Never sign a memo with what?

• A. Staff symbols
• B. Your initials
• C. A signature stamp
• D. A date stamp

Answer: (A)

Signing a memo should clearly identify who approved or authored it. Staff symbols don’t do that—they’re shorthand marks for a department or billet, not a specific person. That leaves ambiguity about who took responsibility for the memo and can lead to accountability issues. The reliable practice is to use your own handwritten signature or, at minimum, your initials to tie the document to a specific individual. A date stamp only records when it was signed and does not identify who signed, so it can’t replace a real signature. A signature stamp can identify the signer if the stamp is linked to a specific person, but it still doesn’t carry the same direct personal identification as a genuine signature.