"obedient servant" if not a Roman Catholic). Letters to an abbot should end, "I beg to remain, my Lord Abbot, your devoted and obedient servant." Business usage in the United States The following table contains complimentary closings as recommended for business hard-letter use by two American authorities: Barron's Educational Series and American Management Association. Diplomatic usage A diplomatic note verbale always ends with an elaborate valediction, most commonly "[Sender] avails itself of this opportunity to renew to [recipient] the assurances of its highest consideration". Valedictions in e-mail Valedictions in formal e-mail are similar to valedictions in letters; on the whole, they are variations of "regards" and "yours". However, a wide range of popular valedictions are used in casual e-mail but very rarely in letters. Other forms "Yours aye" is a Scottish expression meaning "Yours always", still commonly used as a valediction to end written correspondence in the Royal Navy and British Army, and occasionally used by sailors or people working in a maritime context. It is commonly used in the Royal Australian Navy as a sign-off in written communication such as emails. "Yours, etc." is used historically for abbreviated endings. It can be found in older newspaper letters to the editor, and often in US legal correspondence. "&c." may be seen as an alternative abbreviation of et cetera, the ampersand functioning as a ligature form of "et". "I am, etc." and "I remain, etc." are also used. "Yours hopefully" is occasionally used in letters of respect or complaint. United States military usage Current regulations of the United States Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Navy call for two complimentary closings for letters: "Respectfully yours" and "Sincerely". "Respectfully yours" is reserved for the president (and, for the Army only, the president's spouse) and the president-elect. "Sincerely" is used in all other cases. For more informal (but still professional) correspondence among military service members, "Respectfully" and "Very Respectfully" are used. These are often abbreviated as "R" and "V/R." "Respectfully" is addressed to those of lower rank and "Very Respectfully" is addressed to those of the same rank or above. The Commander of the Navy's school in the military's Mustang University stated his preference, in 2014, that the older "Very respectfully" be used in letters to someone senior in pay-grade or positional authority. However, the commander acknowledged that current regulations call