ABCANZ Armies

Established in 1947 as a means to capitalize on close cooperation between the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada during World War II, the program grew to include Australia (in 1963) and New Zealand (as an observer from 1965, with full membership in 2006, although the organization's short title remained "ABCA Armies' Program"[1]).

The program started in 1947 as the "Plan to Effect Standardization" between the armies of the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada (the ABC Armies), with the three nations looking to capitalize on the close cooperation between the forces during World War II.

[1] Australia joined the organization in 1963, and the ABCA Program was established with the ratification of the "Basic Standardization Agreement 1964" on 1 October 1964.

[1] Originally, the role of ABCANZ was limited to issues of standardization for soldier equipment, training, and tactics.

[2] Equivalent organizations for the nations' navies (AUSCANNZUKUS - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States naval C4 organization),[3] air forces (ASIC - Air and Space Interoperability Council),[4] the military scientific communities (TTCP - The Technical Cooperation Program), and the Intelligence communities (UKUSA and Five Eyes) also exist.