Staff of President Donald Trump.

OVP is the office of Vice President JD Vance, and POTUS is the abbreviation for President of the United States. 

OPSEC

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth writes at one point: "We can easily pause. And if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC."

Here, he is talking about ensuring the secrecy of the operation. OPSEC or Operational Security is about protecting sensitive information. It is an intelligence-defence term, which in this present context refers to preventing enemies from getting to know about the US plans.

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CENTCOM

On the day of the Yemen attack, March 15, Pete Hegseth sent a team update in which he refers to CENTCOM.

He writes: "TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch."

He is giving the time, weather, and confirmation with CENTCOM for the air attacks targeting the Houthi rebels in Yemen. CENTCOM means the United States Central Command. Also called  USCENTCOM, it is one of the US military's unified combatant commands. Mainly active in the West Asian region, CENTCOM protects American security interests in a vast region ranging  from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia.

F-18s, MQ-9s, Tomahawks

The subsequent messages show Hegseth discussing the fighter jets and weapons used for the Yemen attack. These are F-18s, MQ-9s and Tomahawks. 

F/A-18F Super Hornets are Navy fighter jets that were launched from the aircraft carrier Harry S Truman in the Red Sea in the March 15 attack. MQ-9 Reapers are land-based drones launched from bases located in the Middle East. 
Tomahawks are long-range cruise missiles.