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:

~~~
$quill: usaf_memo
letterhead_caption:
  - HEADQUARTERS 20TH FIGHTER WING
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.

~~~
$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 ~~~ fences.

Note the blank line required above every ~~~ opener — omitting it causes the parser to treat the fence as an ordinary code block. The canonical fence is bare ~~~ (three tildes, no info string); ~~~card-yaml is accepted as a legacy alias.

Indorsement fields¶

For the usaf_memo Quill:

Field	Type	What it is
`$kind: indorsement`	—	Marks the card as an indorsement (required).
`from`	string	Required. Endorsing office (e.g., `20 OSS/CC`) or `Rank Name`. Example: `ORG/SYMBOL`.
`for`	string	Required. 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.
`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.

~~~
$quill: usaf_memo
…
~~~

Body.

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

First indorsement body.

~~~
$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 four indorsements: receipt acknowledgement, the member's response (typically "I am submitting attached documents in response" or "I hereby waive my right to respond"), the issuer's final decision, and the member's acknowledgement of that decision.

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.