Alternative methods of producing abbreviations of single words for use in automated military systems were empirically evaluated. Each of 50 enlisted men performed three tasks designed to assess five different abbreviation methods including two versions of truncation, two versions of contraction, and one procedure based on current Army practice. In the first four methods, abbreviation length was directly related to word length. In Task A, participants used a 10-point scale to rate preference for abbreviations for each of 60 terms. Thirty of these terms were repeated in Task B; the other 30, in Task C. Task B required participants to decode 60 abbreviations into their original terms. Finally, Task C asked participants to encode (i.e., generate) a meaningful abbreviation for each of 60 terms. Results showed that abbreviations produced using simple truncation were consistently preferred, easily decoded, and frequently used for encoding terms.