I was helping a colleague edit a document on U.S. Navy policies this week, and talking with her about which style guide we should follow — GPO, Chicago, or AP.
Then, lo, a brief online search revealed . . . the U.S. Navy Style Guide! Who’d a thunk it?
Interestingly, the guide advises readers to use the AP Stylebook rather than GPO as a secondary reference. We tried this, but found that many Navy-specific terms, such as shipbuilder or linecrew, weren’t address in AP but were in GPO.
Thus, our style took a winding road: we looked first at the U.S. Navy Guide for style guidance, then at AP, and then at GPO.
Somehow it all worked out. Because ultimately, which style you choose is less important than making sure that a style — any style — is implemented consistently across your document. And that’s what we did.
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