Records Management and Declassification Agency Office Symbols GOOD AFTERNOON, My name is eve roberts, and I am going to talk about office symbols.

Office Symbols History Originally, office symbol policy was contained in AR 340-9, Office Symbols. AR 340-9 was rescinded in 1997 and construction procedures were incorporated into AR 25-1, Chapter 8. AR 25-59 was developed in Dec 04 and prescribes policies, procedures and responsibilities for the management and construction of office symbols. Current version, 14 August 2007. Publication has been revised and is currently in armywide staffing. AR 340-9 was the original office symbol regulation. In an attempt to reduce the amount of Army publications, regulations were consolidated. The office symbol regulation was one of them. It was rescinded in 1997 and the office symbol construction procedures were placed in AR 25-1. In 2003, when AR 25-1 was being revised we were informed that the proponent would be eliminating the office symbol portion, wanting only to point to the proper publication for reference. SO - AR 25-59 was developed and published in Dec 04. It is current as of Aug 07.

Office Symbols Office Symbols are used to: Identify the originators of correspondence; and denote the placement of an organization within the Army structure for historical and records purposes. Properly constructed office symbols are necessary to obtain approved office records lists (ORLs) and fully utilize and accurately file records in the Army Records Information Management System (ARIMS). Office symbols are used to identify the originators of correspondence as well as in some places, sort mail. The first four letters of an office symbol easily identifies what command/office correspondence is coming from. To properly file records in ARIMS, office symbols must be in the proper format. ARIMS has been modified to only allow properly constructed offices symbols, specifically in the 4-3-3 format.

Office Symbols Office Symbols are standardized, consisting of commonly used letter designations that are easily recognized. Examples: SASA – Secretary of the Army ATCG – Commanding General, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command AFCS – Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Forces Command ARNO-CG – Commander, U.S. Army North MCCG-EO – Equal Opportunity Office, U.S. Army Medical Command Only letters of the alphabet will be used. Constructing office symbols is a fairly easy process. For the States – NG and the state abbreviation would be the first four characters. There are a lot of commonly used letters - which should be used if possible – after the first four letters, the rest of the office symbol is up to the person constructing them. Army office symbols are made up of alpha characters only. Special characters are not used and neither are numbers. Numbers, specifically ONE and ZERO could be construed as an L or O. WHILE the States ARE complying with the IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCE, this week the SGS from NG headquarters called stating they will be revising all of headquarters office symbols. They too will finally be in compliance.

Office Symbols RMDA is the approval authority for Army Secretariat, Army Staff, and associated staff support agencies and field operating agencies, Army Commands, Army Service Component Commands and Direct Reporting Units. RMDA offers assistance to all Army commands to ensure regulatory compliance, uniformity, and accurate reflection of organizational alignment. All approved Army office symbols must be entered into the Army Addresses and Office Symbols Online (AAO) database: https://www.rmda.army.mil/AAO/Welcome.aspx. While working with the Army National Guards Records Manager last year – I volunteered to assist in revising the State office symbols. When looking over what some of the states were using, it was almost impossible to decipher what state it was or if it belonged to the National Guard at all. SO – to ensure uniformity, NG and the state abbreviation was determined to be the most accurate reflection of the organizational alignment for the National Guard States.

Office Symbols Example of constructing an HQDA office symbol HQDA Agency Directorate Division Branch Office symbols DA DCS, G-1 Plans, Resources & Operations Directorate Plans & Integration Division Combat Arms Branch PE DAPE -PR DAPE-PR P DAPE-PRP -CA DAPE-PRP-CA Example of constructing an HQDA Field Operating Agency office symbol Personnel Management Directorate Resource Management Division Manpower Management Branch CP PECP -MP PECP-MP R PECP-MPR -MM PECP-MRP-MM Now, if that was clear as mud, here is some animation to try to assist in understanding how office symbols are developed. the proper format for Army office symbols is 4 characters, hyphen, 3 characters, hyphen then up to 3 more characters. At no time can you have two characters in-between the hyphens – there must be 3.

Office Symbols Example of constructing a command (two letter designator) office symbol ACOM Agency Directorate Division Branch Office symbols AT – Army TRADOC DCS, G-8 DCS, G-8 Executive Officer DCS, G-8, Administrative Office RM ATRM -ZX ATRM-ZX A ATRM-ZXA Example of constructing a command (four letter designator) office symbol ASCC Agency Directorate Division Branch Office symbols ARSO – Army South Operational Sustainment, G-1 Reserve Affairs Division ARSO HR ARSO-HR -R ARSO-HRR

Proper construction of Army Office Symbols XXXX-XX STOP HERE for directorate level office symbols. There CANNOT be a dash after the sixth character XXXX-XXX STOP HERE for division level office symbols - if there are no branches - no dash after the seventh character XXXX-XXX-X branch level XXXX-XXX-XX branch/section level XXXX-XXX-XXX Here is another example of how to properly construct office symbols. This slide shows a directorate level, division level, two branch levels and two section levels – all that could be under one directorate.

Office Symbols Bottom Line Office Symbols are needed - To ensure regulatory compliance, uniformity, and accurate reflection of organizational alignment. Office symbols are designed to reflect organizational structures and levels of command. To identify the office of origin for correspondence. To obtain approved office records lists (ORLs) and fully utilize and accurately file and access records in the Army Records Information Management System (ARIMS). For standardization, only letters of the alphabet are use in office symbols.

Office Symbols Links: Contact: https://www.rmda.army.mil/ http://www.apd.army.mil/ https://www.rmda.army.mil/AAO/Welcome.aspx Contact: Eve Roberts / 703-428-6435 / eve.g.roberts.civ@mail.mil