This has nothing to do with Maritime or National Security. In a recent interview with The Hill, the reporter asked Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus the following question.
The Hill: What are some of your major priorities for
next year and beyond.
SecNav: The main thing I am always going to focus on is taking care of sailors and Marines and their families.
Why was Sailor lowercase and not capitalized? The short answer is the Associated Press (AP)
Style Guide does not allow it and the AP Style Guide (currently called the
StyleBook) is the major reference for print media. The Military Times Newspapers, publishers of
Navy Times even uses lower case.
Why does the Navy capitalize Sailor? In 1996 after the death of Admiral Arleigh Burke, the CNO sent NAVADMIN 96-02 that stated henceforth the word Sailor would be capitalized in all U. S. Navy correspondence in his honor. Arleigh Burke-Sailor.
In 2006, the editor of the AP Style Guide, Norm Goldstein,
refused to entertain the idea that Sailor should be capitalized. Even when presented
with a recommendation that narrowed the scope to capitalize the word only in reference to a member of the United States Navy, he refused to consider it.
It is time for a change.
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