How to Address Members of the US Armed Services (original) (raw)


How to Address / Forms of AddressUnited States Armed ServicesQuestions & Answers, Frequently Asked Questions, and BlogSite updated by Robert Hickey on March 3, 2011 How to Abbreviate Ranks: Periods? No Periods? How to Address an Officer with an Honorary Rank? How to Address an Officer Selected for Promotion? How to List an Officer on an Invitation? How to Address an Officer who is also a Professor? How to Address an Officer who is also a Dean?How to Address an Officer with an Academic Degree? How to Address an Officer with a PhD? How to Address an Officer with an MD in a Salutation? How to Address an Officer with an MD on an Invitation? How to Write the Name of an Officer with an MD on a Program? How to Address Enlisted Personnel? How to Address a Medal of Honor Recipient? How to Address a Reservist? How to Write a Return Address with a Military Rank? How to a address any (specific rank), look here How to write the names of military personnel on invitations, or how to address invitations to military personnel, look here How to Address a Retired Military Officer?Link to Q&A just on Retired Military Officers Looking for Joint Forms of Address? (Two Names in the Address)Link to Q&A just on Joint Forms of Address How to Address an Officer Selected for Promotion ? We are in the middle of addressing envelopes for our wedding invitations and your website has been very helpful and has answered many of our questions. I do have one question that remains unanswered. How do I address an envelope to a Naval officer that has recently been promoted to Captain but is not yet wearing the rank of Captain? In the past I've seen (sel) after the rank but I'm not sure if this is necessary for a social invitation. This is my guess: Captain (sel) John Doe and Mrs. Doe Address Thank you for your time. *-- Patrick in Charleston, South CarolinaDear Patrick in Charleston: Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. You may have seen someone acknowledging an officer's pending promotion with ... Rank (sel).* There is a process in the armed services that one is selected for a promotion, but the actual promotion will be at a future date. Being selected for promotion is an exciting accomplishment, but Rank (sel) is definitely not a form suggested by Department of Defense guidelines, or a form you would see on official correspondence -- business or social. E.g., Neither The White House use it, nor would his commanding officer. If he has not been promoted yet, it is most correct to address the invitation to his current rank not his future rank. I checked with some active duty Naval Officers, and they said they've seen it informally .... but all three said "but I wouldn't do it myself." -- Robert Hickey How to Address a Reservist ? I am addressing a letter to a Reservist. For his address block, would it be: Brigadier General John Smith, USAR Ret. ? With salutation Dear General Smith ? Thanks. *-- JamieDear Jamie: This very question is answered on page 207 of my book. Department of Defense guidelines give two ways to address a letter to a retired officer ... one for 'official" and one for "social" correspondence. 1) If it is an official letter to him as a Retired General ... e.g., you are inviting him to attend a civic ceremony in uniform ... then the address block should be: Brigadier General John Smith, USAR, Ret.* 2) If it's social letter to him as a person ... and not in relation to his rank ... but on an issue where his rank is not pertinent .... then the address block should be: Brigadier General John Smith 3) In both instances the salutation should be: Dear General Smith: -- Robert Hickey How to Address Naval Officers ? Barry C. Black, Rear Admiral ( RET), Chaplain of U.S. Senate will be the speaker at a local event. How do I properly write the names of other local active and retired naval officials on invitations to attend the event? Thanks. *-- ICWDear ICW: I have a chapter in my book just on forms of address for the US Armed Services. There are two forms of address in Department of Defense Style Manuals suggested for writing the name of armed service personnel ... a social form ... and an official form. I am going to assume you will use official forms. Assuming you are mailing invitations in envelopes, then ... Active Duty -- official form: (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service)* Rear Admiral James Wilson, USN Retired -- official form: (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service), Retired Rear Admiral Barry Black, USN, Retired or (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service), Ret. Rear Admiral Barry Black, USN, Ret. I actually have many posting on how to address officers .... check out Active Duty http://www.formsofaddress.info/USA.html Retired http://www.formsofaddress.info/USA_Retired.html -- Robert Hickey Do I Use Periods with Abbreviated Military Ranks ? We are a non-profit that has a lot of retired military officers on our board, as well as donors to our organization. Should I use a period (.) in my abbreviations for the ranks or not? I’ve seen it done both ways, and I just want to make sure I have it correct. Thank you so much. *-- CAM, Director of Development, McLean VADear CAM: The service-specific abbreviations used by the armed services for ranks and ratings are always written without periods* and are upper and lower case specific: USAF Captain Capt USN Captain CAPT USA Captain CPT FYI, your question is answered in my book on pages 91-98. I include all those abbreviations. -- Robert Hickey Thanks for your