Attachment 1 - Writing Style Guide.pdf

U.S . STRATEGIC COMMAND

OFFICE OF THE COMMAN D HISTOR IAN

STYL E AND EVALUATION GUIDE

J UL 2024

Excerpted from CJCSI 5320.01D (27 Apr 23) and AFI 84-101 (24 OCT 16)

UNCLASSIF IED / MARKI NGS FOR TRAINING

PURPOSES ONLY

PURPOSES ONLY

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Historian Style and Evaluation Guide

Command History

Historical Research

Sources of Information

Documentary Sources

Audio-Visual Sources

Interviews

History Collection Plan

Components

Writing Format

Security

Style

Citations

Footnote Format

History Digital Structure

The Root Folder

Source Document Numbering

Hyperlinks to Source Documents

Evaluation and Assessment

Assessment Criteria

Security

Content

Format and Organization

Grammar and Style

PURPOSES ONLY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 3: Case File Structure

PURPOSES ONLY

HISTORIAN STYLE AND EVALUATION GUIDE

The History Office’s mission is four-fold. Historians produce the official record of the command’s mission accomplishment through the collection, synthesis, and analysis of classified and unclassified documents and interviews; and through coordination with Service components, sub-unified or combined commands, and subordinate joint task forces. Historians and archivists protect and maintain the command’s official historical archive through the collection and preservation of historically relevant documentation. Additionally, historians manage the command’s material culture/heritage program by collecting and displaying appropriate artifacts and developing/reviewing heritage displays. Finally, historians and archivists provide historical support to the commander and staff through researching and responding to requests for information, studies, information/point papers, etc. All of this ensures the commander can apply historical perspective to current and future decisions.

This style and evaluation guide exists to provide historians and archivists with standards for historical publications produced by the office. This includes command histories, interview transcripts, studies, articles, and the like. It does not include official correspondence, such as Form

915s, information papers, decision papers, and other items governed by U.S. Strategic Command

Strategic Instruction 901-02, Correspondence Management.

This style and evaluation guide is effective upon signature.

7/2/2024

X

Signed by: MILLER.KAREN.E.1287464904

KAREN E. MILLER, Ph.D.

Command Historian

PURPOSES ONLY

COMMAND HISTORY

The primary mission of this office is to record the history of this command. This is accomplished by the production of accurate, thorough, and objective historical accounts of the significant activities of the command, including significant contingency and joint operations conducted. These command history reports, written annually or based on the tenure of the commander, are required by Title 44, U.S. Code, chapter 33 and Title 36, Code of Federal

Regulations, part 1228, and defined by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction (CJCSI)

5320.01. These command history reports are written at the classified level, up to and including

Top Secret (TS), Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), and Alternative Compensatory

Control Measures (ACCM), sufficient to accurately and thoroughly document the history.

Command histories are an objective record of the command’s mission accomplishment and serve as the institutional memory and guide for future operations and policy decisions. The commander uses the command’s history to add historical perspective to the decision-making process. It serves as a primary source of background facts in support of the staff and is used to orient new commanders and personnel on the organization’s mission, recent activities, accomplishments, and issues. Accurate and timely historical reporting provides decision-makers with information they can use to improve the combat capability of the command and the Department of Defense, as well as to inform important policy decisions made at the highest levels of government. The command history report represents the official effort to preserve information in a complete and systematic manner for future research and reference.

Historical Research

Historians build the document collection on which their historical reports are based by conducting comprehensive and continuing research at the command’s critical information collection points (annotated in the Continuity Book on each network). Historians visit these data centers regularly to ensure vital documentation is preserved and not deleted, either as a matter of policy or accidentally. Historians constantly develop new sources of information because research needs vary from historical report to historical report. Interaction with information owners ensure that, as new sources of information are found, the office is given access to the material. Such contacts enable the historian to identify additional leads that may open up even more sources of information.

By becoming a visible and respected member of the command, historians can establish and maintain relationships that demonstrate their professional competence and the value of their work to the organization. A successful, continuing research effort in any organization is contingent upon the historian establishing relationships based on mutual trust and respect with the organization's leadership and those who generate and maintain the information the office needs to build an accurate, comprehensive historical report.

