The Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing

Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1(26) Who Is Doing Important Writing? 1(2) What Are They Writing, and Why? 3(1) Principles of Good Writing---A Writer's Triangulation 4(4) Naval Writing---The Basic Steps 8(4) Rules for Naval Editing 12(4) The Mode of Writing: A Comment on Word Processing 16(2) Gender in Writing: Some Quick Pointers 18(1) Naval Writing Standards, or ``Just Plain English'' 19(8) Letters, Memos, and Directives 27(52) Standard Naval Letters 27(18) Standard Naval Letter---Its Format, Style, and Use 27(2) Official Personal Letter 29(3) Endorsement to a Personal Request 32(3) Responding to a Personal Request 35(3) Letter to a Promotion Board 38(4) Letter of Instruction 42(3) Business Letters 45(21) Business Letter to a Business or Other Organization 45(1) Good Will Letter 46(4) Letter to Parents and Other Family Members 50(3) Letter of Condolence 53(3) Letter to a New Command 56(2) Letter of Recommendation or Reference 58(2) Letter to Answer a Congressional Inquiry 60(6) Memos 66(6) The Informal Memo 67(3) The Memo for Record 70(1) The Memorandum-For 71(1) Directives 72(7) The Navy Notice and the Marine Corps Bulletin 75(1) The Navy Instruction and the Marine Corps Order 76(2) On Revising Directives 78(1) Staff Writing 79(34) General Guidance on Staff Work 79(19) The Staff Member New to a Staff 79(1) The Situation of the Boss 80(1) The Basic Purpose of Staff Work 81(2) The Five Basic Processes of Staff Writing 83(10) Comments on the Use of Email in Staff Writing and Coordination 93(2) Other Resources for Getting Up to Speed on a Staff 95(3) Typical Staff Documents 98(15) The Briefing Memo or Routing Sheet 98(2) The Correspondence Folder 100(1) The Point Paper 100(2) The Talking Paper 102(3) The Trip Report 105(2) Lessons Learned 107(1) The Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) 108(5) Naval Email 113(11) Problems with Email 114(4) Naval Emails, Part by Part 118(4) A Few Last Words 122(2) Naval Messages 124(20) The Naval Message---Section by Section 124(14) The Address: Get It Right, and Get It Politic 125(3) The Subject Line: Make It a Title, Not Just a Routing Device 128(1) The References: As Much as Possible, Make the Message Stand Alone 128(3) The Text: Get to the Main Point Quickly 131(2) The Text: Other Guidance 133(4) A Last Word 137(1) Checklist for Composing Standard Naval Messages 137(1) On Formatted Messages: The CASREP 138(6) Writing CASREP Remarks 138(2) Good CASREP Remarks 140(1) Good CASREP Remarks 141(1) CASREP Remarks with Indentations for Readability 142(2) Performance Evaluations 144(27) The Navy Evaluation System---A Quick Glance 144(7) ``Hit Hard and Hit Fast'': Present Only the Most Important Information 144(2) Get to the Point Quickly with a Sharp Opening 146(1) Use Specifics to Illustrate or Verify Achievements 147(2) Include Written Recommendations and Comparisons 149(1) Spotlight Key Points 149(2) The Critical Audiences for Navy Performance Evaluations 151(5) The Navy Selection Board as Audience 151(1) The ``Murder Board'' at Your Own Command 152(1) Other Local Uses of Enlisted Evals and Fitreps 153(2) The Service Member as Audience 155(1) Writing Navy Performance Evaluations---A Detailed Discussion 156(15) Cite Specific Accomplishments 156(4) Write for the Generalist Reader 160(1) Place the Key Statements in the Key Places 161(4) Putting It All Together---Three Basic Styles 165(6) Awards and Commendations 171(25) Awards Boards and ``Informal'' Justifications 172(1) The Formal Justification 173(9) The Citation 182(6) The Letter and the Certificate of Commendation 188(1) The Letter of Appreciation 189(3) Civilian Awards 192(2) Naval Contests 194(2) Speaking and Briefing 196(25) Speaking in the Navy and Marine Corps 197(13) General Guidance 197(5) How to Speak: Off the Cuff, from Notes, or from a Manuscript? 202(1) What to Say---The Substance of Your Talk 203(2) Basic Resource Materials for Navy Speakers 205(1) Speaking to the Public---A Checklist 206(2) On Not Inflicting ``Death by PowerPoint'' 208(2) Naval Briefings 210(11) Informative Briefings 211(1) Decision Briefings 211(1) Examples of Good Staff Briefings 212(5) Mission Briefings 217(4) Technical Reports, Executive Summaries, and Abstracts 221(12) Organization of Technical Reports 222(1) The Executive Summary 223(4) Two Kinds of Abstracts 227(3) Passive Voice and Noun Strings in Technical Writing 230(1) Other Technical Documents 231(1) References on Technical Writing 231(2) JAG Manual Investigations 233(28) General Background 233(1) Introduction 233(1) The Jagman Investigation---In General 234(10) References on Jagman Investigations 236(1) Preliminary Steps When Assigned a Jagman Investigation 236(1) Important Features of Investigations 237(2) General Guidelines for LOD/Misconduct Determinations 239(2) Pointers on Conducting the Investigation 241(3) Writing the Jagman Investigation---Section by Section 244(14) Subject Line 244(1) List of Enclosures 245(1) Preliminary Statement 245(1) Findings of Fact 246(2) Opinions 248(2) Recommendations 250(2) Documents and Enclosures 252(2) Example of a Complete Jagman Investigation 254(2) What an Investigating Officer Ought to Know about an Endorsement 256(2) Final Checklist on Jagman Investigations 258(1) A Preliminary Inquiry 258(3) Writing for the News Media 261(16) The News Release 263(2) The Feature Story 265(5) News Style versus Official Style 270(3) Distributing the Story 273(1) A Note on Photos 274(1) Other Pointers 275(1) Resources for News Writing 275(1) One Last Example 276(1) The Professional Article 277(46) Why We Need Professional Journals 278(1) Writing a Professional Article 279(7) Converting a Paper into an Article 286(9) Handbook 295(28) Numbers 295(3) Numbers Used in Titles of Military Units 298(1) Capitalization 299(6) Punctuation 305(12) Abbreviations and Acronyms 317(3) The Well-Stocked Desk 320(3) Permissions 323(2) Index 325