How does a military email address look like?
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Show By Contributing Writer Updated September 28, 2017
i Email Concept image by wayne ruston from Fotolia.com Finding someone's military address can be easy or difficult depending on your reason for searching for it, your resourcefulness and sheer luck. There is a standard format for a person's e-mail address for all branches of the military. There are also numerous ways to search for a person's e-mail through the Internet. It is also possible to make an official request to find the direct mailing address of the person through the Department of Defense. Try using the standard military format. There is template for how the military generally assigns e-mail addresses for each soldier. If the soldier has a unique name, this is an easy way to find him or her. If the soldier does not have a unique name, the military adds numbers after the name for each repeated name. Many military personnel are given unique e-mail addresses according to their specific job or unit, but this format is the most common in the military. For the Army: . For the Navy: . For the Marines: . For the Air Force: . For the Coast Guard: . Search the web for the person's e-mail. If the individual has ever posted anything online or listed their military contact info, you might be able to find it. Do an Internet search using the person's name and the ending e-mail format listed above. If they are in a specific unit of one of the branches of the military, you might want to include that name. It might take a number of searches, but most variations of military addresses are available somewhere online. Check the website maintained by the U.S. Armed Forces News Service in the references section below for all the variations on e-mail addresses. Try to contact the person's unit directly. Each military regiment, division and company tends to have its own website. You can try to connect with the contact person listed on the site, search for the individual's name or call the press person on the site. You might want to inquire about the e-mail format generally used by that group. Contact the Department of Defense. If you know the individual and simply want to get a hold of the person, the Department of Defense has an official way of requesting the person's mailing address. Check under resources below for the direct link to the website.
When you send an email, the first thing your recipient sees is the subject line, so make sure it’s as clear as possible: What is your email’s purpose? What do you want your recipient to do? Take a page from military personnel. Their subject lines use keywords in all caps to note the email’s purpose. For example: INFO – For informational purposes only These demarcations might seem obvious or needlessly exclamatory, but they make your emails stand out in the recipient’s inbox. So if you need to send your direct reports a status update, try using the subject line: INFO – Status Update. If you need your manager to approve your vacation request, you could write REQUEST – Vacation. Using these key words also forces you to think about what you really want from someone before you contribute to their email clutter.
In the military, a poorly formatted email may be the difference between mission accomplished and mission failure. During my active duty service, I learned how to structure emails to maximize a mission’s chances for success. Since returning from duty, I have applied these lessons to emails that I write for my corporate job, and my missives have consequently become crisper and cleaner, eliciting quicker and higher-quality responses from colleagues and clients. Here are three of the main tips I learned on how to format your emails with military precision: 1. Subjects with keywords. The first thing that your email recipient sees is your name and subject line, so it’s critical that the subject clearly states the purpose of the email, and specifically, what you want them to do with your note. Military personnel use keywords that characterize the nature of the email in the subject. Some of these keywords include:
The next time you email your direct reports a status update, try using the subject line: INFO – Status Update. And if you need your manager to approve your vacation request, you could write REQUEST – Vacation. If you’re a project manager who requires responses to your weekly implementation report from several people, type ACTION – Weekly Implementation Report. These demarcations might seem obvious or needlessly exclamatory because they are capitalized. But your emails will undoubtedly stand out in your recipient’s inbox, and they won’t have to work out the purpose of your emails. (It also forces you to think about what you really want from someone before you contribute to their inbox clutter.) 2. Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF). Military professionals lead their emails with a short, staccato statement known as the BLUF. (Yes, being the military, there is an acronym for everything.) It declares the purpose of the email and action required. The BLUF should quickly answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and why. An effective BLUF distills the most important information for the reader. Here’s an example BLUF from the Air Force Handbook:
The BLUF helps readers quickly digest the announcement, decision, and when the new procedures go into effect. The reader doesn’t necessarily want to know all the background information that led to the decision. He or she likely wants to know “how does this email affect me?” and the BLUF should answer this question every time. For my corporate job, I don’t use the acronym “BLUF” because it would be unclear to recipients, but I have started leading with “Bottom Line” in bold at the start of my notes. Sometimes, I even highlight the bottom line in yellow so that my point is abundantly clear. Here is an example of a BLUF adapted for corporate use:
Shannon knows that no response is required because it was marked INFO. She also quickly grasps the information in the email because of the Bottom Line. Because this is a big change in corporate policy, background details are provided to show that the decision is final, supported by management, and intended to result in positive effects for the company. 3. Be economical. Military personnel know that short emails are more effective than long ones, so they try to fit all content in one pane, so the recipient doesn’t have to scroll. They also eschew the passive voice because it tends to make sentences longer, or as the Air Force manual puts it, “Besides lengthening and twisting sentences, passive verbs often muddy them.” Instead, use active voice, which puts nouns ahead of verbs, so it’s clear who is doing the action. By using active voice, you are making the “verbs do the work for you.” Instead of, “The factory was bombed by an F18,” military professionals would say, “An F18 bombed the factory.” Even though short emails are usually more effective, long emails abound, even in the military. If an email requires more explanation, you should list background information after the BLUF as bullet points so that recipients can quickly grasp your message, like in the above example. Lastly, to prevent clogging inboxes, military professionals link to attachments rather than attaching files. This will force the recipient to check the website that has the attachment, which will likely provide the most recent version of a file. Also, the site will verify that the recipient has the right security credentials to see the file, and you don’t inadvertently send a file to someone who isn’t permitted to view it. Here is an email example for corporate use that uses keywords in the subject, bottom line, background bullets, and active voice:
By adopting military email etiquette, you will introduce a kernel of clarity to your correspondence and that of your colleagues and clients. What email does the Army use?Access to Army email (Army 365 Webmail and Army 365 Teams) is available through a web browser (preferably Microsoft Edge or Chrome) ONLY and WILL NOT be accessible through the MS Outlook or Teams app on personally owned computers, tablets, or phones.
What does the new Army email look like?- The basic domain name is @mail.mil. Everyone will have an address ending this way. - Uniformed (Army) servicemembers will also have @us.army.mil alias. Other services will have their own alias.
Does the Army have a Gmail?According to Iyer, new troops entering the Army now automatically receive Google Workspace accounts with an @usa.army.mil address. He confirmed that “all remaining users” from the legacy email platform — known as Defense Enterprise Email — “will be transitioned to Army Google Workspace over the next several days.”
What does a Marine email address look like?FORMAT IS . @ . USMC.MIL. COUNTRY CODES CAN BE LOCATED IN REF G.
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