response! My predecessor didn’t know anything about the military so, in many instances, she left off rank, branch of service, etc., or used a mish-mash of one or the other. I’ve been spending a good chunk of my time in the past few months just cleaning up the database. *-- CAM, Director of Development, McLean VA* How to Address an Officer Who is a PhysicianIn a Salutation? My question is: how do I address a military colonel who is also a prominent psychologist? I am emailing this person for the first time, for a research project on psychologists. My hunch is to go with "Dear Colonel _____", but since my questions pertain more to psychology, I wondered if "Dear Dr. ______" would be more appropriate. -- Richard Wilkins Dear Mr. Wilkins: Military personnel of any functionality ... doctors, lawyers, engineers, cooks, fighter pilots, motor pool drivers. commanding officers, security guards .... officers and enlisted .... leaders and followers .... are always addressed by rank + name. It's not impossible that in conversation ... during an examination or consultation you might not say "But Doctor .... " but it will seem completely normal to him for you always to address him as Colonel ______. It's part of their culture that rank is the preferred "honorific" that is used in address ... no matter the content of the conversation. In continued conversation ... after first use of the rank + name ... the tradition is to switch to "Sir" when addressing someone higher in rank ... and to switch to "(surname)" when addressing someone lower in rank. Since you are not in the service, just use Colonel ______ all the time. -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Officer Who is a Physician On an Invitation's Envelope? My fiance has a friend who is a medical doctor who is also on active duty with a rank of Captain in the Air Force, where he practices medicine. How should we address the wedding invitation? -- Carol B. Dear Carol B.: All active-duty armed service personnel are addressed as: (Rank) + (Name) For a written address, there are different forms for "official" and "social" correspondence: I cover that in detail in my chapter on Forms of Address for US Armed Services in my book. Here's the answer: On official correspondence (contacting him on business related to his official military duties) you would include his branch of service ... which for most Air Force personnel would be simply USAF ... but for an medical doctor would include a post nominal for the Medical Service Corps, and end up as: Captain William Blake, USAF, MSC Address On social correspondence post-nominal abbreviations are not used ... thus leave off the "USAF, MSC" A wedding invitation's mailing envelope uses the social form: Captain William Blake Address If you are using inside envelopes, the form is to use you would call him, and most formally that would be: Captain Blake It's not impossible that one might address him as "Doctor" during a medical exam, or he might identify himself as "Dr." as he enters an exam room where the patient sits in a backless paper gown ... But in the military, the etiquette is that one's rank is the most important information ... and exactly how one serves is important but is of secondary importance. -- Robert Hickey How to Address An Invitation to an Officer (Who Is an M.D.) & His Spouse's Name? My fiance and I are having a terrible time addressing some of our envelopes for our wedding. We have a number of high-ranking military officials that are retired and are medical doctors. For example we have a three star retired general (US Army) -- a Lieutenant General who is a physician. How do I write this: Lieutenant General James Doe, MD, Retired and Mrs. Janice Doe??? Does Mrs. Janice Doe go on another line I would assume? We are including the women's names on our envelopes because I am a bit of a feminist and hate the idea of leaving off any reference to the woman's identity. Thanks for your help! -- Carrie WorshamDear Ms. Worsham, The most formal forms, e.g. how The White House would address an invitation to a Lieutenant General and his wife. (BTW, they use my book.) 1) No M.D.: You never use an academic degree with a military rank. 2) The name of the person with the rank goes first. 3) You can address your wedding invitations however you like, but as you infer it's traditional that when a couple uses the same last name ... and the woman uses "Mrs." ... woman's first name is not included. Traditionally use of Mrs. (first name) + (last name) indicates a woman is divorced -- e.g., it's how she would be listed on a wedding invitation if they were no longer married, but she and her former husband were hosting the wedding. 4) Branch of service and retired status are not used on social correspondence. So on the mailing envelope: Lieutenant General James Doe and Mrs. Doe (address) And on the inside envelope you use 'conversational forms": General Doe and Mrs. Doe Or if they are family or very close friends Jim and Janice Uncle Jim and Aunt Janice -- Robert Hickey How to List an Officer Who is a PhysicianOn a Program? Dear Mr. Hickey:I recently attended a funeral for a retired Rear Admiral who was also a Navy doctor. Was it proper to refer to him in on the cover of the program as:Honoring RADM (name), M.D. Was that correct? -- Vic M. in Pew #44â€¨ Dear Vic M.: RADM (full name), Medical Corps, USN would be correct by U.S. Department of Defense guidelines. 1) Abbreviating "Rear Admiral" to the military abbreviation RADM is standard at military events. 