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Written by Everett Bledsoe / Fact checked by Brain Bartell
There are many things that you need to learn for a smooth transition back into civilian life. One of those things is how to write a retired military signature. You will also need to know and remember small rules, like capitalizing military rank in a sentence. Fortunately, this guide on “How do you write retired military rank and name?” curates everything you need to know.
By the end, you should be able to write military rank and name retired and abbreviate retired military rank without having to pause or second-guess yourself. If you are not a veteran reading this, you will be able to respectfully and appropriately address retired military members.
Table of Contents
The proper way to write retired military rank differs depending on where you are addressing the veteran.
Here is how to write for the address block of an email or letter or an envelope:
For example,
However, when and where the address block of an email or letter or an envelope is used also plays a role.
Official correspondence or situation is when the veteran’s participation is related to service in the military, and vice versa for social correspondence or situations.
Similarly, rank is always included in social situations for oral addressing but may or may not be in official situations. Again, it relies on whether the situation is directly related to the veteran’s service in the military.
Note: Rank is not included when the veteran leaves service before his/her designated retirement, even if he/she was discharged under honorable conditions.
In any case, however, abbreviations can be used. They are more commonly referred to as service specific abbreviations. Thanks to them, it is possible to identify a member of the Armed Forces at first glance. Anyone—civilian military personnel—can use them at any time.
The abbreviations are by rank (From highest to lowest) for each military branch, as follows:
STANDARD STYLEThe U.S Army
The U.
S Navy
The U.
S Marine Corps
The U.S Air Force
The U.
S Coast Guard
Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force
Navy & Coast Guard
Enlisted Ranks:
Army
Maj. of the ArmyMarine Corps
Air Force
Note: Service specific abbreviations can be used to address retired reservists, using the formula: (Rank) (Full Name), (Abbreviation for Service Branch), Retired/Ret.
For example, you would write retired army rank like this: GEN Tom Smith, USA, Retired.
That wraps up our article on “How do you write retired military rank and name?” Hopefully, you have picked up a lot of useful information. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us in the comments.
We would love to hear from you!
Everett Bledsoe
I am Everett Bledsoe, taking on the responsibility of content producer for The Soldiers Project. My purpose in this project is to give honest reviews on the gear utilized and tested over time. Of course, you cannot go wrong when checking out our package of information and guide, too, as they come from reliable sources and years of experience.
See List of All ‘How To Address’ Posts
On this page:
___How to Address Retired Military (See below)
___Retired or Ret.? – Spelled Out or Abbreviated?
___Retired – In Parentheses of Not?
How to Address Retired Officers or Enlisted Personnel
United States Armed Services
—-Envelope or address block on letter or email:
—-—-(Full rank) (full name), USA/USAF/USMC, Retired
—-—-(Address)
—-—-—-or
——–—-(Full rank) (full name), USA/USAF/USMC, Ret.
——–—-(Address)
—-—-—-
—-—-(Full rank) (full name), USN/USCG, Retired
—-—-(Address)
—-—-—-or
—-——–(Full rank) (full name), USN/USCG, Ret.
——–—-(Address)
——–—-Which looks like ….
—-——–—-Captain Robert W. Thompson, USN, Retired
——–—-—-(Address)
——–—-———or
——–—-—-Captain Robert W. Thompson, USN, Ret.
—-—-—-—-(Address)
—-Envelope, Social:
—-—-(Full rank) (full name)
—-—-(Address)
—-—-Which looks like ….
How To Address Retired US Military
—-—-—-Captain Robert W. Thompson
—-—-—-(Address)
—-Letter salutation both official and social: How To Address Retired US Military
–——-Dear (basic rank) (surname):
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
—-#1) The branch of service designation – USA, USMC, USN, USAF or USCG – and “Retired” or “Ret.” are used on official correspondence and in official situations when it is important to specify the person is retired and is not on active duty.
—-#2) The service designation and retired are not used on social correspondence or in social situations. Fully retired personnel are orally addressed by rank at their preference in (1) social situations and (2) official situations when their participation is related to their service in the military.
