text: Chapter 1
  Instructions
  REPORT AND MESSAGE FORMATS
  1-1. The report and message formats in FM 6-99 help users prepare and manually transmit written and
  voice reports and messages. Each format provides an organized template to record, pass, and store
  information. To send a formatted voice message, operators fill in the appropriate blanks on the required
  message template and read the message over the radio or telephone. The receiver knows the received message
  type and can easily record the information in the proper format.
  1-2. FM 6-99 enables standardization of battlefield reporting across all levels of command and throughout
  different types of units. Every format listed in this publication operates as a voice message format.
  Standardized voice formats permit a unit to exchange information regardless of the unit’s level of
  communication infrastructure. Future digital formats will evolve from those found in FM 6-99.
  MESSAGE ORGANIZATION
  1-3. All voice report and message formats consist of three main parts: heading, body, and conclusion. Figure
  1-1 on page 1-2 shows a sample message, including parts of the message.
  1-4. The heading is the administrative portion of the format. It identifies the message source and type. The
  heading contains the message addressee, originator, precedence, and classification, if required. All report and
  message formats in FM 6-99 are unclassified when blank. The unit commander or standard operating
  procedures determine the classification of a completed message. The sender includes the completed heading
  when sending both hardcopy and voice messages.
  1-5. The body contains information the originator sends to the addressee. In a properly prepared message,
  the information is in the line-by-line format established for the message type. This information exchange is
  the focus of FM 6-99.
  1-6. The conclusion consists of the message authentication. An authentication is normally an alphanumeric
  code from the unit signal operating instructions. If the originator requests an acknowledgement, the addressee
  replies by transmitting the—
  (cid:122) Prowords “will comply” (WILCO).
  (cid:122) Lines 1 and 2 of the message being acknowledged.
  (cid:122) Proword “OUT.”
  If the originator requires an acknowledgement and read back, the addressee replies by transmitting—
  (cid:122) “WILCO.”
  (cid:122) Lines for which the read back is required.
  (cid:122) Proword “OUT.”