2) In the official form of address, branch of service follows the name, in this case -- Medical Corps, USN. 3) Finally there's a rule no academic degree is used with a military rank -- so M.D. or any other academic post-nominal abbreviation never follow a name preceded by a rank. ... so never use Captain (full name), MBA, General (full name), JD or Major General (full name), PhD. -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Officer with an Honorary Rank? It is not unusual for the various state national guards to give honorary promotions to worthy officers upon retirement. These promotions are not federally recognized and do not entitle the recipient to increased pay in retirement. How should one address an officer who received an honorary promotion upon retirement? -- BG Charles K. HendershottDear General Hendershott: If the promotion is honorary, not federally recognized, and does not entitle one to benefits ... perhaps it something granted informally and internally? Protocol officers I spoke to (two at the Pentagon and two at bases) suggest use of such a honorary rank in address be limited to verbal use within the granting organization. -- Robert Hickey How to Address Enlisted Personnel on an Invitation? I am engaged to a member of the Marine Corps and have several military invitations that I'm trying to address. I seem to have all the Marine's under control with their ranks; however, I have a couple of members of the Navy and am unsure how to address their outer envelope. I know that enlisted Navy personnel have rates (such as PO2) instead of an actual rank, but do not know how you use this on the invitation. Thank you in advance for your help! -- Katie (and Todd)Dear Katie (and Todd), I cover the Navy on pages 215-224. The USN has both officers and enlisted personnel. All are addressed the same way on social correspondence: {Rank/Rating} + {Name}. The most formal way to address an envelope is to do so without abbreviations, spelling out every word. So, for example: Petty Officer Second Class (name) Address is more formal than: PO2 (name) Address But when a name gets very long and space becomes an issue ... using the abbreviation HM2 is absolutely acceptable. USN (the post-nominal abbreviation for the branch of service) is not included after a name on social correspondence. It is used on official correspondence. You don't say which ranks/ratings your guests have so I can't be much more specific ... but Cranes Blue Book of Stationery has lots of information on addressing wedding invitations and place cards for your reception. I updated the book with Pamela Eyring (Director of The Protocol School of Washington) in 2008. -- Robert Hickey How to Use an Academic Degree with a Military Rank? I am wondering the proper way to format a military rank and academic degree on a resume. In question is a gentleman, "John Smith," who is a Captain in the USMC Reserves (active duty) who holds a masters degree in HR Management (M.HRM). Thank you for your assistance. -- GB in Career Counseling Dear GB: No sort of post nominal ... professional, academic, religious .. is ever used with a U.S. military rank. He is most formally Captain John Smith, USMCR ... nothing more. You will have to note that he holds a Masters in Human Resources Management from (?) University in some way other than with an academic post-nominal abbreviation. Perhaps in a section on education? Or in a sentence describing his achievements? -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Military Officer Who Holds a PhD? How would I properly address a husband and wife who are both retired Air force Colonels and hold PhD’s? Col John and Col Jane Doe, PhD, USAF (Ret) And what would be a proper salutation for them? Dear Colonels Doe, -- Confused & Live Near The BaseDear C&LNTB: 1) When a person has a special title ... like Colonel ... most formally he or she gets their (rank) + (full name) complete as a unit. So "Col John and Col Mary" is not correct. 2) Military ranks are never used with academic post-nominals 3) As you use it ... "Col" with those caps and no punctuation IS the correct USAF style. 4) The Department of Defense's guidelines say "USAF" is only used on official documents ... not on social correspondence. So if you are writing them officially regarding their official duties ... use USAF, if it is a social letter ... leave it off 5) The Department of Defense's guidelines also suggest either "Retired" or "Ret." .... but not "(Ret.)" but use it only on official correspondence after the USAF ... Col John Doe, USAF, RetiredSo most formally they would be socially Col John Doe and Col Jane Doe (Address)The salutation could be: Dear Colonels Doe, -- Robert Hickey How to Address a Retired Officer Who Is A Professor?Dear Mr. Hickey: Would you by any chance know the proper form of address for a USN Captain who is now a university professor with a PhD? I read the note on your website regarding context (Captain when he's my commanding officer, Doctor when he's bandaging my foot, or something to that effect), but I wonder what would be suitable with an academic doctor, and in a more formal usage. I've encountered "Captain Doctor [name]" once or twice on the Internet, but it seems a bit of a mouthful. _--- P. L. Scott_Dear Mr. Scott: In the United States: 1) We only use just one honorific at a time. So he would be "Captain (name)," "Dr. (name)," or "Professor (name)." 