very important that you remember to take care in the actual typing of correspondence. The quality of the correspondence sent out by your office not only reflects upon you as the typist, but also affects the impression others have of your office and command. We will now look at the requirements for the prepa- ration  of  the  different  types  of  official  correspondence mentioned  previously. Standard Letter Use the standard letter to correspond officially with activities in the Department of Defense (DOD). You can also  use  the  standard  letter  when  corresponding  with organizations outside the DOD if they have adopted the format. Outside users include the Coast Guard and some contractors who deal extensively with the Navy and Marine Corps. For instructions on how to prepare and examples  of  properly  prepared  standard  letters,  refer  to the Correspondence  Manual,  chapter 2. Multiple-Address Letter Use the multiple-address letter when you have more than one action addressee. Except for its handling of addressees, the multiple-address letter is the same as the standard letter. For instructions on the preparation of and samples of properly prepared multiple-address letters, refer to the Correspondence Manual,  chapter 3. Endorsement When a letter comes to your activity because you are a via addressee, prepare an endorsement rather than another letter. You can use either a same-page endorse- ment  or  a  new-page  endorsement  as  shown  in  the Correspondence  Manual,  chapter 4. Many endorse- ments  simply  forward  letters  without  substantive comment to the next via addressee, if any, or to the action addressee; however, other possibilities exist. An endorsement may either comment on the basic letter or any earlier endorsement. An endorsement may alter the order of any remaining via addressees or add others. An endorsement may return the basic letter with a final reply or a request for more information. Memorandum A  memorandum  provides  an  informal  way  to  cor- respond within an activity or between several activities. Subordinates may use a memorandum to correspond directly with each other on routine business. You may not use a memorandum to issue directives. Examples of 1-2 memorandums are shown in the Correspondence  Man- ual, chapter 6. Business Letter Use the business letter to correspond with agencies or individuals outside the Department of the Navy (DON) who are unfamiliar with the standard letter. You may also use the business letter for official correspon- dence  between  individuals  within  the  DON  when  the occasion calls for a personal approach. Instructions for the proper preparation and samples of business letters are shown in the Correspondence Manual,  chapter 7. Message Messages are the quickest form of written commu- nication in the Navy. Our telecommunications system is designed to get time-sensitive or critical information to addressees rapidly for effective use of information. There are four types of classified and unclassified narrative  messages:   single-address,  multiple-address, book, and general messages. A  message  that  has  only  one  addressee,  either action (TO) or information (INFO), is a single-address message. A  message  that  has  two  or  more  addressees, whether action or information, and is of such a nature the drafter considers that each addressee should know the  other  recipients  is  a  multiple-address  message. A  message  that  is  destined  for  two  or  more addressees, but is of such a nature the drafter considers that no addressee need or should he informed of the other addressee(s), is a book message. General  messages  are  designed  to  meet  recurring requirements for the issuing of information to a wide, predetermined  standard  distribution.  General  messages are  titled;  for  example,  ALCOM,  ALMILACT,  or NAVOP. Because the title indicates the distribution, it serves as the address designator in the address line of the  message  heading. General  administrative  (GENADMIN)  is  the  for- mat  used  for  most  narrative  messages,  with  the  only exception being those narrative messages that a publi- cation, instruction, or directive requires a different format. Refer to the  Telecommunications  Users  Man- ual, NTP 3(I), Annex C, regarding the rules and general regulations for the preparation of the GENADMIN message  format.