Hey folks, I've been doing quite a bit of research into writing my application letters, and I've chosen to apply for an NROTC scholarship. When writing my essays for the application, I wasn't sure if capitalization is a norm for military terms. I mean, are military branches and ranks typically capitalized? I don't know if there's an official rule about this, and I want everything to be perfect. Thanks for the help!
It's great that you are taking such care with your application letter and NROTC scholarship application to ensure everything is correct. When it comes to military branches and ranks, capitalization rules tend to follow standard grammatical rules.
You should capitalize military ranks when they come before an individual’s name as a title. For example, "Admiral John Smith" or "Sergeant Jane Doe." However, if you are referencing the rank without a name (i.e., in general), there is typically no need for capitalization, for example, "I aspire to become a lieutenant."
Regarding military branches, if you're mentioning them specifically, such as "United States Air Force" or "U.S. Navy", then they should be capitalized. However, if you're using them in a general sense such as "navy" or "army", they're typically written in lowercase.
Remember though, always be consistent with your usage throughout your application.
CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.