2) If he's a retired Captain he probably prefers to be orally addressed as Captain (name). In writing use Captain (full name), USN, Retired, Professor of Mathematics 3) Military ranks are never used with academic degrees, so he'd never be "Captain (full name), PhD" . I cover this on page 99 in my book 4) He's probably never "Dr. (name)." All this said, it's never inconsiderate to ask what he prefers! Ultimately it is his preference in which you are most interested. -- Robert HickeyHow to Address a Retired Officer Who is A Dean?Hi Robert, In your book you cover academics and every rank of officer. How would I address an envelope to a captain retired from the US Navy, who now is the dean of a college? _--- O.S._Dear O.S.: It depends on what he likes to be called. If you find he likes to be addressed as "Captain (name)" at the college ... then address him (see page 217 in my book) as: Captain (full name), USN, Retired Dean of (name of school, college, etc.) (Name of College/University) (Address) If you find he prefers to be addressed as "Dr. (name)" at the college ... then in writing I would address him as: (Full name), (Post-nominal abbreviation for his degree) Dean of (name of school, college, etc.) (Name of College/University) (Address) "Dean (full name)" is a more informal form of address -- use it to address him orally. Call him "Dean (name)" in interactions with him as a dean. Both Captain (name) or (Name), (degrees) are more formal forms to use in writing. The final determination in every form of address is "what is the preference of the bearer" so in this case: *What is the preference of this particular* dean?** In a conversation with a British protocol expert familiar with all the titles and honors you encounter in London, he said people are never offended if you acknowledge too many of their honors -- but may be if you acknowledge too few! -- Robert HickeyHow to Address a Medal of Honor Recipient? Above and beyond saluting a Medal of Honor recipient before anyone regardless of rank, how would other military personnel address a Medal of Honor recipient? -- CindyDear Cindy I have never seen or heard of a directive stating that a Medal of Honor recipient is saluted first, before everyone present, regardless of rank, so I don't believe that is true. At a ceremony where their Medal of Honor is pertinent they would receive special courtesies because of their status at that particular event. At other events they don't receive special status. Medal winners don't receive a special form of address. The medal is not noted in correspondence. It would be mentioned after their name in an introduction as would any special honor or decoration. -- Robert HickeyWhat Do I Write a Return Address with a Military Rank? I have recently married a retired USN commander. What is the proper way to have return mail address labels printed? We would like to use them on our Christmas cards. Should it be ... Commander and Mrs. Franklin Harrow, USN, Ret.? Cmdr. and Mrs. Franklin Harrow? -- Mary Ann HarrowDear Mrs. Harrow:Socially ... you might want to use Commander and Mrs. Franklin Harrow (Address)Nothing wrong with Cmdr. if you are pressed for space on a label. FYI 1) The social books -- I edited the most recent version of the the Crane's Blue Book of Stationery -- give the "social" answer which is to spell out the rank: Commander and Mrs. Henry Anderson But some people want to use the USN's abbreviation for Commander: CDR and Mrs. Henry Anderson 2) Most formally one does not break up "CDR" from "Henry Anderson" So these are not strictly the most formal: Commander and Mrs. Henry Anderson CDR and Mrs. Henry Anderson Ultra most formally it should read: Commander Henry Anderson and Mrs. Anderson CDR Henry Anderson and Mrs. Anderson But I think they'd be a bit stilted in this usage.3) USN, Ret. after his name isn't required on social stationery like a holiday card ... IT IS used on official stationery. So if your husband were writing a letter to the newspaper's editor, and he wanted to be sure everyone knew he was not writing it as an active duty 'Commander" or if were being invited to a military function where there were "active duty" officers involved he'd be CDR Henry Anderson, USN Ret. -- Robert Hickey Not Finding Your Question Answered?Below are other topics covered in my blog. If you don't see your question answered send me an e-mail. I am pretty fast at sending a reply and if I think It would be of interest to others, I will post the question and the answer with all the names and personal specifics removed. -- Robert HickeyUSE OF NAMES & HONORIFICS Mr., Miss, Jr., III, & Names Married Women Deceased Persons People with Two Titles Post-Nominal Abbreviations and Initials Joint Forms of Address (How do you write two names?) USE OF SPECIFIC OFFICIAL TITLES Former Officials Professionals and Academics United States Federal Officials United States State Officials United States Municipal Officials All About *The Honorable* with U.S. Officials *Former* United States Officials United States Armed Services Retired U.S. Armed Service Officers Tribal Officials Clergy and Religious Officials Canadian Officials Australian Officials British Officials, Royalty, and Nobility Diplomats and International Representatives Foreign National Officials and Nobility SPECIFIC SITUATIONS Etiquette Flags: Traditions and Protocol Introductions Invitations: Writing & Addressing Invitations: Just Armed Service Personnel Name Tags Names on Programs, Signs, & Lists Place Cards Precedence: Ordering Officials Thank You Notes Site updated by Robert Hickey on March 3, 2011 Back to Main Page of the Robert Hickey's BLOG Robert Hickey is the author of *Honor & Respect: The Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address*_Published by The Protocol School of Washington®Foreword by Pamela Eyring_Copyright © 2011 Robert Hickey. All Rights Reserved.Book Photo: Marc Goodman.

