The IC Writing Style - Bottom Line Up Front

Anyone can write 10,000 words about a topic you know nothing about.... But how do provide your value added analysis when you only have two minutes?

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) is a military communications acronym—it stands for “bottom line up front”—that's designed to enforce speed and clarity in reports and emails. The basic idea is simple: put the most important details first. 

About the speaker

Ken Stiles, a lecturer with the Ted and Karyn Hume Center of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Geography Department in the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech, has received the Career Commendation Medal from the CIA. He received the honor in recognition of his exceptional achievement during his 29 years of service that substantially contributed to the missions of the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Intelligence Community.

Stiles is a recognized expert in Geographic Information Systems and geo-location targeting. The CIA and its partners in the U.S. Intelligence Community, a coalition of 17 agencies and organizations, repeatedly sought his expertise for technical targeting and for his ability to operate across organizational boundaries. 

Since 2011 Stiles served as the CIA Officer-in-Residence at Virginia Tech until his retirement from the agency in January of 2013. He remains on the Virginia Tech faculty, split between the Hume Center and geography. This fall he is teaching two courses and is developing a new course to be taught spring 2014.

Stiles has taught a course on the history, organization, and function of the CIA within the Intelligence Community. He also teaches a course that shows students how the Intelligence Community uses GIS applications in its analytic support to both policy makers and U.S. military forces in the field.

Stiles was hired by the CIA in 1984 as an imagery analyst. Additionally, he has worked with accounts covering societal issues, the Middle East, information operations, and most recently counterterrorism. He has worked in three of the four main directorates of the CIA. He has also completed tours in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Europe, and Iraq.