When conducting research, it is important to remember that historians are afforded a unique, leadership-level view of a broad range of the command’s activities. Historians use this perspective to determine what information is worthy of inclusion in a historical report. Select

PURPOSES ONLY

topics and documents with potential long-term value based on the organization's mission, the historian's professional judgment, and suggestions by the commander and staff. The historian must select, analyze, and evaluate documents with great care and not waste time on documents with only marginal utility as they will have access to far more information than is needed to write the command histories.

Sources of Information

The following paragraphs describe the various types of information typically used to build historical reports. This information is critical to later historical analysis, research, and writing. The list is not all-inclusive.

Documentary Sources

Publications: At a 4-Star Combatant Command, guidance is derived from the highest levels of government. Examples include: Presidential Policy Directives and National Security Policy

Memoranda (PPD/NSPM), the Unified Campaign Plan (UCP), Guidance for the Employment of the Force (GEF), Contingency Planning Guidance (CPG), Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan (JSCP), as well as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and Missile Defense Review (MDR). These documents are often critical to the command history report to explain why the command operates the way it does.

Orders and Plans: Military headquarters direct and authenticate changes, actions, or procedures through various types of orders and plans, from Operations Orders (OPORD), Fragmentary Orders (FRAGO), Warning Orders (WARNORD), and Planning Orders

(PLANORD), to operations plans (OPLANS), concept plans (CONPLANS), etc.. Higher headquarters examples include the Global Force Management Allocation Plan (GFMAP) and

Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB). Knowledge and collection of these documents will help the historian build the narrative of the day-to-day activities of the command.

Correspondence: Review paper correspondence, e-mails and attachments, and comparable communications within and between organizations and personnel—especially correspondence from the commander to civilian leadership.

Commander Read-Aheads: Staff studies (point papers, memoranda for the record, staff summary sheets, briefings, talking papers, etc.) are of special interest to historians because they often precede and form the basis for significant decisions as well as recommendations to civilian leadership. These are available for the Commander, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff.

Include unit assessments and reports of inspections, tests, audits, exercises, operations, and trip reports.

Meetings: Historians attend staff meetings, briefings, planning sessions, and policy-making gatherings as a way to gain familiarity with the organization's activities, increase their visibility, establish contacts, and build relationships with unit members. Notes taken by the historian during these meetings can be used as supporting documents.

PURPOSES ONLY

Audio-Visual Sources

Commander Videos: In the digital age, commanders will often choose to record video messages for the staff covering priorities, missions, general information, etc. These are important items to include in the history as it provides direct communication between the commander and staff.

Public Affairs Video: The Public Affairs office may produce a number of videos to include official command videos, news reports, and other messaging items. Capturing this direct communication with personnel and with the public may be critical to discussions necessary for the history.

Operational Video/Audio Conferences: These are items relevant to the history because they contain direct evidence of operational activity within the command and its relationship with higher headquarters and other commands.

Photographs: Photographs are necessary to the history as they can illustrate issues the historian is discussing in the report. However, ensure that photographs collected and used contain identification information such as date, context, identities of individuals shown, etc.

Interviews

While doing historical research, historians will often find that documents are not sufficient in detail to get to the “why” and “how” of activities and decisions. Therefore, historians will need to conduct interviews with appropriate parties to gather a more complete view of the events and activities occurring within the command. Historian should be familiar with two types of interviews necessary to support the publication of historical products, oral history and research interviews discussed in more detail below.

A successful interview depends on the preparations made before hand, as well as the manner in which it is conducted. Careful advanced preparations will allow the historian to know what information is needed to help fill holes in their documentary record. Nothing is so impressive to a person being interviewed as the perception that he or she is being questioned by someone who has a comprehensive and detailed knowledge of the situation. A more specific question yields a more specific answer.

Interviews will cover major activities and issues that involve the commander, senior leaders, and other individuals during their tours. Special attention should be given to military operations or crises, command relationships, relations between the commander and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), the National Security Council (NSC), and White House, staff interactions, and questions concerning changes in mission or the command’s area of responsibility.