How to Address / Forms of AddressUnited States Armed ServicesQuestions & Answers, Frequently Asked Questions, and BlogSite updated by Robert Hickey on March 3, 2011 How to Abbreviate Ranks: Periods? No Periods? How to Address an Officer with an Honorary Rank? How to Address an Officer Selected for Promotion? How to List an Officer on an Invitation? How to Address an Officer who is also a Professor? How to Address an Officer who is also a Dean?How to Address an Officer with an Academic Degree? How to Address an Officer with a PhD? How to Address an Officer with an MD in a Salutation? How to Address an Officer with an MD on an Invitation? How to Write the Name of an Officer with an MD on a Program? How to Address Enlisted Personnel? How to Address a Medal of Honor Recipient? How to Address a Reservist? How to Write a Return Address with a Military Rank? How to a address any (specific rank), look here How to write the names of military personnel on invitations, or how to address invitations to military personnel, look here How to Address a Retired Military Officer?Link to Q&A just on Retired Military Officers Looking for Joint Forms of Address? (Two Names in the Address)Link to Q&A just on Joint Forms of Address How to Address an Officer Selected for Promotion ? We are in the middle of addressing envelopes for our wedding invitations and your website has been very helpful and has answered many of our questions. I do have one question that remains unanswered. How do I address an envelope to a Naval officer that has recently been promoted to Captain but is not yet wearing the rank of Captain? In the past I've seen (sel) after the rank but I'm not sure if this is necessary for a social invitation. This is my guess: Captain (sel) John Doe and Mrs. Doe Address Thank you for your time. **-- Patrick in Charleston, South Carolina**Dear Patrick in Charleston: Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. You may have seen someone acknowledging an officer's pending promotion with ... Rank (sel). There is a process in the armed services that one is selected for a promotion, but the actual promotion will be at a future date. Being selected for promotion is an exciting accomplishment, but Rank (sel) is definitely not a form suggested by Department of Defense guidelines, or a form you would see on official correspondence -- business or social. E.g., Neither The White House use it, nor would his commanding officer. If he has not been promoted yet, it is most correct to address the invitation to his current rank not his future rank. I checked with some active duty Naval Officers, and they said they've seen it informally .... but all three said "but I wouldn't do it myself." -- Robert Hickey How to Address a Reservist ? I am addressing a letter to a Reservist. For his address block, would it be: Brigadier General John Smith, USAR Ret. ? With salutation Dear General Smith ? Thanks. **-- Jamie**Dear Jamie: This very question is answered on page 207 of my book. Department of Defense guidelines give two ways to address a letter to a retired officer ... one for 'official" and one for "social" correspondence. 1) If it is an official letter to him as a Retired General ... e.g., you are inviting him to attend a civic ceremony in uniform ... then the address block should be: Brigadier General John Smith, USAR, Ret. 2) If it's social letter to him as a person ... and not in relation to his rank ... but on an issue where his rank is not pertinent .... then the address block should be: Brigadier General John Smith 3) In both instances the salutation should be: Dear General Smith: -- Robert Hickey How to Address Naval Officers ? Barry C. Black, Rear Admiral ( RET), Chaplain of U.S. Senate will be the speaker at a local event. How do I properly write the names of other local active and retired naval officials on invitations to attend the event? Thanks. **-- ICW**Dear ICW: I have a chapter in my book just on forms of address for the US Armed Services. There are two forms of address in Department of Defense Style Manuals suggested for writing the name of armed service personnel ... a social form ... and an official form. I am going to assume you will use official forms. Assuming you are mailing invitations in envelopes, then ... Active Duty -- official form: (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service) Rear Admiral James Wilson, USN Retired -- official form: (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service), Retired Rear Admiral Barry Black, USN, Retired or (Rank) (Full name), (Abbreviation for branch of service), Ret. Rear Admiral Barry Black, USN, Ret. I actually have many posting on how to address officers .... check out Active Duty http://www.formsofaddress.info/USA.html Retired http://www.formsofaddress.info/USA_Retired.html -- Robert Hickey Do I Use Periods with Abbreviated Military Ranks ? We are a non-profit that has a lot of retired military officers on our board, as well as donors to our organization. Should I use a period (.) in my abbreviations for the ranks or not? I’ve seen it done both ways, and I just want to make sure I have it correct. Thank you so much. **-- CAM, Director of Development, McLean VA**Dear CAM: The service-specific abbreviations used by the armed services for ranks and ratings are always written without periods and are upper and lower case specific: USAF Captain Capt USN Captain CAPT USA Captain CPT FYI, your question is answered in my book on pages 91-98. I include all those abbreviations. -- Robert Hickey Thanks for your response! My predecessor didn’t know anything about