LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recall the policies and procedures for maintaining directives, drafting correspondence, and filing.

As a Hospital Corpsman in an administrative billet, you may be responsible for maintaining your command's files and the CD-ROM library of Navy directives. Refer to SECNAVINST 5215.1 for complete details of your responsibilities.

TYPES AND PURPOSES OF DIRECTIVES
A directive may be an instruction (same as a Marine Corps order), a notice (same as a Marine Corps bulletin), or a change transmittal. Directives prescribe or establish policy, organization, conduct, methods, or procedures; require action; set forth information essential to the effective administration or operation of activities concerned; or contain authority or information that must be promulgated formally.

Instruction
An instruction is a directive containing authority or information having continuing reference value, or requiring continuing action. It remains in effect until superseded or otherwise canceled by the originator or higher authority.

Notice
Anotice is a directive of a one-time or brief nature, and it always contains a self-canceling provision. A notice has the same force or effect as an instruction. Notices usually remain in effect for 6 months or less, but never for longer than a year. Any requirement for continuing action contained in a notice (such as submitting a report, using a form, or following a specified procedure) is canceled when the notice is canceled, unless the requirement is incorporated into another document (such as an instruction).

Change Transmittal
Achange transmittal is used to transmit changes to manuals, publications, instructions, or, occasionally, notices. Each transmittal describes the nature of the change and gives directions for making it. Changes and corrections are made by inserting new pages, removing obsolete pages, or making pen-and-ink changes in the existing text. When a list of effective pages is included with a change, it is important to check all pages against the checklist. This procedure enables you to determine if your publication is complete and current. In the Marine Corps, comparable changes are made to orders and bulletins.

MAINTAINING DIRECTIVES
Instructions are normally placed in large three-ring binders in numerical sequence according to a standard subject identification code number (SSIC), consecutive number, and issuing authority. At some activities, directives may be maintained in a CD-ROM library. For security purposes, classified directives and documents are generally filed in separate binders and maintained in a safe. Because of their brief duration, notices ordinarily do not need to be filed in the master file (main files of instructions). If it is necessary to file them temporarily with instructions, tab the notices so that each one may be easily and promptly removed as soon as its cancellation date is reached. Copies may be filed in separate suspense binders when necessary.

Locator Sheets
When directives must be removed from the files, a locator sheet is made up and put in where the directive should be in the binder. This sheet will contain the identity of the issuing authority, the directive's standard subject identification code number, subject title, date removed, and both the location of the directive and the name of the person who has custody of it.

Making Changes
Follow the instructions enclosed in change transmittals to enter changes to directives. Proper notations, such as "CH-1," are entered in the upper right margin of the first page of each directive changed to indicate changes received and incorporated. For publication-type instructions, completed changes are noted on the record of changes sheet in the front of the publication.

List of Effective Instructions
Each year, BUMED conducts a review of all current instructions, then compiles and distributes a consolidated list of effective internal and external instructions via the internet.

CORRESPONDENCE
In addition to maintaining directives and logs and submitting reports, the Hospital Corpsman working in an administrative billet must be able to draft and type correspondence correctly and neatly and be able to file correspondence so that it may be retrieved quickly and efficiently.

Navy official correspondence is usually prepared in the standard naval letter format, referred to as the standard naval letter. The standard naval letter is also used when corresponding with certain agencies of the United States Government. Some civilian firms that deal extensively with the Navy also prepare correspondence using the standard naval letter. Instructions for typing standard naval letters are very precise and must be followed to the last detail. All the information to properly prepare naval correspondence can be found in the current version of the Department of the Navy Correspondence Manual, SECNAVINST 5216.5. You should consult this manual when you prepare correspondence. You may use approved computer programs for preparing correspondence.

File Number
The size and complexity of the Navy demands a standard method for filing paperwork. This standardization frees personnel from learning new filing systems when moving from one activity to another. The SSIC system of coding correspondence through use of a four-or five-digit number representing its subject matter provides an efficient, consistent method of filing and retrieving documents. SSICs are found in Department of the Navy Standard Subject Identification Codes, SECNAVINST 5210.11. They serve as file numbers for and are required on all Navy and Marine Corps letters, messages, directives, forms, and reports. SSICs will be discussed in more detail in the upcoming section on filing.

Originator's Code
An originator's code, formed according to local instructions and serving as a basic identification symbol, appears on all outgoing correspondence. It is usually the office symbol of the drafter, but it may be the hull number of the drafter's ship. For example: LHA l8-80. This is office/department 80 of ship LHA-18.

Serial Number
Classified correspondence must contain a serial number. Whether unclassified correspondence is also serialized depends on local policy. A command that produces little correspondence probably does not need to serialize. An activity that uses serial numbers starts a new sequence at the beginning of each calendar year and assigns the numbers consecutively. The serial number, when used, is combined with the originator's code. The following format is used: Ser LHAl8-80/0726. This represents the 726th piece of correspondence produced by office/department 80 of ship LHA-18 during the current calendar year.

There is no punctuation following the serial number and no space before or after the slash. For classified correspondence, the classification letter precedes the serial number (C for Confidential, S for Secret, T for Top Secret). For example:
Ser LHAl8-80/C16. This is the sixteenth piece of confidential correspondence originating from office/department 80 of LHA-18 since the beginning of the current calendar year.