5. Standard Subject Identification Code (SSIC)
a. This four or five-digit number, which represents a letter’s subject, helps to file and retrieve correspondence and eventually dispose of it. To find the SSIC that most closely represents your subject, check SECNAVINST 5210.11C, Department of the Navy File Maintenance Procedures and Standard Subject Identification Codes (SSIC). A brief discussion of the SSIC follows later in this chapter.
b. If in reply refer to is printed on your activity’s letterhead paper, type the SSIC on the next line. If in reply refer to is not printed, type the SSIC on the second line below the letterhead, starting 2 inches or more from the right edge of the paper. The longest sender’s symbol should end close to the right margin.
6. Originator’s Code by Itself or in a Serial Number a. Usually, the originator’s code is the office symbol of the drafter, but it may be the hull number of a ship. In any case, local activities decide the makeup of an originator’s code. Put it on all letters, either by itself or as part of a serial number.
b. All classified correspondence created by your activity must be given serial numbers. Whether your unclassified correspondence also is serialized depends on local practice. An activity that uses serial numbers starts a new sequence of numbers at the start of each new calendar year and assigns numbers consecutively.
c. On letters without serial numbers, type the originator’s code immediately under the SSIC. On letters with serial numbers, type (1) Ser (no punctuation, one space after Ser), (2) originator’s code, (3) / (no spaces around slant), (4) classification, if any ( C for Confidential, S for Secret, T for Top Secret), and (5) next unused serial number for the current calendar year. Example: Ser CVN 68-ENG/C20.
7. Dates
a. Date all copies of a letter. Type or stamp the date on the same day the correspondence is signed. Leave out the date when preparing correspondence that will be signed on a later day or in another office. Follow a day-month-year order without punctuation. Use the first three letters of the month and the last two digits of the year. Variations are allowed for date stamps.
b. Also abbreviate months and years in any heading of a letter. Spell out months and years, however, in the text of a letter. In the text, the year may be omitted when it is understood.
8. Classification Markings
a. The security classification designation TOP SECRET, SECRET, or CONFIDENTIAL is stamped in the center of the top and bottom margins of the letter. Also type the classification above the from block at the left margin, as well as at the upper left and lower right on the back of the last page.
b. When typing an unclassified letter that has a classified enclosure, type the following above the from line: CONFIDENTIAL— Unclassified upon removal of enclosure (1). Then show whether the title of the enclosure is classified or not when citing the document in the enclosure block: Encl: (1) Listing of Deployed Ships (U).
9. From Block
a. As a general rule, give your commanding officer’s title, your activity’s name, and, for a command based ashore, its geographic location (without the state or ZIP Code). The precise wording comes from one of the following:
(1) SNDL, Part 1 (Operating Forces) OPNAV P09B2-107
(2) SNDL, Part 2 and Catalog of Naval Shore Activities (SNDL CAT) OPNAV P09B2-105
(3) List of Marine Corps Activities, MCO P5400.6
If a one-of-a-kind title adequately identifies a commanding officer and the officer’s activity, the location is unnecessary (Chief of Naval Operations). By contrast, some commands prefer an entire mailing address to aid in replies and to ensure that the originator’s identification appears on copies without letterheads.
b. Type From: at the left margin on the second line below the date. Two spaces follow the colon.
10. To Block
a. Address correspondence to the commanding officer of an activity as if composing a from block. Give a complete mailing address, ZIP Code included, if you will use a window envelope (see Fig. 10-2).