Oral History Interviews: Historians will conduct formal interviews with departing commanders. These interviews may be conducted frequently, as arranged between the commander and the command historian. Historians should also interview senior leaders in the command, such as the chief of staff and staff directors; time and resources permitting. These interviews will be

PURPOSES ONLY

transcribed utilizing the U.S. Strategic Command Historian Interview template. They will serve as a stand-alone historical publication and kept as a permanent record and supporting document in the history.

On occasion, historians may also conduct oral history interviews that cover the entirety of a person’s life and/or career. These interviews require the same level of preparation as commander interviews. They will also be transcribed using the Historian Interview template and maintained as permanent record within the U.S. Strategic Command Operational Archive and Reference

Collection.

Research Interviews: Historians will also conduct interviews with key members of staff as they are a valuable source of historical information. Most of these interviews will serve as specific support to command histories and may or may not be stand-alone historical products. Comments obtained during interviews supplement the documentary record, providing reasons for and explanations of the factual material found in documents, give an insight into the problems and aims of the commander and other key personnel, and provide the historian with first-hand accounts and experiences not found in formal records. Interviews should be held as soon as possible after an event, while the facts are still clear. These interviews may be fully transcribed using the template, but they may also be retained as audio files with topic time hacks to simplify the writing process.

History Collection Plan

Research and source collection will primarily be done digitally and requires a collection methodology that reflects the digital nature of today’s operating environment. In order to streamline collection and standardize the process, the history office utilizes a standard case-file structure (see Figure 1). This structure is based upon the command’s mission and activities. These case files are organized according to the type of some standard documents (plans and orders) and by organization structure current during the commander’s tenure. While not conducive to writing history, this structure accurately reflects archival standards and ensures standardization of collection across commanders and among historians. The basic case files may be divided into subfolders (or subdirectories) in a way that facilitates collections. (When making adjustments to the structure, ensure the command or senior historian is aware and has approved the adjustment.)

Since research is constant and continuing, historians will develop and work with two sets of collection folders – one for the current history and another for the next history.

Figure 1: Case File Structure

During the collection process, save documents to the collection folders in the most stable digital format available, unless the native format is more appropriate. Adobe Acrobat .PDF is currently the most stable digital format. For standard Microsoft applications, conversion to PDF is recommended for Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher documents. When converting files to PDF, ensure the document is a searchable PDF. Additionally with PowerPoint slides be sure to check

Notes Pages for additional information before conversion. If notes exist, convert the document so the Notes Pages are preserved.

Excel spreadsheets are more difficult to preserve. They are extremely useful documents, but often contain formulas that will be lost upon conversion to PDF. Adobe locks in the data, creating a tamper-proof document but removes any formulas contained within the spreadsheet.

Vital information about how the data is used or created can be lost. Use Excel’s print preview function to see how the information appears on a printed page and check for formulas before conversion. If the printed view is awkward or formulas are present, it may be more appropriate to save the spreadsheet in its native format.

Ensure all emails are converted into PDFs as the email MSG format is unstable for long-term preservation. Employ historical judgment to determine whether to retain any or all attachments to emails. Attachments can be saved as a single file or as separate source documents, simply by adding an alphabetic character following the source document identifier. Avoid using the PDF Portfolio format as that makes usage and citation of documents challenging.

For other documentation such as web pages or paper/hard copy documents, save them as

PDFs. Web pages, if possible, should contain the date on which they were accessed for appropriate citation purposes. Do not create hyperlinks to website addresses. Hard copy documents should be

PURPOSES ONLY

scanned into searchable PDFs so items can be digitally searched for research and reference purposes.

Be cognizant of how much time is spent doing conversion work. In all likelihood, historians will collect more documents than will be used in the history. Therefore, one can waste valuable time converting everything during the collection process. Use professional judgement on what should be converted during the collection process or what can wait to be converted when and if the document is later used in the writing process.

Components

The USSTRATCOM command history report will be written using the USSTRATCOM

Command History template and contain at a minimum the following sections.

