report writing
[[report_writing]] last edit on
Jun 14, 2005
9:05 PM
by tbanys
REPORT WRITING: BRAVO FLEET
1. INTRODUCTION
What is a report? It is a type of document written by someone or a group of people. It is generally an account of an event, although some reports are simply published findings.
What is their purpose? It is the basis of communication and evaluation. It keeps one's superiors up to date on the ship status, as well as on all important ship-wide events. Also, it lets one keep track of the events, which is useful for internal crew evaluation later on. Without them, nobody would know what happens around and the Task Group, Force and the whole Bravo Fleet could not function effectively.
2. COMPOSITION
In order to accomplish the enumerated tasks, the reports should contain:
A) A header which precisely identifies the report, including the name of the ship, date and number.
B) A few lines of introduction.
C) A listing of more important month events, including transfers in and out of the ship.
D) Information about awards.
E) Information about promotions.
F) Information about competitions.
G) Information about the current mission of a ship.
H) Information about crew activity.
I) A complete duty roster with positions, ranks, names, e-mails and whatever else the COs sees fit.
J) Some basic statistics (like post number last month).
K) Links to more important resources.
L) Impartial crew/ship evaluation by another, most senior ship officer.
M) Recommendations to Command.
N) A precise signature.
O) Other - a ship's banner? New pictures? Other attachments?
In overall, it should be kept brief and yet informative. It helps to break these sections into specific points for easier viewing. It does make the difference.
As for the report format: It is best not to use virus-vulnerable formats, such as the infamous DOC. HTML or RTF will do more than well. A reasonably formatted ASCII text is also a way to do it.
A spell checker might come in handy. There's nothing more annoying than a garbled report, and a certain level of communication proficiency is required from a ship's Commanding Officer.
3. WHY TO BOTHER WHEN THERE IS A READILY-AVAILABLE REPORTING FORM?
To make the difference. The form represents a certain minimum, the very bottom of an informative report. It should not be used, however, unless in times of serious emergency when the CO cannot devote *any* time to the task.
However, it seems only fair to type up a short report via mail. Experienced COs manage to do so in half an hour. Surely, half an hour once a month is not much. And it does help everybody in the Task Force to know the ship and its ups and downs much better.
It can also show creativity, and motivation to be a good Commanding Officer. Keeping the low profile might have been good in medieval armies, but it is decidedly not enough nowadays.
4. MAYBE AN EXAMPLE? CHANGES?
Such a short course might indeed leave one unsure. And, supposedly, a picture is better than a thousand words. However, presenting examples is a short way to killing creativity, as less independent might simply carbon copy the template, which would work for a short term, but not for a longer one.
Simply, the ship changes over time. With the right CO it should evolve one way or another. Nothing is forever; a report template hardly is. Even though a certain format might become a standard, do not be afraid to expand it, or to change the way information is presented; do only keep in mind that eviscerating a report is not necessarily the best idea.
However, should you need help reporting, I'm here to help.
|OOOO| Captain James S. Wilk
Commanding Officer, Task Group Charlie
Commanding Officer, USS Cox (NCC-78612-A)
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1. INTRODUCTION
What is a report? It is a type of document written by someone or a group of people. It is generally an account of an event, although some reports are simply published findings.
What is their purpose? It is the basis of communication and evaluation. It keeps one's superiors up to date on the ship status, as well as on all important ship-wide events. Also, it lets one keep track of the events, which is useful for internal crew evaluation later on. Without them, nobody would know what happens around and the Task Group, Force and the whole Bravo Fleet could not function effectively.
2. COMPOSITION
In order to accomplish the enumerated tasks, the reports should contain:
A) A header which precisely identifies the report, including the name of the ship, date and number.
B) A few lines of introduction.
C) A listing of more important month events, including transfers in and out of the ship.
D) Information about awards.
E) Information about promotions.
F) Information about competitions.
G) Information about the current mission of a ship.
H) Information about crew activity.
I) A complete duty roster with positions, ranks, names, e-mails and whatever else the COs sees fit.
J) Some basic statistics (like post number last month).
K) Links to more important resources.
L) Impartial crew/ship evaluation by another, most senior ship officer.
M) Recommendations to Command.
N) A precise signature.
O) Other - a ship's banner? New pictures? Other attachments?
In overall, it should be kept brief and yet informative. It helps to break these sections into specific points for easier viewing. It does make the difference.
As for the report format: It is best not to use virus-vulnerable formats, such as the infamous DOC. HTML or RTF will do more than well. A reasonably formatted ASCII text is also a way to do it.
A spell checker might come in handy. There's nothing more annoying than a garbled report, and a certain level of communication proficiency is required from a ship's Commanding Officer.
3. WHY TO BOTHER WHEN THERE IS A READILY-AVAILABLE REPORTING FORM?
To make the difference. The form represents a certain minimum, the very bottom of an informative report. It should not be used, however, unless in times of serious emergency when the CO cannot devote *any* time to the task.
However, it seems only fair to type up a short report via mail. Experienced COs manage to do so in half an hour. Surely, half an hour once a month is not much. And it does help everybody in the Task Force to know the ship and its ups and downs much better.
It can also show creativity, and motivation to be a good Commanding Officer. Keeping the low profile might have been good in medieval armies, but it is decidedly not enough nowadays.
4. MAYBE AN EXAMPLE? CHANGES?
Such a short course might indeed leave one unsure. And, supposedly, a picture is better than a thousand words. However, presenting examples is a short way to killing creativity, as less independent might simply carbon copy the template, which would work for a short term, but not for a longer one.
Simply, the ship changes over time. With the right CO it should evolve one way or another. Nothing is forever; a report template hardly is. Even though a certain format might become a standard, do not be afraid to expand it, or to change the way information is presented; do only keep in mind that eviscerating a report is not necessarily the best idea.
However, should you need help reporting, I'm here to help.
|OOOO| Captain James S. Wilk
Commanding Officer, Task Group Charlie
Commanding Officer, USS Cox (NCC-78612-A)