The last version of “The Tongue and Quill,” known formally as Air Force Handbook 33-337, was published in 1997 with 100,000 printed copies. McBride and a team of researchers in the department of communications studies at ACSC started work on the revision in 2000. “I encourage customers to use the feedback sheet found in the book to make suggestions that will help us produce a better product in the future.” “I often get e-mails and feedback sheets from people saying, ‘Sharon, we aren’t doing it that way anymore,’” she said. Many changes came from reader feedback and from talking with people who do a lot of writing and public speaking, Ms. Revisions include improved organization of the information, a rearranged layout, updated quotes, art and word lists, and new information on writing and speaking such as persuasive communications, meetings, briefings and electronic communications. “Within a couple of years, the Air Force decided the ‘T and Q’ was valuable as an all-encompassing guide for the Department of Defense, and because it was born here, it stayed here.”įor the most part, the 2004 edition retains most of the writing and speaking tips of past editions. “School officials liked the work so well they continued using the paper as a course study project,” she said. A hardcopy version will not be published.
The latest revision of the handbook is now available online, said Sharon McBride, an ACSC writer and editor who headed the revision effort. Hank Staley submitted as his research paper the first version of what is now “The Tongue and Quill.” In 1975, then-Air Command and Staff College student Maj. (AFPN) - What started as a research paper here nearly 30 years ago has become the Air Force’s leading reference on writing and speaking.