I am working on my personal statement and a portion of one of my sentences includes “...to lead sailors and Marines to defend...” I spent about an hour scouring the web trying to figure out how sailors and Marines should be capitalized in a sentence like this. This is how I currently have it. Should “sailors” also be capitalized with “Marines” or vice versa?
I have attached a link for the Navy Style Guide for official writing, which mirrors the Navy Correspondence Manual, the primary official source for all Dept of the Navy writing. You are fortunate I did not attach the Correspondence Manual itself, because the minutiae in that tome will make your head spin. This is a ready-reference guide.
If you are a member of the DON, and are creating official Navy correspondence/materials, you capitalize “sailor.” “Marine” is already recognized as a proper noun in American standard usage to distinguish the term as affiliated with the Marine Corps from, say, “marine engineering.” Otherwise, if you are a civilian submitting personal correspondence, “sailor” is fine. A current enlisted member submitting a personal statement in his or her personal official application in Navy format being submitted up his or her chain of command, would use “Sailors.” It’s an inside-the-family usage. Meanwhile, Marine is Marine, everywhere.
I will say no one will quirk an eyebrow if you over-capitalize in support of showing respect for sailors. Under-capitalize “Marine” - never recommended.
The site noted in the above post,
www.navycs.com, while useful, is not official, so exercise the usual precautions when consulting an unofficial resource such as that site or even Service Academy Forums where we are right now. The .com site above is well-written and is run by a retired Navy Master Chief, and this is his disclaimer:
A Navy recruiting blog that delves into the military enlistment process and benefits of service. This is NOT an official United States Navy or government web site. The opinions expressed are my own, and may not be in-line with any branches of the government or military.
Unless otherwise noted, content written by Thomas Goering, NCCM USN(RET).