the military so, in many instances, she left off rank, branch of service, etc., or used a mish-mash of one or the other. I’ve been spending a good chunk of my time in the past few months just cleaning up the database. -- CAM, Director of Development, McLean VA How to Address an Officer Who is a PhysicianIn a Salutation? My question is: how do I address a military colonel who is also a prominent psychologist? I am emailing this person for the first time, for a research project on psychologists. My hunch is to go with "Dear Colonel _____", but since my questions pertain more to psychology, I wondered if "Dear Dr. ______" would be more appropriate. -- Richard Wilkins Dear Mr. Wilkins: Military personnel of any functionality ... doctors, lawyers, engineers, cooks, fighter pilots, motor pool drivers. commanding officers, security guards .... officers and enlisted .... leaders and followers .... are always addressed by rank + name. It's not impossible that in conversation ... during an examination or consultation you might not say "But Doctor .... " but it will seem completely normal to him for you always to address him as Colonel ______. It's part of their culture that rank is the preferred "honorific" that is used in address ... no matter the content of the conversation. In continued conversation ... after first use of the rank + name ... the tradition is to switch to "Sir" when addressing someone higher in rank ... and to switch to "(surname)" when addressing someone lower in rank. Since you are not in the service, just use Colonel ______ all the time. -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Officer Who is a Physician On an Invitation's Envelope? My fiance has a friend who is a medical doctor who is also on active duty with a rank of Captain in the Air Force, where he practices medicine. How should we address the wedding invitation? -- Carol B. Dear Carol B.: All active-duty armed service personnel are addressed as: (Rank) + (Name) For a written address, there are different forms for "official" and "social" correspondence: I cover that in detail in my chapter on Forms of Address for US Armed Services in my book. Here's the answer: On official correspondence (contacting him on business related to his official military duties) you would include his branch of service ... which for most Air Force personnel would be simply USAF ... but for an medical doctor would include a post nominal for the Medical Service Corps, and end up as: Captain William Blake, USAF, MSC Address On social correspondence post-nominal abbreviations are not used ... thus leave off the "USAF, MSC" A wedding invitation's mailing envelope uses the social form: Captain William Blake Address If you are using inside envelopes, the form is to use you would call him, and most formally that would be: Captain Blake It's not impossible that one might address him as "Doctor" during a medical exam, or he might identify himself as "Dr." as he enters an exam room where the patient sits in a backless paper gown ... But in the military, the etiquette is that one's rank is the most important information ... and exactly how one serves is important but is of secondary importance. -- Robert Hickey How to Address An Invitation to an Officer (Who Is an M.D.) & His Spouse's Name? My fiance and I are having a terrible time addressing some of our envelopes for our wedding. We have a number of high-ranking military officials that are retired and are medical doctors. For example we have a three star retired general (US Army) -- a Lieutenant General who is a physician. How do I write this: Lieutenant General James Doe, MD, Retired and Mrs. Janice Doe??? Does Mrs. Janice Doe go on another line I would assume? We are including the women's names on our envelopes because I am a bit of a feminist and hate the idea of leaving off any reference to the woman's identity. Thanks for your help! -- Carrie WorshamDear Ms. Worsham, The most formal forms, e.g. how The White House would address an invitation to a Lieutenant General and his wife. (BTW, they use my book.) 1) No M.D.: You never use an academic degree with a military rank. 2) The name of the person with the rank goes first. 3) You can address your wedding invitations however you like, but as you infer it's traditional that when a couple uses the same last name ... and the woman uses "Mrs." ... woman's first name is not included. Traditionally use of Mrs. (first name) + (last name) indicates a woman is divorced -- e.g., it's how she would be listed on a wedding invitation if they were no longer married, but she and her former husband were hosting the wedding. 4) Branch of service and retired status are not used on social correspondence. So on the mailing envelope: Lieutenant General James Doe and Mrs. Doe (address) And on the inside envelope you use 'conversational forms": General Doe and Mrs. Doe Or if they are family or very close friends Jim and Janice Uncle Jim and Aunt Janice -- Robert Hickey How to List an Officer Who is a PhysicianOn a Program? Dear Mr. Hickey:I recently attended a funeral for a retired Rear Admiral who was also a Navy doctor. Was it proper to refer to him in on the cover of the program as:Honoring RADM (name), M.D. Was that correct? -- Vic M. in Pew #44â€¨ Dear Vic M.: RADM (full name), Medical Corps, USN would be correct by U.S. Department of Defense guidelines. 1) Abbreviating "Rear Admiral" to the military abbreviation RADM is standard at military events. 