Indorsements¶

An indorsement is a chained response or routing block appended after the body of a memorandum. Each indorsement is its own card with $kind: indorsement; the renderer stacks them in order and applies AFH 33-337 spacing.

Indorsements are common on:

Letters of Counseling (acknowledgement + member response)
Pass requests (commander approval)
Routing memos passing through multiple offices
Award packages with endorsing officials

Structure¶

In the Quillmark format, an indorsement is a card after the root block:

~~~card-yaml
$quill: usaf_memo
memo_for:
  - 20 FW/CC
memo_from:
  - 20 OSS/CC
subject: Pass Request, 15–18 May 2026
signature_block:
  - JANE Q. PUBLIC, Capt, USAF
~~~

Main body of the memo.

~~~card-yaml
$kind: indorsement
from: 20 OSS/CC
for: 20 OG/CC
signature_block:
  - ROBERT T. CHANCE, Lt Col, USAF
  - Commander
format: informal
action: approve
~~~

Approved.

Templates that need indorsements ship with the cards already in place; the metadata widget exposes them as additional sections. In Advanced Mode, the cards are visible and editable directly between ~~~card-yaml fences.

Note the blank line required above every ~~~card-yaml opener — omitting it causes the parser to treat the fence as an ordinary code block. The fence is exactly ~~~card-yaml with three tildes; no language alias.

Indorsement fields¶

For the usaf_memo Quill:

Field	Type	What it is
`$kind: indorsement`	—	Marks the card as an indorsement (required).
`from`	string	Endorsing office (e.g., `20 OSS/CC`) or `Rank Name`. Default placeholder: `ORG/SYMBOL`.
`for`	string	Receiving office for this indorsement.
`signature_block`	array	Required. Line 1: `NAME, Rank, USAF`; line 2: duty title.
`format`	enum	`standard` (default — formal indorsement on the same page), `informal` (less formal routing block), or `separate_page` (starts on a new page).
`action`	enum	`""` (no Approve/Disapprove line), `undecided` (line shown, neither circled), `approve`, or `disapprove`. Renders the Approve/Disapprove line with the chosen value circled.
`attachments`	array	Attachments specific to this indorsement.
`cc`	array	CC recipients specific to this indorsement.
`date`	date	`YYYY-MM-DD`. Per AFH 33-337 Ch. 14, an indorsement date is distinct from the originating memo's date. Blank uses today.

The body of an indorsement is markdown, same conventions as the main memo (top-level paragraphs auto-numbered).

Indorsement numbering¶

The renderer numbers indorsements automatically using the AFH 33-337 military-ordinal convention:

1st Ind, 2d Ind, 3d Ind, 4th Ind, 5th Ind, …

Note 2d and 3d, not 2nd and 3rd — this is intentional.

Formats¶

standard (default). Formal indorsement with FROM / TO headers and an Nth Ind label. Used for indorsements that route between offices.
informal. A compact routing block — typically a signature with an optional action line. Common for approve/disapprove decisions on pass requests and similar short-cycle items.
separate_page. Standard format, forced onto a new page. Use when an indorsement is long or you want page-break separation.

Multi-step routing¶

Chain multiple indorsement cards in order. First card after the main block is 1st Ind, the next is 2d Ind, and so on.

~~~card-yaml
$quill: usaf_memo
…
~~~

Body.

~~~card-yaml
$kind: indorsement
from: 20 OSS/CC
for: 20 OG/CC
signature_block:
  - …
~~~

First indorsement body.

~~~card-yaml
$kind: indorsement
from: 20 OG/CC
for: 20 FW/CC
signature_block:
  - …
~~~

Second indorsement body.

Fitting indorsements on one page¶

For LOCs especially, the goal is to keep memo + indorsements on one or two pages. The main knob is font_size on the root block — drop from the default 12 to 11 (decimals like 11.5 are allowed). The preview shows page breaks live; tune until the layout looks right.

Common patterns¶

LOC: acknowledgement + response¶

The default LOC template ships with two indorsements. The first acknowledges receipt; the second is the member's response (typically: "I am submitting attached documents in response" or "I hereby waive my right to respond").

Pass Request: commander approval¶

A single informal indorsement at the bottom with action:

$kind: indorsement
signature_block:
  - ROBERT T. CHANCE, Lt Col, USAF
  - Commander
format: informal
action: approve

The action: approve renders the Approve/Disapprove line with Approve circled.

Multi-tier routing¶

Chain one standard indorsement per echelon. Each office adds its own card on receipt and re-exports. The renderer takes care of 1st Ind, 2d Ind, 3d Ind, etc.