Title Page: The title page will contain the years covered in the history, along with overall security and classification markings. It will also include signature blocks for the command historian and commander (or deputy commander or chief of staff if the commander delegates approval authority).

Security Notice and Administrative Controls Page: This page will list appropriate security classification information and caveats. It will also contain any required statements related to such things as controlled unclassified information, proprietary information, export controls, etc.

Table of Contents / List of Illustrations: These tables will contain hyperlinks to the specific sections and illustrations within the text.

Narrative: This section is the narrative history providing the accurate, thorough, and objective account of the command’s mission activities. It may be broken up into chapters as appropriate.

Appendices: Required appendices include, but are not limited to Lineage and Honors, Key

Personnel Roster, Manning Authorizations, Organizational Chart, Budget, Forces Assigned, Exercises, and a chronology. The chronology will provide a record of specific events on specific days that either support the narrative or are important enough to be included but not lending themselves to a discussion in the narrative. All will follow standardized history templates.

Glossary: This will capture all abbreviations and acronyms in the text and should use the

Department of Defense Dictionary of Terms as its starting point.

Gazetteer: This should provide a listing of places within the text along with the identification of where the place is located. This may include longitude and latitude information, but should also associate it with other well-known places, such as a “town, 30 miles east of Naples, Italy.”

Index: The command history will contain a subject index per CJCSI 5320.01 guidelines.

PURPOSES ONLY

Writing Format

As with any history writing, the command history should be original writing and follow writing standards found in professional publications, such as Turabian and the Chicago Manual of

Style. However, as this is a military command history, it has some requirements that may not match these publications. Where the standards found in Turabian or Chicago are different than those below, this guide takes precedence. The command history will also be written using the Command

History template, which utilizes styles and other features of Microsoft Word to ensure standardization for historical products. Use the styles for formatting text as the system is designed to be plug-and-play. Do not reinvent the wheel.

Security

Command histories will be classified documents and will therefore comply with

Department of Defense Manual (DoDM) 5200.01 series for protecting and marking information contained within the histories. All historians and archivists are expected to be familiar with the requirements in the manual, but particularly Volume 2 which delineates the marking requirements for banner lines, titles, paragraphs, etc.

Additionally, with the implementation of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), historians and archivists will comply with these requirements. Guidance can be found in

Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 5200.48 and on the official DoD CUI program website at www.dodcui.mil.

Style

When writing the narrative and chronology, avoid military jargon, clichés, and words not commonly known. If something like this is used, provide an explanation in an explanatory footnote. Define or explain scientific and technical terms. Spell out acronyms, abbreviations, and unit designations in the narrative and include them in the glossary. Do not use office symbols in the narrative unless necessary, but if needed, ensure they are explained and included in the glossary. Use the military style of day, month, year. Abbreviate military titles when followed by initials or given names and ensure abbreviations follow the appropriate Military Service style. Give precise geographical locations rather than post office numbers, grids, or general areas. Relate an unknown place to a better-known one. For lengthy statistics, please use charts, tables, or appendices as appropriate. Use the 24-hour clock when referring to time, making clear whether the time is local (L) or Greenwich Mean Time, also known as Zulu (Z).

Citations

As with all history publications, the command history will contain citations to identify the sources providing the information contained in the history. Citations will be done as footnotes in the command histories, but endnotes might be required in certain instances. Citations should provide all sources that contain the information in the text. The use of multiple sources when writing strengthens the argument and provides opportunities for verifying information. A history should not be a one-paragraph, one-source type of document. In addition to citations as footnotes, http://www.dodcui.mil/

PURPOSES ONLY

historians may use explanatory footnotes for reasons of style or organization. However, this should be kept to a minimum. If it is important enough to say, it should probably be in the text. Citations will use the word processor’s footnote function, which will manage numbering and formatting and styles have already been built into the template.

Footnote Format

While professional publications have footnote standards, the history will require specific items not included in these publications. Therefore, footnote structure should follow the below.

Citation Sequence

Document citations follow this sequence: 1) type of document; 2) classification, warning notices and special notations (caveats); declassification instructions; 3) originator; recipient(s); 4) subject; 5) date; 6) paragraph or page number (in lengthy documents); and 7) supporting document number.

