Origin

The phrase "bottom line up front" comes from a 100-page long document entitled "Army Regulation 25-50: Information Management: Records Management: Preparing and Managing Correspondence". One of the standards for army writing for correspondences includes the use of BLUF, as cited in the following text:

"Army writing will be concise, organized, and to the point. Two essential requirements include putting the main point at the beginning of the correspondence (bottom line up front) and using the active voice (for example, "You are entitled to jump pay for the time you spent in training last year")".

In a 2017 guidance on how the U.S. Defense Department answers inquiries from Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis expects the department to improve its communication with Congress "at every level". According to an August 22 memo from Capt. Hallock Mohler, Mattis' executive secretary, responses to congressional inquiries directed to the secretary or deputy secretary "must be completed within five calendar days". If more time is needed, "an interim response or reply will be sent indicating when to expect a final one. Mattis' guidance includes the following two directions: "Answer the question asked. Address the issue raised. Do not avoid the question or answer a different question. If you can't answer the question or address the issue, state why". And "Give members of Congress the Bottom Line Up Front; be direct and to the point using clear, concise, and straightforward language".


Continuing Use in the Military

The various support units of the military also use the BLUF to convey their study and findings, as shown in the following abstract from a medical journal:

"Bottom Line Up Front: In this perspective essay, ENS Ofir Nevo and Dr Laura Lambert briefly discuss the concept of an outward mindset and how they have applied it in the context of medical education. ENS Nevo shares his story of deciding to attend medical school at the Uniformed Services University, as part of his desire and commitment to serve others. Early on, the requirements of medical school created intense demands that began to disconnect him from the commitment and connection that first drew him to a medical career. ENS Nevo describes how an awareness of the choice of mindset helped him address these challenges and stay better connected to his purpose and calling. A case analysis by Dr Lambert further explores how the awareness and practice of an outward mindset may help students, residents, and attendings see how they can improve their own well-being and connection to the people that brought them to medicine in the first place. Their experiences demonstrate how outward mindset principles can be a valuable tool for empowering students and physicians with a perspective that invites new solutions for the challenges of life and work".

Similarly, military lawyers use BLUF to summarize the key points of their reports: " Bottom line up front: no two states have identical national laws; even our understanding and application of the laws of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) (Geneva and Hague being the cornerstones) are not uniform. As judge advocates (JA) and legal advisors (LEGADs), we have a central role in identifying and understanding the relevant national positions within combined forces, the implications for the force, and advising how to minimize the operational or tactical impact, in order to ensure mission accomplishment".

Military officers also use short BLUF to convey a positive review, such as "Bottom line up front, you should read this book. That said, while I do recommend it, it is not without some serious issues". As well as a negative review, as follows:

"Here's the bottom line up front: As physicist Wolfgang Pauli famously quipped, "This is not right. It isn't even wrong". Lt Col Robert Spalding's article "America's Two Air Forces" is deeply flawed in both premise and argument. Meaningful analysis of our aircraft requirements demands sound methodology and critical assessments that minimize internal biases. Unfortunately, the author falls far short on both counts. He describes a requirement for a bifurcated US Air Force equipped to meet the demands of peer-competitor threats and irregular warfare, and then asserts that current aircraft procurement plans will fail to meet either requirement. While there is some merit in his general assessment of roles and missions for his "Two Air Forces" (kudos to his discussion of irregular warfare), the analysis offered – which is inadequate and often specious – fans to support his conclusions. I will address his assertion that our Air Force should focus on a peer-competitor force structure".


BLUF – Effective Writing

Among its many common- sense rules, the now-rescinded DA pamphlet mandated structuring written staff products with the main point, or bottom line, at the beginning. The pamphlet said Army writers should give the bottom line up front, or BLUF, because "the greatest weakness in ineffective writing is that it doesn't quickly transmit a focused message". However, this is applicable not only in the military letters but also in writing emails, conversations, digital media, and many more. Basically, it is army standard of writing. William Bransford, a consultant pointed out the BLUF is a military style of writing that makes all messages precise and in one direct point only. Through BLUF, they keep their idea short and central idea was highlighted. Per William,

"BLUF is not a new concept.: It lies at the heart of Aristotle's concepts of rhetoric, but at the time the Army began emphasizing it, we had, as an institution, developed some really bad practices in our writing. The current Army standards of writing as a program can be traced to the 1980s when then Lieutenant Colonel William A. McIntosh led members of the English faculty at West Point in developing curriculum designed to provide active duty members of the Army with practical methods and practices for improving their ability to communicate effectively in writing. Based on an earlier U. S. Air Force initiative, the Army Effective Writing program sent English Department faculty to Army bases around the world to train people to write better. The principles espoused in the AEW lessons were, over time incorporated in writing instruction at the ARMY's service schools, and BLUF became a fixture in the Army's ideas about good writing and the Army Regulations and manuals that document Army standards".