—-#3) In every case the service-specific abbreviation for the (full rank) can be used. These service-specific abbreviations are standard usage within the armed services.
—-#4) Follow this link for how to socially address a military couple.
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
We have been struggling with setting up consistent prefixes and suffixes in our database for our military grads.
—-#1) For retired service folks should we spell our “Retired” or use the “Ret.” abbreviation?
—-#2) Is there a comma after the branch of service or is it “USN Ret.”
–––––––––––––––— Development Office, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
Dear Fund Raiser: How To Address Retired US Military
For official correspondence DOD guides use the comma … and either Ret. or Retired is acceptable.
The show two formulas:
——–(Rank) (Full Name), (Branch of Service), (Retired)
——–(Rank) (Full Name), (Branch of Service), (Ret.)
——–Brigadier General Arthur Portnow, USA, Retired
——–Brigadier General Arthur Portnow, USA, Ret.
You may want to consider for your database using the service-specific abbreviations for the ranks:
—-—-BG Arthur Portnow, USA, Retired
—-—-BG Arthur Portnow, USA, Ret.
DOD people like the service-specific abbreviations because they will know a BG is in the Army, and a BGen is a Marine. All those service-specific abbreviations … for the USA, USN, USMC, USAF and USCG …. are in my book and elsewhere. If you want to use them – do so. If you don’t, just spell out the rank fully.
Note that the branch of service and retired status may not be necessary for what you are doing:
–—-#1) On social correspondence (personal letters, invitations or cards) – active duty vs.
retired status – and branch of service … are not pertinent … and thus not suggested in DOD guides.
–—-#2) On official correspondence branch of service and Retired are pertinent — and are used whenever in military environments where active duty personnel are present.
— Robert Hickey How To Address Retired US Military
Regarding your advice to write one’s name when retired.
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, (Ret.)
With parentheses as shown above is the correct way to signify for retirees — not as you advise.
––––––––––––––––— T.R.
Dear TR:
Thanks for your note, but the DoD style books disagree with you. Either of these forms is correct if you follow those.
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, Retired
––––––MSgt Trevor Ross, USAF, Ret.
Here’s why: DoD stylebooks suggest:
––––––(Rank) (Name), (Branch of Service), (Retired)
––––––(Rank) (Name), (Branch of Service), (Ret.
)
Every protocol officer I’ve polled (and that is a large number including the offices of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Secretaries of all the services) says the DoD stylebook is not suggesting to include parentheses around Ret. anymore than it is suggesting to put parentheses around the (Rank) or (Name).
So while I agree you do see people using the parentheses around Ret. – I present the style suggested by the protocol officers at the top of the Pentagon …. and they all say “no parentheses.”
— Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
You can use these forms of address for any mode of communication: addressing a letter, invitation, card or Email. (If there are differences between the official and social forms of address, I will have mentioned the different forms.) The form noted in the salutation is the same form you say when you say their name in conversation or when you greet them.
___What I don’t cover on this site are many things I do cover in my book: all the rules of forms of address, about names, international titles, precedence, complimentary closes, details on invitations, place cards, all sorts of introductions, etc. I hope you’ll get a copy of the book if you’d like the further detail.
—-#1) At right on desktops, at the bottom of every page on tablets and phones, is a list of all the offices, officials & topics covered on the site.
—-#2) If you don’t see the official you seek included or your question answered send me an e-mail. I am pretty fast at sending a reply: usually the next day or so (unless I am traveling.) Note: I don’t have mailing or Email addresses for any of the officials and I don’t keep track of offices that exist only in history books.
—-#3) If I think your question is of interest to others, Sometimes I post the question – but always change all the specifics.
— Robert Hickey
Robert Hickey author of “Honor & Respect”
Recommended Resources: The Protocol School of Washington (PSOW) and Protocol and Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (PDI-POA) For more information see the Protocol Resources page.
