| How to Address a U.S. Army Specialist FYI, here is what's come in to the Blog that relates to this office/rank. For recent questions sent in, check out Robert Hickey's Blog. For specific offices/ranks, check out Robert Hickey's On-Line Guide. How to Address an Army Specialist ? I stumbled across your site in my incessant hunt to figure out how to properly address an envelope for a friend who is entering boot camp with the National Guard. He is entering as a Specialist, E-4 (which, I'm assuming, is 4th Class - but I have no idea). He will also be at Ft Leonard Wood in MO. But from what I understand, they don't receive their mailing addresses until they get there. Also, I was thinking of getting him a Bible as well w/ his official title/rank whatever engraved on it too - how would that be addressed properly? Thanks so much - I am woefully uninformed about this! I appreciate this a lot! **-- Michele**Dear Michele: Ft. Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army base ... so Army ranks apply to the U.S. Army National Guard E-4 means he's Enlisted and 4th from the bottom. The formula for military forms of address is: (Rank) (Name) While it would not be incorrect to write out the rank fully ... Specialist John Smith ... what they would do in the Army would be to use the Army-specific abbreviation for the rank Specialist, which is SPC That is written with ALL CAPS & no period at the end. I include the service-specific abbreviations for all the U.S. armed services in a chapter in my book entitled "Abbreviations & Post Nominals". So the correct version of the name for an envelope or engraving will be SPC John Smith -- Robert Hickey All information on www.formsofaddress.info is copyright © 2011 by Robert Hickey.The Protocol School of Washington® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.Honor & Respect is dedicated to Dorothea Johnson, Founder of The Protocol School of Washington® |