1. Indicate the type of document (memorandum, message, report, etc.).

2. Source citations contain the document's classification, declassification instructions, warning notices, and special administrative handling caveats. Markings will comply with DoDM 5200.01 requirements. Place these markings in parentheses immediately after the type of document, followed by a comma. Cite declassification dates in the

YYYYMMDD format.

o Example: Memo (S//REL TO USA, CAN//DECL 20330308).

3. Always include the originating office and/or person. Include receiving office(s)/people as appropriate.

4. Include the subject of correspondence or titles of documents as appropriate.

5. Include the origination date. For message traffic, use the six-digit Date-Time-Group.

o Example: Msg (S//DECL 20330320), 10 BW/CC to ACC/CV et al., "(U) Exercise

Bingo," 201631Z Mar 08, SD_XXXX.

6. Provide the paragraph or page number the information is from in the source document.

7. Assign a four-digit source number to all documents used in the command history.

See below for details.

8. Indicate any differences between the overall classification or special notations of the source(s) and the information used in the narrative. If the cited information comes from a portion that is marked differently from the overall classification of the source, add

(Info used is [specific classification]) immediately after the citation.

o Example: Memo (S//NF//DECL 20180308), Col John X. Doe, 10BW/CC to 10

BW/CV et al., "(U) Report on Exercise Bingo," 8 Mar 08, SD_2401 (Info used is

C).

PURPOSES ONLY

Portion Markings

Ensure all footnotes include appropriate portion markings at the beginning of the note.

Mark each footnote with the highest classification the footnote contains, immediately following the note number. Follow guidance in DoDM 5200.01. Subjects also require portion markings.

Single Source Example:

(U) Memo (S//DECL 20151013), HQ ACC/CC, to 395 PW/CC, "(U) Operation Gold

Box," 20 Mar 2009, SD_1066 (info used is C).

Multiple Source Example:

(U) Memo (S//DECL 20151013), HQ ACC/CC, to 395 PW/CC, "(U) Operation Gold

Box," 20 Mar 2009, SD_1066 (info used is C); Memo (S//DECL 20151012), HQ ACC/CC, to 395

PW/CC, "(U) Operation Silver Bell," 25 Mar 2010, SD_1067 (info used is U)

Citing a classified title makes the footnote a classified paragraph. Example:

(S) Memo (S//DECL 20190330), HQ ACC/CC to 395 PW/CC, "(S) Operation GOLD

BOX," 30 Mar 2009, SD_1066 (Info used is C).

Ibid

While using Ibid is common practice within the professional community, its use in military historical products can be challenging. Because historians will often answer requests for information using excerpts from the history, it is possible that the use of ibid can be disconnected from its antecedent. If that happens, then it is impossible to determine the classification of the information. Therefore, this office will not use ibid in its footnotes. The same for “See note above” for repetition of a multiple source footnote. Using the copy and paste function will ensure quick repetition of footnotes.

Citation Examples

The following citations demonstrate some of the many combinations used in command history footnotes. Historians must cite documents and apply security portion markings per DoDM

5200.01.

Attachments: Use this form when citing a document with attachments. Be sure to indicate which of the cited items are used to determine classification levels and declassification instructions for the portion, (info cited is from Atch 2):

E-Mail w/2 Atchs (S//DECL 20171002), ACC/A3 to NORAD/JS, "(U) Alert Base

Expansion," 2 Oct 07, Atch 1, Memo (S//DECL 20170701), Maj Gen John X. Doe, 1 AF/CC, to

ACC/A3, "(U) Alert Base Expansion," 1 Jul 07, Atch 2, Brfg (S//DECL 20130815), Maj Gen John

X. Doe, 1 AF/CC, "(U) Expansion of Alert Bases," 15 Aug 07, SD_3118 (info cited is from Atch

2).

PURPOSES ONLY

Articles and Books: Use the abbreviation p for a single page and pp for multiple pages.

