CAS3 Staff Officer Guide - U.S. Army

9.5 Information Paper
Information Paper
© 2005 CAS3 For Instructional Purposes Only
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Correspondence 92
a. Use. Information papers are not correspondence subject to the format guidelines of AR
25-50. Information papers provide a summary of facts concerning an issue, action, or conference.
Use an information paper instead of a fact sheet when the reader is not familiar with the subject.
Present the information in complete sentences—do not use bullets. A facts-only information paper
presents facts only. An interpreted-facts information paper adds a conclusion to the facts.
b. General format. Rarely should the information paper exceed one page in length. The top,
bottom, and right margins are 1-inch margins. The left margin is 1.25 inches to allow for hole
punching. Use the standard Times New Roman 12 font and, unless otherwise noted, left justify.
c. Header information. Using right justification, type the proponent office symbol on the top
line; type the date one line below the office symbol. Type Information Paper (bold and
underlined), centered, two lines below the date.
d. Subject. Type SUBJECT: (all caps with colon), left justified, two lines below Information
Paper, followed by a short subject title. Capitalize the first letter of the key words in the title.
e. Paragraph headings. Number the paragraphs. Do not bold, underline, or italicize the
paragraph headings.
f. Paragraph AutoFormat. Set your AutoFormat functions so that the second and following lines
of each paragraph and subparagraph return to the left margin.
g. Paragraph 1, Purpose. In one concise statement, state the reason for preparing the document
in the infinitive form (e.g., “To…”).
h. Paragraph 2, Discussion Points. Use lettered subparagraphs and full sentences to present
discussion points. Keep the text in this paragraph short, to the point, and easy to read. To add
supporting information to a lettered subparagraph, use (1), (2), etc., as in the memorandum format.
i. Paragraph 3, Conclusion. For a facts-only information paper, delete this paragraph. Include
this paragraph in the interpreted-facts information paper to present a deduced conclusion in a full
sentence.
j. Second page format. Should the information paper exceed one page, type both the header and
page number the same way as for subsequent pages of a memorandum.
k. Coordination. Left justify any coordination in the paper’s lower left corner. Type Coord: on
the second line below the last line of the conclusion paragraph. On the subsequent lines, type the
rank, last name, and office symbol of any activity or activities with whom the action officer
coordinated.
l. Point of contact (POC) and approval authority. Type the action officer’s rank and last name,
office symbol, and DSN phone number on the second line below the last line of the discussion
paragraph (same line as Coord:). Type the POC’s e-mail address on the next line. Type the rank and
name of the supervisor releasing the information paper to higher headquarters on the line below the
POC information. For information papers prepared for the command group, the approval authority is