Drafting Instructions and Notices

When drafting instructions and notices use the same rules and procedures that you would if you were drafting any type of correspondence. Instructions and notices must be clear, concise, and easily understood. Clarity of language as well as neatness in appearance of the instruction or notice will promote increased understanding by recipients and greater efficiency within your organization.

The elements of a directive, both as to content and format, generally in the order that they appear in a directive, are contained in table 1, Preparation of Letter-Type Directives, and table 2, Preparation of Special-Type Directives, of SECNAVINST5215.1C. The Navy Correspondence Manual, SECNAVINST 5216.5C, provides additional guidance on the preparation of directives.

FILING DIRECTIVES

Instructions normally should be filed according to (1) subject identification number, (2) consecutive number, and (3) issuing authority, Checklists of directives issued by Washington headquarters organizations should be organized in this manner. If local conditions require, however, directives may be filed primarily by issuing authority or by a combination of subject identification number and issuing authority. You should

disregard alphabetic prefixes (C and S showing security classification) to the subject designation in determining the numerical filing sequence.

Because of their brief duration, you need not file notices in the master file. If it is necessary to interfile them with instructions temporarily, the notices should be tabbed so each may be easily and promptly removed as soon as its cancellation date is reached. Copies may be filed in separate binders when necessary.

File cross-reference sheets for instructions permanently or temporarily removed from your office with these instructions. Insert locator sheets in normal sequence in place of the removed instructions they reference. You should place a subject cross-reference sheet in front of those instructions that carry the same subject identification number. A second copy of the cross-reference sheet should be placed in a suspense file for temporarily loaned instructions. An instruction should be returned within 5 days, unless the borrower is still using it.

When you need copies of directives to complete a record or to support or further document a specific action, you may file them on your office's general subject files, pertinent case files, or other appropriate correspondence files.

FILES

As an LN, you must be able to file correspondence correctly and retrieve it quickly. The amount of time it takes you to locate a certain piece of correspondence depends on how well you know the Navy's filing system.

This section introduces you to the Navy way of filing. You are introduced to various procedures that will help you to perform your duties efficiently. You are also instructed in using the numerical subject identification coding system that was addressed previously and contained in the Department of the Navy Standard Subject Identification Codes (SSIC), SECNAVINST 5210.11D.

The SSIC contains the numerical codes that provide the basic classification structure for identifying and filing records. These codes cover most subjects found in general correspondence and other files. Since these numbers are used for numbering other naval documents such as reports, forms, and directives by subject category, they also provide the basis for a single Navywidc subject numbering system.

There are 14 major numerical subject groups, each having a thousand possible topics:

1000 series -Military Personnel

2000 series -Telecommunications

3000 series -Operations and Readiness

4000 series -Logistics

5000 series -General Administration and Management

6000 series -Medicine and Dentistry

7000 series -Financial Management

8000 series -Ordnance Material

9000 series -Ship's Design and Material

^{10000 series -}General Material

11000 series -Facilities and Activities Ashore

12000 series -Civilian Personnel

13000 series -Aeronautical and Astronautical Material

14000 series -Coast Guard Mission

Within the major groups are subdivisions using the second, third, and, sometimes, fourth digit; for example:

5000 -General Administration and Management

_{5800 -}Laws and Legal Matters

5810-Military Justice

^{5812 --} Commanding Officer's Nonjudicial

Punishment.

MAINTENANCE

File material loosely in folders unless you need fasteners to hold pages in a particular order. Use prong fasteners rather than staples, clips, or rubber bands to hold material.

DISPOSAL

The Navy and Marine Corps Records Disposition Manual, SECNAVINST 5212.5C, prescribes policy and procedures for the Department of the Navy's Records Disposition Program relating to records creation, maintenance, and disposition. Files as well as records are disposed of according to the requirements of SECNAVINST 5212.5C. This issue will be further addressed later in this chapter under Records Disposal.