American Army or American army?

[Dog Moon]

Note: I just used American for ease of reference.

Okay, take the followeding sentences.

'"Death to the American Army!" the man yelled' or 'He watched as the American army walked across the plains before him, directly into the ambush'

Is the word Army ever capitolized? If so, when?

And IIRC, any time a castle or other place is used within a title, it is capitolized, right? So:
The castle was named Orion Castle would be correct.

 

[Zander]

The British army guards Edinburgh Castle.

 

[ClashmoreDave]

Not being in the military, I think what the standard is: if you refer to the Army as a whole (everything in it, from the people at the Pentagon to the guys doing KP), its capitalized. However, there are subdivisions called armies (think Patton). I'm not sure if we currently have a unit designated an army, or if its more of larger unit put together when lots of divsions or corps are operating together.
I'm sure a military guy will jump in soon and correct any errors on my part, but hopefully that is enough to get you started.

 

[Umbran]

Is the word Army ever capitolized? If so, when?

And IIRC, any time a castle or other place is used within a title, it is capitolized, right? So:
The castle was named Orion Castle would be correct.

Proper names are capitalized.

So when you use it as the name of the organization, you refer to the US Army or US Navy. When you are referring to a bunch of men on the ground with guns, and not naming the whole organization, you'd use the lower case.

Castle names are proper names, and so should be capitalized.

And, just for completeness - the place where your government sits is a capitol building. The upper case is a capital letter.

 

[Dog Moon]

Proper names are capitalized.

So when you use it as the name of the organization, you refer to the US Army or US Navy. When you are referring to a bunch of men on the ground with guns, and not naming the whole organization, you'd use the lower case.

Castle names are proper names, and so should be capitalized.

And, just for completeness - the place where your government sits is a capitol building. The upper case is a capital letter.

Ahh, so using American, I would use American Army like US Army, but I would use American army if I was saying that the army was made up of Americans. Gotcha.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Also, just as an asides, it is now proper to capitalize the terms Soldier, Sailor, Marine and Airman (men). The Department of Defense memo to the AP wire stated that when these terms are used in deference to US forces you should capitalize.

So - "The Soldiers stormed the Al'Quada bunker and wiped them out, taking no prisoners." would be correct. "I am a Soldier in the Army of righteous babes and cool dudes", would not.

 

[Voadam]

Also, just as an asides, it is now proper to capitalize the terms Soldier, Sailor, Marine and Airman (men). The Department of Defense memo to the AP wire stated that when these terms are used in deference to US forces you should capitalize.

So - "The Soldiers stormed the Al'Quada bunker and wiped them out, taking no prisoners." would be correct. "I am a Soldier in the Army of righteous babes and cool dudes", would not.

Who cares what the Department of Defense said in a memo or considers correct? DoD does not set journalism style. President when not part of a title is lower case, soldier should not be different. And especially not a different style when referring to American versus allied soldiers. Did the AP adopt the usage?

 

[Infiniti2000]

Who cares what the Department of Defense said in a memo or considers correct? DoD does not set journalism style.

It's not journalism style. It's what they prefer to be called. Just like you prefer "Voadam" instead of "voadam." Other people with on-line names aren't capitalized, like "werk" or "irdeggman".

The DoD wants it to be "US Army" and "Soldier" and etc. If you choose to ignore their preference, you intentionally ignore their desire and insult them. Whether the individual Soldiers mind is irrelevant (I'm sure many of them don't care).

 

[Krieg]

For the record Marine has always been capitalized. As usual the rest of the herd is just playing follow the leader.

 

[DanMcS]

Also, just as an asides, it is now proper to capitalize the terms Soldier, Sailor, Marine and Airman (men). The Department of Defense memo to the AP wire stated that when these terms are used in deference to US forces you should capitalize.

So - "The Soldiers stormed the Al'Quada bunker and wiped them out, taking no prisoners." would be correct. "I am a Soldier in the Army of righteous babes and cool dudes", would not.

That's dumber than hell. Soldier isn't a proper noun, and I don't think whatever propoganda the DoD is working on with this should be supported, anyway.