Article (U) , Maj Gen John X. Doe, 1 AF/CC, "(U) The Balloon Is Up," Combat Edge, 5:2

(Jul 96), pp 10-11, SD_1022.

Article (U), John X. Doe, "(U) A New Crisis," New York Times, 28 Jan 90, p 14.

Article (U), John X. Doe, "(U) U.S. Strategic Bombardment Doctrine since 1945," in John

X. Doe, ed., Case Studies in Strategic Bombardment (Washington, DC, 1998), p 392.

Book (U) , John X. Doe, Help from Above: Air Force Close Air Support of the Army, 1946-

1973 (Washington, DC, 2003), p 305.

Article (S//NF//DECL 20330118), Capt John X. Doe, PACAF AIS, "(U) MQ-9 Reaper

Operations," USAF Weapons Review, 1:56 (Spring 08), p 5-12.

Briefings and Briefing Slides: Use the Brfg example when citing an entire briefing. Use the slides example when the slides are separate from the briefing or one only has a couple of the slides.

Brfg (U), 12 AF/DO, "(U) Results of Training," 10 Jul 92, SD_3123.

Slide (S//DECL 20120515), PACAF/DOX, "(U) Shortfalls," ca.15 May 2002, SD_3012.

Email: Identify email senders and recipients by name and office symbol. For email chains, cite the most important sender and et al. as well as the inclusive dates. For e-mails collected from

SIPRNET accounts, be sure to review all messages in the e-mail chain to ensure that classified material is properly identified.

Email (S//REL TO USA, CAN//DECL 20330512), Gen John X. Doe, USNORTHCOM/CC, to John X. Doe, SAF/OS, and Gen John X. Doe, AF/CC, "(U) USAF

Support to NORAD and NORTHCOM Gap Filler Strategy," 12 Jun 08, SD_3113.

Email Chain (U), Gen John X. Doe, AF/CC, et al., "(U) MO F-15 Mishap/CSAF Directs

Worldwide Grounding of F15s," 3-6 Nov 07, SD_3114.

Histories: When citing a unit or organizational history, cite the title and page number(s). Omit completion date; include security markings.

Hist, USAFE, Jul-Dec 92 (S//WN//NF//FRD), p 100 (info used is U).

Hist, 55 WG, Jan-Dec 06 (S//NF//DECL 20311231), SD_2145 (info used is S//DECL

20161002).

Interviews: Interviews are summarized or transcribed for use as a supporting document. Cite interviews that have no summary or transcript as a discussion (Disc) or telephone conversation

(Telecon).

Intvw (U), John X. Doe, 89 FW/HO, with Maj John X. Doe, 61 FS, 6 Dec 92, SD_2024.

PURPOSES ONLY

Disc (U), SSgt John X. Doe, 20 FW/HO, with Col John X. Doe, 20 FW/CC, 30 Jun 02.

Letters: While rare these days, historians may still encounter letters. Use this format.

Ltr (U), Gen John X. Doe, TAC/CC, to Gen John X. Doe, CINCSAC, [Merger, TAC and

SAC], ca. Feb 92, SD_2027.

Memos, Memos for Records, Memoranda of Agreement or Understanding:

Memo (TS//RD), AFSPC/A3 to AFSPC/A7, "(U) Missile Hardening," 24 July 2004, SD_5228.

MFR (S//DECL 20110421), AFOTEC, "(U) AMRAAM Issues," 21 April 01, SD_4118.

MOA (S//DECL 20271006), USNORTHCOM and ACC, "(U) Air Combat Command

Support of US Element NORAD Contingency Planning," 6 Oct 02, SD_3201.

MOU (TS//NF//DECL 20251012), USSTRATCOM and USNORTHCOM/NORAD, “(U)

Warfighter Talks,” 12 Oct 2015, SD_1122.

Messages:

Msg (S//NF//DECL 20090723), PACAF/DO to 8 FW/CC et al., "(U) Coronet Arrow,"

231405Z Jul 99, SD_3201 (info used is C//NF).

Operation Orders and Plans:

OPORD 2005-05 (S//NF//DECL 20150815), USJFCOM/J353, "(U) Basic Operation Order for US Joint Forces Command," 1 Aug 05, SD_3002.

