Capitalization

Capitalization errors and mistakes can be easy to overlook. See the guidelines below to ensure proper use of capitalization when writing for Military Community and Family Policy:

• For the capitalization of specific abbreviations and acronyms, see the Use of Terms A-Z section at the end of this guide. 
• If creating or working on a glossary, capitalize the first word of the term being defined only if it is a proper name. For example: child abuse — This refers to any physical injury, sexual maltreatment, emotional maltreatment, deprivation of necessities, lack of supervision or combinations of these actions or omissions toward a child by an individual responsible for the child’s welfare. 
• Do not capitalize “services,” “service member” or “service provider.”
• Always capitalize the names of the U.S. military services: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, Army Reserves, Marine Corps Reserves and Navy Reserves. Do not capitalize “reserves” or “reserve component.”
• For headings, composition titles and lower-third graphics in videos, webinars and social media posts, capitalize the initial letter of all words — except prepositions fewer than four letters, “to” when not an infinitive, coordinating conjunctions and articles (unless they are the first or last words in the header or title). For subheads within an article, only capitalize the first word and proper nouns. 
• Military titles, such as “commander,” are capitalized only when used as part of a heading, composition title or lower-third graphic, or when the full military title precedes an individual’s name. 
• Defense Department directives, instructions, manuals or any other regulations should be capitalized only when they are paired with the issuance number. For example: DOD Instruction 6400.01 addresses the Family Advocacy Program. This instruction was published in 2019. Note: If you are looking for DOD instructions, directives or manuals, Washington Headquarters Services’ DOD Issuances website has a comprehensive database. The Defense Technical Information Center also provides useful resources.
• Specific programs and services available to service members should be capitalized, but general services should not be. For example: The Family Advocacy Program is one of several advocacy services available to service members on an installation.
• For a hyphenated word in a heading or composition title, capitalize the first letter of the second word. For example: “The Star-Spangled Banner” or No-Cost Services Available to Military Families.