FLETCHER, SGT. The outline of the whole message construction, then, would be as follows:— { 1. Name of sending detachment. { 2. Location of sending detachment (place). THE HEADING { 3. The Date. { 4. The Hour of Issue. { 5. The Number of the Message. { 1. Enemy. { 1. To whom sent. { 2. Your own troops. THE BODY { 2. The body proper. { 3. Terrain. { 4. Your plan. THE ENDING—THE SIGNATURE { 1. Surname. { 2. Rank. The message we have composed, when assembled, would appear as follows: Combat Patrol, 318th Infantry, Cross Roads 500 yds. south of CLINTON SCHOOL HOUSE. No. 3. 9 Jan. 18. 9-45 a. m. To Commanding Officer Advance Guard, 71st Brigade: Squadron of enemy’s Cavalry encamped in meadow 600 yards southeast of here. Our officer’s patrol, which we met at ZION CHURCH at 8-10 a. m., reported two regiments enemy’s infantry intrenched at railroad one mile south of here. Tail of our second battalion at PARKSBURG steel bridge 7-20 a. m. Battalion was marching south. MARTIN’S CREEK unfordable at any point between SMITH’S CORNERS and GREENSBURG. Will move southeast from here along creek bed in order to complete mission. FLETCHER, SGT. (See sketch reverse side.) Caution.—Remember that “your own troops” means friendly supporting troops and not the troops of which you are in immediate command. CHAPTER III PROBLEMS IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE FIELD MESSAGE “An intrinsically good tactical exercise,” says Griepenkerl,[2] “loses by _faulty composition_ and careless or illegible handwriting.... A rambling mode of expression, a long-winded, elaborate style, is unmilitary. Therefore, test your order to see whether you cannot cross out some superfluous word, or whether you cannot think of some shorter and more suitable mode of expression; _grudge every word_.” But he goes on to say in another place that clearness takes precedence over brevity; “therefore, rather use a long expression where a shorter one might be misunderstood. _Brevity must never lead to superficiality._” Griepenkerl was speaking of orders. Yet our Field Service Regulations state that “most of the rules adopted to secure clearness in orders apply equally to messages.”