What our MIL-STD-961E Requirements Document Template Includes

• Title page formatting
• Paragraph structure
• Section headings
• Placeholders for program-specific information
• Required and optional “boilerplate” paragraphs
• Table of contents
• Appendices
• Index
• Concluding material

So, you can be sure your specification will conform to the standard’s requirements. The template also includes some suggestions for other material, such as how imperative verbs – like “shall” and “will” – are meant to be interpreted by users of the specification.As with the boilerplate material, you simply keep the paragraphs you need, modify what you must, and discard the rest.

Plus, inline instructions have been included throughout the template. These describe how to fill in each section and explain any boilerplate paragraphs provided. Plus, they reference the corresponding paragraphs in MIL-STD-961E, in case you need further direction. And finally, this requirements specification template comes with an instruction sheet, which provides an overview of the template and the initial steps you should take as you begin using it. Its purpose is to orient first-time users and provide a “memory refresh” before each subsequent use.

Guide for Writing Individual Functional Requirements

Alongside the MIL-STD-961E Requirements Document Template, we’ve also developed templates to help you fill in your individual specifications faster and more efficiently. As there’s no point in filling in a well-formatted requirements document with poor requirements.

This additional document, Templates for Writing Concise Functional Requirements, provides recommended syntax and examples for writing clear, concise requirements based on the Easy Approach to Requirement Specification (EARS) models. The six EARS models cover most functional specification situations systems engineers will likely encounter. Requirements written using the EARS method benefit from:

Standardization. They share common syntax based on specific keywords, which facilitates consistent interpretation.

Clarity. The models are concise, which reduces the possibility of misinterpretation.

Efficiency. They help you find the right words quickly, so you fill in your requirements faster.

In short, these templates (along with the examples provided) help systems engineers write clear, concise, unequivocal, testable requirements. And that helps you get your requirements document through the review cycle faster.

Why Reference MIL-STD-961E?

As stated in its opening paragraph, MIL-STD-961E “establishes the format and content requirements for the preparation of defence specifications and program-unique specifications prepared either by DoD activities or by contractors for the DoD.”

In other words, if you’re going to develop a requirements specification for the U.S. DoD, it will likely have to comply with this standard. Otherwise, it’s a fantastic standard for systems engineers, project managers, and business analysts to follow for authoring clear requirements documents. The standard provides a clear, simple yet thorough structure for developing a sound specification. That’s why we recommend this particular template.