Many military occupations value discipline and operational excellence, but behind the organizational excellence lies a whole heap of positive personality traits. Military hiring managers will be as interested in the personality of a candidate as they are their professional skills, so it is important to tell them who you are in your military cover letter. This guide, along with our military cover letter examples, will help to outline the following cover letter considerations:
- How to structure the flow of your military story
- Which aspects of your career to include in the intro, middle part and conclusion.
- How to make your personality stand out in different ways in each section.
- Mistakes to avoid – fair or not, they will be judged harshly.
Every good military professional knows the value of preparation. Before you sit down to write your own cover letter it is well worth reading some others. Resume.io’s 180+ cover letter examples can offer a different perspective on what you might want to say about yourself.
Best format for a military cover letter
A clear and concise cover letter format is essential for the regimented nature of a military career. Don’t waste words. Instead, be laser-focused on the value that you bring to the job. How you structure your stories will help the transition to a face-to-face interview.
The military cover letter format should strictly follow this standard CV structure:
- Cover letter header
- Greeting / salutation
- Cover letter intro
- Middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
- Conclusion of your cover letter
The comprehensive cover letter guide could be an additional resource if you wish to take on board some general job search and cover letter advice. When every word has the potential to influence a hiring manager either way, it is worth stepping back and doing some research before you get writing.
This military cover letter example can form a decent starting point for your letter:
Dear Colonel Linden,
As I come to the end of my deployment in Estonia, Captain Peter Jenker has put me forward for your Logistics Officer role at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
Having studied data science in college, I am well-equipped to provide the analytical ammunition behind complex logistical processes. A military base requires a flexible supply chain that can only be managed by someone with an affinity for data analysis. I was heavily involved in integrating machine learning algorithms into the procurement process in Estonia. Captain Jenker feels that I can lead a project to emulate that success at Incirlik.
I worked closely with suppliers and partners to redesign the logistics process so that there was less human involvement and demonstrably better business intelligence. We reduced the number of outgoing orders by 23% and improved the utilization of transport by 15%. I introduced a new base-wide equipment forecasting model that allowed us to consolidate our orders and drove cost savings of 6% as suppliers had better visibility of our future needs.
My role involved coaching and training all heads of division on the impact of logistical planning on their operations. I enclose fifteen letters of recommendation that testify to the efficacy of my models. Any modern logistics process should be simple to follow and let data science do the heavy lifting. We reduced human input by 35% and as a result there were fewer miscalculations in the equipment orders.
I will be visiting Incirlik in March as I am finishing off a Europe-wide project and I would welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss how I might be of use to your operation.
Sincerely,
Simona Fawson
Here are a few other cover letter examples that could offer inspiration:
Cover letter header
The cover letter header for a military professional should not cause any overdue issues. Include your full name, rank (if applicable), personal contact email and mobile number.
While you might wish to fill in everything in full, many people choose not to include their full home address. For various military professions there are data security issues here. Also, if you do not know the address (barracks, etc) of the hiring manager, including a full inside address is not essential. Just put their name, rank and town/state of their barracks. Check out the header of our military cover letter guide for more ideas on creating your own.
Cover letter greeting
With the formality of military processes, you will certainly know the name of your hiring manager, so make sure that you address it with the correct salutation, including their rank if appropriate. Spell it correctly and phone the barracks if there is any doubt. If you somehow make a mistake here it can affect the perception of your entire application. Below you’ll find the greeting from our military cover letter example.
Dear Colonel Linden,
Cover letter introduction
The introduction for a military cover letter should get to the crux of your relevance. What is the one example of your career that will most point towards likely future success. It should be relevant to the role in question and quantified with context where possible. The hiring manager will have many applications to read, so it has to grab their attention. See the introduction from our cover letter sample below.
As I come to the end of my deployment in Estonia, Captain Peter Jenker has put me forward for your Logistics Officer role at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
Cover letter middle part (body)
Motivation is a key part of being in the military, so alongside the factual aspects of a resume, a military cover letter lets an employer know just why a military professional comes to work every day. Share some of your proudest achievements and assure your future boss that they can rely on you to deliver when the time comes.
Teamwork and personal qualities are central to success in the military, so don’t be afraid to get a little more personal with the stories that you share. Make sure that your language and tone are suitably formal though, write as you would speak with a superior in a formal meeting. Convince them to hit the send button on that interview invite. Check out the body of our cover letter sample here:
Having studied data science in college, I am well-equipped to provide the analytical ammunition behind complex logistical processes. A military base requires a flexible supply chain that can only be managed by someone with an affinity for data analysis. I was heavily involved in integrating machine learning algorithms into the procurement process in Estonia. Captain Jenker feels that I can lead a project to emulate that success at Incirlik.
I worked closely with suppliers and partners to redesign the logistics process so that there was less human involvement and demonstrably better business intelligence. We reduced the number of outgoing orders by 23% and improved the utilization of transport by 15%. I introduced a new base-wide equipment forecasting model that allowed us to consolidate our orders and drove cost savings of 6% as suppliers had better visibility of our future needs.
My role involved coaching and training all heads of division on the impact of logistical planning on their operations. I enclose fifteen letters of recommendation that testify to the efficacy of my models. Any modern logistics process should be simple to follow and let data science do the heavy lifting. We reduced human input by 35% and as a result there were fewer miscalculations in the equipment orders.
How to end a military cover letter (conclusion & sign-off)
Every military cover letter should exude a quiet confidence, so finish with one last strong example and hint that there is much more to come.
The hiring manager should have enough information at their disposal at this point, so have the confidence to say that you are looking forward to discussing more during a potential interview. This is entirely normal, and it shows that you have a genuine interest in the role. Below you’ll find the conclusion of our military cover letter sample.
I will be visiting Incirlik in March as I am finishing off a Europe-wide project and I would welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss how I might be of use to your operation.
Sincerely,
Simona Fawson
Avoiding basic mistakes in a military cover letter
In the regimented world of the military, mistakes can prove costly. You may be applying to any number of roles, but you should tailor and check each cover letter with a fine tooth comb. You cannot afford to make any of the following errors:
- Writing might not be your strong point, so use an online grammar checker such as Grammarly to ensure that you get your message across without mistakes.
- Don’t be tempted to be too conversational with your tone. This is a formal application for employment, not a chat in the mess hall.
- Be expansive in terms of explaining what lies behind your achievements. Don’t just stick to the simplest factual explanations.
It matters how your cover letter looks. A military cover letter should contain a no-frills design, avoiding bright colors and without any decorative design features. Our cover letter templates offer a wide range of professional choices
Key takeaways
- Keep your military career stories professional and impactful.
- Stick closely to the demands of the job description – relevance is essential.
- Use a tone that you would use in the briefing room rather than the mess hall.
- Quantify your achievements and focus on your impact on those around you.
