Department of Defense
INSTRUCTION
NUMBER 5025.12
August 14, 2009
Incorporating Change 1, April 11, 2017
DA&M DCMO
SUBJECT: Standardization of Military and Associated Terminology
References: (a) DoD Directive 5025.12, “Standardization of Military and Associated
Terminology,” June 30, 2004 (hereby canceled)
(b) DoD Directive 5105.53, “Director of Administration and Management,”
February 26, 2008
(c) Joint Publication 1-02 Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
“Department of Defense DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,”
as amended
(d) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 5705.01C, “Standardization
of Military and Associated Terminology,” February 19, 2008
1. PURPOSE. This Instruction:
a. Reissues Reference (a) as a DoD Instruction in accordance the authority in Reference (b).
b. Establishes the overarching policy, procedures and requirements for identifying, deleting,
modifying, and incorporating definitions into Reference (c).
c. Continues to authorize the development, publication, and maintenance of Reference (c) in
accordance with this Instruction and Reference (d).
2. APPLICABILITY. This Instruction applies to OSD, the Military Departments, the Office of
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands, the
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense Agencies, the DoD
Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the Department of Defense (hereafter
referred to collectively as the “DoD Components”).
