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:
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- 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.”