Use of Terms A-Z

Military Community and Family Policy writing guidance aligns with The Associated Press Stylebook with a few exceptions. Definitions of military-specific terms appear below, along with editorial guidance for certain commonly used words for MC&FP and our programs. See additional writing guidance in the Writing Best Practices section. Find program-specific guidance in the Program Content Guides section.

O

OCONUS (outside the continental U.S.) – Refers to any place outside of the 48 continental, or contiguous, states and the District of Columbia. It includes Alaska and Hawaii.

offices and centers – When referring to an installation office or center (such as a legal office or child development center), lowercase the term when using it in a general sense. Capitalize the term when referring to a specific office or center on a specific installation. For example: Child development centers generally offer child care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. For an example where you would capitalize the term: The Fort Bragg Legal Office is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Note: The need to refer to installation-specific offices and centers most commonly arises on the MilitaryINSTALLATIONS website.

order of precedence for the military services (and their respective seals) – Use this order: 

    • Army
    • Marine Corps
    • Navy
    • Air Force
    • Space Force
    • Coast Guard
    • Army National Guard
    • Army Reserve
    • Navy Reserve
    • Marine Corps Reserve
    • Air National Guard
    • Air Force Reserve
    • Coast Guard Reserve
    • Defense Department service provider
    • Defense Department Expeditionary Civilian workforce
  • When referring to the National Guard and the reserves together, the National Guard comes first.
  • Use “U.S.” before service names only when the context is unclear without it.

ordinal numbers –Ordinal numbers indicate order. Spell out first through ninth and then use figures: first, third, 10th, 101st. Ordinal numbers should not be superscript; the font size of the letters should match the font size of the number. Correct: 10th. Incorrect: 10th.

over/more than – Over generally refers to spatial relationships, as opposed to more than, which is used to indicate greater numerical value. The plane flew over the city. Pay went up more than $100.

overseas – Refers to any place other than 50 United States and the District of Columbia. The term includes U.S. territories and possessions, and foreign countries. When referring to foreign countries, MC&FP describes them as “outside of the United States and outside of the U.S. territories and possessions.”