OPLAN 1003V (TS//REL TO GCTF//DECL 20270825), CENTAF, [Classified Subject], 25 Aug 02, pp 1-4, SD_2015 (info used is S). [GCTF is the Global Counterterrorism Task Force].

PPLAN 81-02 (S//DECL 19980526), USAFE/XP, "(U) A-10 Collocated Operating Bases,"

26 May 83, pp ii-iv.

Point Papers (PP), Talking Papers (TP), Info Papers (IP) and Senior Principal Summaries

(SPS):

BBP (U), ACC/A3TO, "CAF Strategic Master Plan -Training Annex," 14 Apr 09, SD_3432.

IP (S//DECL 20351001), USSTRATCOM/J012, “(U) China and Taiwan,” 01 Oct 2020, SD_2310.

Publications: Includes service related Policy Directives, Instructions and Manuals. Refer to DoD, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Service manuals and their acronyms.

PURPOSES ONLY

AFPD 10-2 (U), AF/A3OR, "(U) Readiness," 30 Oct 06, SD_2011.

DoDM 5200.01 (U), DoD, “(U) DoD Information Security Program: Protection of

Classified Information,” Vol 3, 24 Feb 2012, Chg 2 19 Mar 2013.

Extract, AFPAM 33-7043 (U), AF/CEV, "(U) Hazardous Waste Management Guide," 1

Nov 95, pp 38-42, SD_5643.

Reports:

Rpt (U), AFSPC/CCSA, "(U) Congressional Track FY 00," 13 Dec 98, p 6, SD_4001.

Rpt (U), PACAF/A5PC, "(U) Trip Report - Pre-SATAF Meeting on F-22 Beddown," 31

Dec 07, SD_3099.

Special Orders: Joint Commands do not use G-series orders such as those used by the Army and

Air Force. However, if a G-series order is issued, it should be collected in the same way as Orders and Plan listed above.

SO GB-23 (U), 1 PW, 28 Feb 00, SD_0223.

SO GB-23 (U), HQ ACC, 28 Feb 00, SD_1012.

Staff Summary Sheets, Form 915s, and other administrative documents: These are documents used in staff packages to present information to leadership for their action.

SSS (U), AF/A5RM, "(U) Combat Search & Rescue Transfer Program Action Directive

(PAD) 06-06," 18 May 06, SD_2143.

Form 915 (S//DECL 20451001), USSTRATCOM J3, “(U) BTF Plan Approval,” 01 Oct

2015, SD_3040.

Studies:

Study (S//REL TO USA, AUS, CAN, GBR//DECL 20280922), AF/HO, (U) "Planning

Operation Enduring Freedom," Oct 02, pp 15-19.

Study (U), John X. Doe, "(U) Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,"

(USAF Historical Study 97, Sep 56), p 42.

Web Sites: Save Internet/SIPRNET web pages as one electronic file, with the file extension .PDF.

Beware of SIPRNET pages that do not contain required classification markings/declassification instructions.

Web Page (U), 100 ARW/PA, "(U) SECAF Visits RAF Mildenhall Troops," 18 Dec 03, accessed 26 Aug 15, SD_2056.

Multimedia Sources: WSV is weapons system video.

PURPOSES ONLY

Audio (U), John X. Doe, 89 FW/HO with Maj John X. Doe, 61 PS/DO, [un-transcribed interview on VIPER 21 strike mission], 6 Dec 14, SD_2024. NOTE: the historian could simply call this an interview and move on, but since this is an untranscribed interview, using audio is more descriptive.

WSV (S//NF//DECL 20440122), 888 FS/IN, [(U) weapons system video VIPER 21 strike mission], 22 Jan 2014, SD_2143.

Video (U), Col John X. Doe, 333 FW/CC, "(U) Commander's Town Hall Meeting on

Pending Reduction in Force," 10 Oct 14, SD_1043.

Photo (U), 333 PW/PA, "(U) Construction at Bldg 341-Simulator Facility," 27 Oct 14, SD_5013.

