CAP Emails

Reference CAPP 1-2, The Civil Air Patrol Guide to effective communication, 07 Nov 16.

Formulating a Civil Air Patrol email is an important and effective way of communicating in CAP.  As with everything we do, there are rules and a standardized way for formulating emails. Follow the guidleines below when writting a CAP email. 

Salutation

Begin every email with a salutation. Salutations will be formulated beginning witht the time of day. E.g. Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening. You will then put the term of address and persons last name. "Lt Talley", "Chief Burns", "Sgt Smith". A salutation to multiple people can include the name of the unit or the term "Ladies and Gentlemen," always close a salutation with a comma.

A fully formed example of a salutation will look like so: "Good Morning Lt Jenkins," "Good Evening Bravo Flight," "Good Afternoon Mr. Appleseed,"

Body

Body paragraphs should be concise and get straight to the point, no one likes reading long emails. Do not indent the beginning of body paragraphs. Be sure to proofread all sentences for proper spelling, syntax, and grammar. 

Signature

After formulating your last body paragraph leave a space and include one of the two following closing statments: "Semper Vigilans," or "Very Respectfully," then follow these guidelines for the actual signature 

To copy and paste examples into your email service, follow this link CAP Signature Block

1. Email signature blocks are written using 12-point font.

2. Put your name in the following format "Grade First Last”. for example "Cadet Staff Sgt. John Doe"

3. CAP grades should be abbreviated in external style with periods "Cadet 1st Lt." "Cadet Col." etc

4. The unit and duty assignment should be on one line and written out. For example:

   1. 45th Composite Squadron Bravo Flight Sergeant

5. You may list one extra duty assignment in order of precedence on a separate line (i.e. Cadet Deputy Commander listed before Cadet Logistics Officer)

6. The accepted convention for phone numbers is to use a hyphen, for example, 555-123-4567.

7. The next line is "Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary"

8. The CAP website (GoCivilAirPatrol.com) goes directly under the “U.S. Air Force Auxiliary” text (note: use “U.S.” to align with Air Force style).

9. A unit website may be added after the CAP website. https://ca007.cap.gov/