2) In the official form of address, branch of service follows the name, in this case -- Medical Corps, USN. 3) Finally there's a rule no academic degree is used with a military rank -- so M.D. or any other academic post-nominal abbreviation never follow a name preceded by a rank. ... so never use Captain (full name), MBA, General (full name), JD or Major General (full name), PhD. -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Officer with an Honorary Rank? It is not unusual for the various state national guards to give honorary promotions to worthy officers upon retirement. These promotions are not federally recognized and do not entitle the recipient to increased pay in retirement. How should one address an officer who received an honorary promotion upon retirement? -- BG Charles K. HendershottDear General Hendershott: If the promotion is honorary, not federally recognized, and does not entitle one to benefits ... perhaps it something granted informally and internally? Protocol officers I spoke to (two at the Pentagon and two at bases) suggest use of such a honorary rank in address be limited to verbal use within the granting organization. -- Robert Hickey How to Address Enlisted Personnel on an Invitation? I am engaged to a member of the Marine Corps and have several military invitations that I'm trying to address. I seem to have all the Marine's under control with their ranks; however, I have a couple of members of the Navy and am unsure how to address their outer envelope. I know that enlisted Navy personnel have rates (such as PO2) instead of an actual rank, but do not know how you use this on the invitation. Thank you in advance for your help! **-- Katie (and Todd)**Dear Katie (and Todd), I cover the Navy on pages 215-224. The USN has both officers and enlisted personnel. All are addressed the same way on social correspondence: {Rank/Rating} + {Name}. The most formal way to address an envelope is to do so without abbreviations, spelling out every word. So, for example: Petty Officer Second Class (name) Address is more formal than: PO2 (name) Address But when a name gets very long and space becomes an issue ... using the abbreviation HM2 is absolutely acceptable. USN (the post-nominal abbreviation for the branch of service) is not included after a name on social correspondence. It is used on official correspondence. You don't say which ranks/ratings your guests have so I can't be much more specific ... but Cranes Blue Book of Stationery has lots of information on addressing wedding invitations and place cards for your reception. I updated the book with Pamela Eyring (Director of The Protocol School of Washington) in 2008. -- Robert Hickey How to Use an Academic Degree with a Military Rank? I am wondering the proper way to format a military rank and academic degree on a resume. In question is a gentleman, "John Smith," who is a Captain in the USMC Reserves (active duty) who holds a masters degree in HR Management (M.HRM). Thank you for your assistance. -- GB in Career Counseling Dear GB: No sort of post nominal ... professional, academic, religious .. is ever used with a U.S. military rank. He is most formally Captain John Smith, USMCR ... nothing more. You will have to note that he holds a Masters in Human Resources Management from (?) University in some way other than with an academic post-nominal abbreviation. Perhaps in a section on education? Or in a sentence describing his achievements? -- Robert Hickey How to Address an Military Officer Who Holds a PhD? How would I properly address a husband and wife who are both retired Air force Colonels and hold PhD’s? Col John and Col Jane Doe, PhD, USAF (Ret) And what would be a proper salutation for them? Dear Colonels Doe, -- Confused & Live Near The BaseDear C&LNTB: 1) When a person has a special title ... like Colonel ... most formally he or she gets their (rank) + (full name) complete as a unit. So "Col John and Col Mary" is not correct. 2) Military ranks are never used with academic post-nominals 3) As you use it ... "Col" with those caps and no punctuation IS the correct USAF style. 4) The Department of Defense's guidelines say "USAF" is only used on official documents ... not on social correspondence. So if you are writing them officially regarding their official duties ... use USAF, if it is a social letter ... leave it off 5) The Department of Defense's guidelines also suggest either "Retired" or "Ret." .... but not "(Ret.)" but use it only on official correspondence after the USAF ... Col John Doe, USAF, RetiredSo most formally they would be socially Col John Doe **and Col Jane Doe (Address)**The salutation could be: Dear Colonels Doe, -- Robert Hickey **How to Address a Retired Officer Who Is A Professor?**Dear Mr. Hickey: Would you by any chance know the proper form of address for a USN Captain who is now a university professor with a PhD? I read the note on your website regarding context (Captain when he's my commanding officer, Doctor when he's bandaging my foot, or something to that effect), but I wonder what would be suitable with an academic doctor, and in a more formal usage. I've encountered "Captain Doctor [name]" once or twice on the Internet, but it seems a bit of a mouthful. _--- P. L. Scott_Dear Mr. Scott: In the United States: 1) We only use just one honorific at a time. So he would be "Captain (name)," "Dr. (name)," or "Professor (name)." 2) If he's a retired Captain he probably prefers to be orally addressed as Captain (name). In writing use Captain (full name), USN, Retired, Professor of Mathematics 3) Military ranks are never used with academic degrees, so he'd never be "Captain (full name), PhD" . I cover this on page 99 in my book 4) He's probably never "Dr. (name)." All this said, it's never inconsiderate to ask what he prefers! Ultimately it is his preference in which you are most interested. -- Robert Hickey**How to Address a Retired Officer Who is A Dean?