History Digital Structure

This guide is intended to help in the preparation of electronic histories. It is essential that historians produce reports which meet the standards necessary to facilitate accessioning the history into the archives. Most of the history will be written using Microsoft Office products. Once the final copy is complete and signed by the approving official, it will be converted to PDF and accessioned into the records management system and into the archive.

The Root Folder

The first step in writing the command history is creation of a root folder. The root folder will follow a standard naming convention of unit name, years included, and name of the commander whose history it covers. For example, “USSTRATCOM_History_20191118-

20221209_Richard.”

Within the root folder will be the case file structure discussed above in collection plan.

Sources will be collected within the case files. The main history files will follow. The first file will be the command history with the following filename: 0001_USSTRATCOM_History_20191118-

20221209_Richard. Always use an underscore in place of a space as a space translates into 3 actual characters. The files that follow will be most likely be the appendices (though there is an off-chance for items like the chronology). Each file that is a history file will be proceeded by a 4-digit number sequentially after the command history. This is to keep all the history documents together.

It is also to keep the root folder as flat as possible in case it is necessary to burn a history to DVD or some other requirement. When files are buried within multiple subfolders, filenames can be too long and become unstable.

Following the history, the sources used will be copied from their case file and pasted into the root folder. This will create duplicate copies, but that is acceptable. The root folder with the history and its source documents is one collection, while the case files are separate collections that must remain whole. If one document is pulled or moved from the collection in the case file, then that case file no longer contains a complete collection and it might be difficult to find the one document that is missing when doing research or answering a request for information.

PURPOSES ONLY

Source Document Numbering

Source documents will follow the history files in the root folder. When a source document is used in the history, it will be assigned a source document (SD) number, as shown in the footnote examples above. The source document will then be copied and pasted directly into the root folder and the assigned SD number will be the first part of the filename. This will enable historians to find documents quickly be matching the SD number in the footnote with the SD number in the filename. However, ensure the filename contains more than just the SD number. For instance, SD_0550_OPLAN_100 would be an appropriate filename. Provide the SD number while also providing some context for the content in the document.

While documents require sequential numbering, there is no requirement for consecutive file numbers in the history. The sequential numbering system allows the use of numbering blocks.

For example, file numbers 0000 - 0099 can be used for the history itself. The first number assigned to a supporting document falls after the number assigned to the last piece of the history (not necessarily the immediately following number). For instance, the historian could reserve 0200-

0300 for orders; 0400-0600 for documents cited only in the chronology; and so on. Also, offices with multiple historians might want to reserve a number block for each historian writing a separate chapter to streamline integration of the product at publication time.

Hyperlinks to Source Documents.

The periodic history is a reference tool and a guide to the supporting document collection.

Hyperlinking connects the reader to the sources cited. Therefore it is very important to ensure that if hyperlinks are used, each hyperlink takes the user to the correct document. However, any movement of files outside the root folder after a link is made will likely break the link. Because of this tendency to break, hyperlinks are optional.

PURPOSES ONLY

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

Assessment Criteria

Command histories and other history publications will be assessed by focusing on five key areas: Security, Content, Functionality, Format and Organization, and Grammar and Style.

Security

For classified reports, conduct an extensive review to ensure all portions, pages, overall markings, and the Security and Administrative Controls Page correctly identify classified material contained in the product. Prior to submitting the report to the Joint Staff any security errors found shall be corrected. For unclassified reports, identify and report any erroneous administrative markings for correction.

Content

The command history report is reviewed for content in several ways. First and foremost, the historian includes a solid collection of primary source documents. The history provides a comprehensive description of command activities related to mission accomplishments and challenges. Source citations substantiate the topics covered in the text. The reviewer needs to be familiar with the organizational mission in order to identify superficial content, shortfalls in coverage, and/or blatant inaccuracies.

Format and Organization

The format and arrangement of the components of the command history report follow the guidelines and intent established in this style guide and in the appropriated templates.

Grammar and Style

Review the history report for obvious grammatical errors, spelling errors, excessive or unexplained military jargon or acronyms and other significant stylistic problems.