Robert Hickey2021-08-28T14:10:40-04:00Abbess Abbot
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vs. Ms.
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Physician, MD
Place Cards, Names on
Plaque, Name on a
Podiatrist
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Pope Catholic
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Post-Nominal Abbreviations
Postmaster General
Postmaster Local
Presbyter Christian Orthodox
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Priest Catholic
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Principal
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Professor, Email
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In order for the due payment to be assigned in full and on time, citizens retiring within the next two years are already recommended to apply to the Pension Fund for a preliminary assessment of pension rights.
In 2022, women will be eligible for an insurance pension when they reach the age of 56 years and 6 months. and men - 61 years and 6 months. At the same time, it is necessary to have at least 13 years of insurance experience and the value of the individual pension coefficient (IPC) of at least 23.4. nine0008
When applying to the Pension Fund, future pensioners must submit all the documents they have confirming their pension rights (documents on periods of work, military service, study, salary information, etc.). If some documents are missing, then PFR specialists help citizens send requests to archives, to the competent authorities of foreign states or to organizations where a person previously worked, and, if necessary, correct and clarify his individual personal account. nine0005
Practice shows that many citizens apply for a payment when they reach retirement age. And it is not uncommon for documents provided for the appointment of a pension not always to meet the requirements imposed on them by law.
For example, there are uncertified corrections in the work book, there are no seals and signatures, information about the renaming or reorganization of the enterprise has not been entered, there are no documents confirming the change in surnames after the conclusion or dissolution of marriage, etc. In this regard, the fund's specialists help to request information and missing documents in the relevant authorities. nine0005
Sometimes it takes more than one month to request documents and verify information, so citizens are advised to apply to the Pension Fund in advance - 24 months before the retirement age, taking into account its increase.
- You can submit an application for a pension and documents not only in person, but also through the organization in which the citizen works. Personnel services are well aware of this process, and for the employees themselves, the interaction of the Pension Fund and the employer guarantees the reliability of the information we receive, ”says Evgenia Naidina, head of the department for organizing early work of the Office for Establishing Pensions of the OPFR in the Amur Region.
nine0005
The very same application for a pension, as before, is submitted 1 month before reaching the retirement age, taking into account its increase. This can be done in the client services of the Pension Fund of the Amur Region, Multifunctional Centers, through the employer, but the easiest and fastest way is in your personal account on the public services portal, or on the PFR website. Here you can also choose the method of delivery of the pension - through post offices, or credit organizations (in this case, you need to open a bank account). nine0005
Note that since 2022, the Pension Fund has begun to proactively inform citizens about pension rights in terms of old-age insurance pensions and pension savings. Notifications are sent to men over 45 and women over 40 to their personal account on the public services portal.
Proactive information allows citizens to assess their pension rights in advance and, if necessary, take steps to increase them, clarify periods of service and the amount of pension coefficients, and learn about the amount of pension savings formed in the Pension Fund.
nine0005
OPFR Call Center for the Amur Region — 8 800 600 02 38 (toll-free), 8 (4162) 202-400. Operators consult on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Developments PFR is always striving to make its services more accessible. This also applies to the appointment of a pension - a citizen can choose the most beneficial option for applying for a pension, based on their own preferences and capabilities. nine0005
For the appointment of an insurance pension (for old age, disability, loss of a breadwinner) you can contact:
In 2017, 10,390 such applications were registered in the client services of the PFR in the Murmansk region.
Last year, 204 applications for a pension were sent by mail. nine0005
In 2017, 246 people applied for a pension through the MFC. nine0005
175 people applied for a pension through their employer last year.
You can also apply for a pension directly through the Unified Portal of Public Services. In the Murmansk region, 1280 citizens used this method.
Citizens can apply for a pension at any time after the right to it arises without any time limits.
At the same time, an application for an old-age pension may be accepted by the territorial body of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation even before the citizen reaches the retirement age, but not earlier than a month before reaching the appropriate age. However, this does not apply to citizens applying for early retirement as pedagogical or medical workers.