**Hi Robert, In your book you cover academics and every rank of officer. How would I address an envelope to a captain retired from the US Navy, who now is the dean of a college? _--- O.S._Dear O.S.: It depends on what he likes to be called. If you find he likes to be addressed as "Captain (name)" at the college ... then address him (see page 217 in my book) as: Captain (full name), USN, Retired Dean of (name of school, college, etc.) (Name of College/University) (Address) If you find he prefers to be addressed as "Dr. (name)" at the college ... then in writing I would address him as: (Full name), (Post-nominal abbreviation for his degree) Dean of (name of school, college, etc.) (Name of College/University) (Address) "Dean (full name)" is a more informal form of address -- use it to address him orally. Call him "Dean (name)" in interactions with him as a dean. Both Captain (name) or (Name), (degrees) are more formal forms to use in writing. The final determination in every form of address is "what is the preference of the bearer" so in this case: What is the preference of this particular dean? In a conversation with a British protocol expert familiar with all the titles and honors you encounter in London, he said people are never offended if you acknowledge too many of their honors -- but may be if you acknowledge too few! -- Robert HickeyHow to Address a Medal of Honor Recipient? Above and beyond saluting a Medal of Honor recipient before anyone regardless of rank, how would other military personnel address a Medal of Honor recipient? -- CindyDear Cindy I have never seen or heard of a directive stating that a Medal of Honor recipient is saluted first, before everyone present, regardless of rank, so I don't believe that is true. At a ceremony where their Medal of Honor is pertinent they would receive special courtesies because of their status at that particular event. At other events they don't receive special status. Medal winners don't receive a special form of address. The medal is not noted in correspondence. It would be mentioned after their name in an introduction as would any special honor or decoration. -- Robert HickeyWhat Do I Write a Return Address with a Military Rank? I have recently married a retired USN commander. What is the proper way to have return mail address labels printed? We would like to use them on our Christmas cards. Should it be ... Commander and Mrs. Franklin Harrow, USN, Ret.? Cmdr. and Mrs. Franklin Harrow? -- Mary Ann HarrowDear Mrs. Harrow:Socially ... you might want to use **Commander and Mrs. Franklin Harrow (Address)**Nothing wrong with Cmdr. if you are pressed for space on a label. FYI 1) The social books -- I edited the most recent version of the the Crane's Blue Book of Stationery -- give the "social" answer which is to spell out the rank: Commander and Mrs. Henry Anderson But some people want to use the USN's abbreviation for Commander: CDR and Mrs. Henry Anderson 2) Most formally one does not break up "CDR" from "Henry Anderson" So these are not strictly the most formal: Commander and Mrs. Henry Anderson CDR and Mrs. Henry Anderson Ultra most formally it should read: Commander Henry Anderson and Mrs. Anderson CDR Henry Anderson and Mrs. Anderson But I think they'd be a bit stilted in this usage.3) USN, Ret. after his name isn't required on social stationery like a holiday card ... IT IS used on official stationery. So if your husband were writing a letter to the newspaper's editor, and he wanted to be sure everyone knew he was not writing it as an active duty 'Commander" or if were being invited to a military function where there were "active duty" officers involved he'd be CDR Henry Anderson, USN Ret. -- Robert Hickey **Not Finding Your Question Answered?**Below are other topics covered in my blog. If you don't see your question answered send me an e-mail. I am pretty fast at sending a reply and if I think It would be of interest to others, I will post the question and the answer with all the names and personal specifics removed. -- Robert HickeyUSE OF NAMES & HONORIFICS Mr., Miss, Jr., III, & Names Married Women Deceased Persons People with Two Titles Post-Nominal Abbreviations and Initials Joint Forms of Address (How do you write two names?) USE OF SPECIFIC OFFICIAL TITLES Former Officials Professionals and Academics United States Federal Officials United States State Officials United States Municipal Officials All About The Honorable with U.S. Officials Former United States Officials United States Armed Services Retired U.S. Armed Service Officers Tribal Officials Clergy and Religious Officials Canadian Officials Australian Officials British Officials, Royalty, and Nobility Diplomats and International Representatives Foreign National Officials and Nobility SPECIFIC SITUATIONS Etiquette Flags: Traditions and Protocol Introductions Invitations: Writing & Addressing Invitations: Just Armed Service Personnel Name Tags Names on Programs, Signs, & Lists Place Cards Precedence: Ordering Officials Thank You Notes Site updated by Robert Hickey on March 3, 2011

Back to Main Page of the Robert Hickey's BLOG Robert Hickey is the author of Honor & Respect: The Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address_Published by The Protocol School of Washington®Foreword by Pamela Eyring_Copyright © 2011 Robert Hickey. All Rights Reserved.Book Photo: Marc Goodman.