Military Writing - Introduction

MILITARY WRITING ON-LINE LEARNING MODULE

Preparing to Write

When deciding to put your communication into writing, you should take into account the following:

Click on each of the headings to find out more about it.

Characteristics of Military Writing

Correct	Incorrect
Sgt Bloggins failed to adequately supervise the cadets and as a result the clean-up was not completed.	Due to insufficient application of leadership skills the cadets under-accomplished their task.

Clarity - The intent of the writing should be clear to the document's audience. This means appropriate use of vocabulary and grammar. Abbreviations should only be used when your audience would know their meanings.

Accuracy - If you don't know for sure, then don't guess. Statements of fact must be known to be true. If your readers find one error in fact, they will assume there are others. If you are referring to other documents, then have those documents in front of you as you write.

Brevity - Military correspondence is not a letter home to Aunt Sue. It is expected that the purpose of the document will be accomplished without superfluous text.

Relevance - The correspondence should contain only information relevant to the subject. Normally for memorandums and letters, and typically in their use at a cadet unit, only one subject should be addressed. Writing which addresses several different topics is usually placed in the format of a service paper.

Logic - Military correspondence uses logic to construct an argument. Appeals to emotion or strong claims which lack support must be avoided.

Writing Conventions/Format

The current military writing system has certain rules and guidelines but does leave some room for the preferences of the writer. Technically documents are now referred as administrative correspondence - formal or informal and administrative correspondence to civilian addressees. For the purpose of this training site we will continue to refer to the Service Letter, the Memorandum and the Civilian Letter.

Service Letters - Service Letters are used between units and are of a more formal nature than memorandums. Abbreviations are typically not used in the head or close of the document and their use in the body is related to the document's formality.

Memorandums - Memorandums are used for less formal or routine military correspondence. Abbreviations can be used throughout the document. Memorandums can be sent within a unit or to addressees outside a unit where established lines of communication already exist. Example addressees for a cadet unit might include the ACO or other staff officers at the HQ, an affiliated unit, or neighbouring cadet units.

Civilian Letters - Civilian Letters are used for communicating to civilians and non-military institutions, companies and government agencies. The Civilian Letter can also be used for correspondence of a personal nature to a service member. An example would be a letter of thanks to a service member who has volunteered with your cadet unit.

Paper - Military correspondence is always written on 8 1/2 by 11 inch plain white paper. Letterhead is reserved for Civilian Letters and Service Letters of a more formal nature and it is used only for the first page.

Letterhead - Letterhead can be the official CF letterhead or it can consist of a unit letterhead produced locally. If your unit produces it's own letterhead, be careful that it does not take up too much of the page or dominate the document with too many or too large images. Do not use phrases such as 'From the desk of the Commanding Officer' and keep the appearance formal, reserved and military in bearing.

	X123 Skyhawk Squadron XRoyal Canadian Air Cadets
	The text on a piece of letterhead should be lined up with the graphic or text on the left edge.

Abbreviations - The use of abbreviations is common within the CF and is especially encouraged for memorandums. When you draft a service letter or memo you should use only those abbreviations, which you can be certain the addressees will understand. Be particularly careful with memorandums that will go to sponsors, parents or cadets. There are no military abbreviations used in civilian letters with the exception of the abbreviated position of the originator used with the file number. There is an official CF manual of abbreviations but a simplified version can be used to find the most common terms and abbreviations used in the Canadian Cadet Organization.

Margins - Margins may adjusted to fit the occasion but typically are set at one inch on all sides. If you are using letterhead the left margin should be adjusted to align the text with the edge of the letterhead.

The Writing Process In order to produce writing which reflects the five characteristics of clarity, brevity, accuracy, logic and relevance, you should always follow three steps.
Plan Before putting words to paper, plan what you want to say. It may be better to outline the reasons supporting a request prior to stating that request. Background information is usually placed in the first few sentences or paragraphs while thanks for assistance received or anticipated usually comes at the end.
Revise Once the words are before you in physical form you and others can examine them critically. Have someone else read your document as you will very likely miss your own errors. Read the letter out loud and listen for obvious flaws. Use a dictionary to check spelling and a thesaurus to fix awkward words. Remember that the spell and grammar checkers on your word processor can make mistakes and that spell-check does not correct for the use of the wrong word. Write You must put the words on the paper before you can do anything further. Today this usually means entering the text into a word processor such as Microsoft Word 97 or better. Write your correspondence with attention to the five characteristics of military writing listed above as well as spelling and grammar.