Glossary term
ACIL (ACO Installation List)
TERM SUMMARY
ACIL is the NATO abbreviation for ACO Installation List. ACO is Allied Command Operations, the NATO strategic command responsible for planning and executing Alliance operations.
- Why it matters
- ACIL stands for ACO Installation List . It is a NATO abbreviation, and NATO's Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations (publication AAP-15) lists it under exactly that expansion.
- Category
- Canadian government procurement terminology
- Reference role
- This term page is designed to be linkable, crawlable, and easy to quote or summarize.
ACIL stands for ACO Installation List. It is a NATO abbreviation, and NATO's Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations (publication AAP-15) lists it under exactly that expansion. The French equivalent in the same glossary is liste des installations de l'ACO.
The "ACO" in the term is Allied Command Operations, one of NATO's two strategic commands. So ACIL is a list of installations tied to Allied Command Operations. Canadian suppliers will mainly meet the term in NATO documents and NATO-related procurement material, not in Canadian federal solicitations.
What the AAP-15 glossary says about ACIL
AAP-15 is NATO's reference publication for acronyms and abbreviations. Its entry for ACIL gives the English expansion "ACO Installation List" and the French expansion "liste des installations de l'ACO". The entry is a terminology definition. You can read the full glossary in the NATO archives copy of AAP-15.
The abbreviation breaks down into four parts:
- A and C and O together form ACO, Allied Command Operations.
- Installation refers to the installations covered by the list.
- List is the document type.
Allied Command Operations and its role
NATO identifies ACO as Allied Command Operations and states that it is responsible for the planning and execution of Alliance operations. NATO describes the command on its page for Allied Command Operations. The command's public information is published through SHAPE, which also describes the military command structure.
Because ACIL is built on the ACO name, it belongs to the operational side of NATO's command structure. Allied Command Transformation is the other strategic command, and it is a separate entity from ACO.
ACO as a source of NATO procurement opportunities
NATO's procurement portal identifies five entities that issue procurement opportunities:
- NATO Headquarters
- Allied Command Transformation (ACT)
- Allied Command Operations (ACO)
- NATO Support and Procurement Organisation (NSPA)
- NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA)
ACO is therefore a buying entity as well as an operational command. The list of opportunities is on NATO's procurement opportunities page. SHAPE also publishes a page on formal biddings.
What ACIL means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts
ACIL is a NATO terminology entry. It is not a defined requirement in Canadian federal procurement, and a Canadian buyer will not ask a supplier to produce one. If you see the abbreviation, treat it as NATO vocabulary and read it as ACO Installation List.
Suppliers interested in work tied to Allied Command Operations should start with NATO's own procurement channels. ACO is one of the five NATO entities that publish opportunities, so its notices sit on the NATO portal rather than on Canadian tendering sites. Bid teams should keep the AAP-15 glossary on hand when reading NATO documents, since it settles what abbreviations such as ACIL stand for and gives the French equivalent for bilingual work.