The document provides guidance on naval writing skills, including identifying the Navy Correspondence Manual and its purpose to prescribe uniform standards for naval correspondence. It describes guidelines for effective written communication, such as maintaining a professional tone and correct formatting. Additionally, it outlines the structure of paragraphs and covers writing tasks like memorandums, letters, and personnel action requests.

1. Command Career
Counselor Course
Naval Writing Skills
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2. Naval Writing Skills
Enabling Objectives
Upon successful completion of this
topic, the trainee will be able to:
 IDENTIFY the purpose of SECNAVINST
5216.5(series), Department of the Navy
Correspondence Manual.
 LIST the general correspondence
standards and guidelines.
 LIST the CCC correspondence tasks.
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3. Naval Writing Skills
Enabling Objectives (cont.)
 IDENTIFY the processes for writing
various types of written
correspondence.
 DESCRIBE how a paragraph is
structured.
 IDENTIFY the process to write Enlisted
Personnel Action Requests.
 PREPARE a plain-paper memorandum
for the Plan of the Day (POD) note.
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4. Naval Writing Skills
Reference Publications
 SECNAVINST 5216.5(series), Navy
Correspondence Manual
 NAVPERS 15560(series), Naval Military
Personnel Manual (MILPERSMAN)
 NAVPERS 1306/7, Enlisted Personnel
Action Request
 SECNAV M-5210.2, Standard Subject
Identification Code (SSIC) Manual
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5. Naval Writing Skills
SECNAVINST 5216.5(series), Navy
Correspondence Manual
 Purpose:
 To prescribe uniform standards
for the management and
preparation of correspondence.
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6. Naval Writing Skills
Written Communication Guidelines
 The tone, quality, and
responsiveness of correspondence
is important.
 The Navy’s image and
effectiveness is impaired if
correspondence is sloppy, difficult
to understand, unresponsive, cold,
impersonal, or incomplete.
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7. Naval Writing Skills
Written Communication Guidelines,
(cont.)
 Correspondence must be:
 Neat in appearance.
 Correctly formatted.
 Error-free.
 Grammatically correct.
 Avoid stereotyping men and
women on the basis of gender. Use
pronouns and titles that include
either sex (e.g. Sailor).
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8. Naval Writing Skills
Written Communication Guidelines
(cont.)
 Don’t write unless you must. Use
the phone!
 Always include a return address
and phone number.
 Use a computer whenever possible.
 Spell check and and pruf reed!
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9. Naval Writing Skills
Written Correspondence Tasks
 Notes for the Plan of the Day/Week
 Articles for command newsletter
and commanding officer’s
familygram
 Memorandums
 Official letters
 Naval messages
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10. Naval Writing Skills
Written Correspondence Tasks (cont.)
 Letters of
Commendation/Appreciation
 Instructions and notices
 Point papers
 Monthly Retention/Career
Development Report
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11. Naval Writing Skills
Paragraph Structure
 Single-paragraph structure:
 Includes introductory sentence,
which includes the thesis (The point
of the document), supporting
sentences, and a conclusion.
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12. Naval Writing Skills
Paragraph Structure (cont.)
 Multi-paragraph structure:
 The FIRST paragraph should include
the thesis, mention the support for
your thesis, and introduce the next
paragraph.
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13. Naval Writing Skills
Paragraph Structure (cont.)
 Multi-paragraph structure (cont.):
 The MIDDLE paragraphs will expand
on the support of your thesis. The last
sentence of each paragraph should
provide a smooth introduction into the
next paragraph.
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14. Naval Writing Skills
Paragraph Structure (cont.)
 Multi-paragraph structure (cont.):
 In the LAST paragraph, repeat the
thesis and your support, but not in the
same words. The last sentence should
bring the document to a smooth
conclusion.
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15. Naval Writing Skills
MILPERSMAN 1306-112, Enlisted
Personnel Action Requests
 Purpose:
“…provides a standard Navywide
format for the submission of
requests to Cognizant Assignment
Control Authority.”
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16. Naval Writing Skills
MILPERSMAN 1306-112, Enlisted
Personnel Action Requests (cont.)
 Application Procedures: online or
hard copy, NAVPERS 1306/7:
 Used for any program, school,
reassignment, or special duty for
which a particular requesting format is
not specified.
 Ineligible Sailors shall be informed, in
person by their command, the reason
for their ineligibility.
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17. Naval Writing Skills
MILPERSMAN 1306-112, Enlisted
Personnel Action Requests (cont.)
 Request for Waivers:
 Shall be addressed in the remarks
section of NAVPERS 1306/7, Enlisted
Personnel Action Request.
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18. Naval Writing Skills
MILPERSMAN 1306-112, Enlisted
Personnel Action Requests (cont.)
 Commanding Officer Endorsement:
 Requests submitted on electronic
NAVPERS 1306/7 by the command’s
designated person(s) will be
considered endorsed by the
commanding officer unless otherwise
indicated on the request.
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19. Naval Writing Skills
Summary and Review
 What is the purpose of the Navy
Correspondence Manual?
 Describe the structure of a multi-
paragraph document.
 List various types of written
correspondence.
 What is the purpose of Enlisted
Personnel Action Request?
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