Correspondence: A Reflection

Running head: CORRESPONDENCE1
Correspondence: A Reflection
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CORRESPONDENCE

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Correspondence: A Reflection
Military writing should, in all possible ways, be short, clear and properly addressed. True, military writing is, in a final analysis, yet one form of writing – and hence applicability of general proper writing instructions and standards. The specific nature of military writing makes, however, for special uses of certain writing standards, formats and content development methods. This cannot applies more to military correspondence. The special nature of military correspondence makes instructions and standards particularly critical in order for any correspondence to be properly dispatched, processed and acted on. The Department of The Navy’s Correspondence Manual (Department of The Navy, 2018) is, accordingly, an indispensable manual for all concerned personnel. Generally, military correspondence, I have come to learn, should be account for different command, discretion, and standards required in any military writing. Specifically, military correspondence should adhere to a well-defined chain of command upon correspondence. This is particularly important in substantive matters such as command decisions, policy issues, and official recommendations. The correspondence, for whatever routine or urgent purpose, should, moreover, properly address all intended addressees using official titles in full, not abbreviated, form in order, first, to address or refer to intended addresses properly and, second, to avoid confusion. Typically, referrals – i.e. correspondence written to be read by one or more addressees first before being read by an original, intended addressee – in military correspondence are made using a “via” designation placed up and left to correspondence in, say, a letter’s addressee and subject area.
The special nature of military correspondence is also evident, I have understood, in document control. Despite following, in general, document control standards, military correspondence should, as a good practice, be controlled as much as possible, including for routine correspondence, in minor matters such as dates. This should ensure future recovery and/or examination is accessible and, importantly, properly controlled for any possible significant consequences ensuing from such correspondence. In line to matters of discretion, names of individual commanders is strictly prohibited to be mentioned in letterhead stationary. Instead, only titles and comma...