Air Force and Space Force official memorandum format: what the generator sets
The official memorandum of AFH 33-337 and AFMAN 33-326. Each rule is followed by where it is written.
Page setup
- Paper and ink
- Printed letterhead, computer-generated letterhead or plain bond paper, 8½ by 11 inches; black ink for the text. Continuation pages are plain bond. (AFH 33-337 p. 163; AFMAN 33-326 par. 3.1)
- Margins
- One inch left, right and bottom. Shorter memorandums may use wider margins (10–19 lines: 1 to 1½ inches; 1–9 lines: 1½ to 2 inches). The generator uses one inch. (AFH 33-337 p. 163)
- Font
- 12-point Times New Roman; a smaller size, not below 10 point, may be used to control page breaks. The signature block is never on a page by itself. (AFH 33-337 p. 164)
- Letterhead
- The seal is one inch in diameter, ½ inch from the top and left edges. The first line is centered with its top ⅝ inch from the top of the sheet, 12 point; the organization and location lines are 10.5 point; the bottom of the third line is 1 1/16 inches from the top. Uppercase Copperplate Gothic Bold "or equivalent"; no more than four lines. (AFMAN 33-326 pars. 3.3.2–3.3.3, 3.4.2, Figure 3.1)
Air Force and Space Force
Heading
- Date
- One inch from the right edge, 1.75 inches from the top of the page. "15 October 2014" or "15 Oct 14" for military addressees; "October 15, 2014" for civilian addressees. (AFH 33-337 p. 164)
- MEMORANDUM FOR
- On the second line below the date; two spaces, then the organization and office symbol in capitals. More addressees are aligned under the first. IN TURN goes one line below the last address, aligned with the addresses. A long list becomes MEMORANDUM FOR DISTRIBUTION. (AFH 33-337 pp. 164–165)
- ATTENTION
- "ATTENTION:", "ATTN:" or "THROUGH:" with the rank and last name, on the line immediately below, aligned under the address. (AFH 33-337 p. 166)
- FROM
- Flush left on the second line below MEMORANDUM FOR (or ATTENTION); two spaces, then the office symbol. The mailing address follows on the next lines when it is not on the letterhead: street, then city, state and ZIP+4 with two spaces before the ZIP code and no comma. (AFH 33-337 p. 166)
- SUBJECT
- On the second line below FROM; two spaces, then the title with the first letter of each word capitalized except articles, prepositions and conjunctions. A second line starts under the first word of the title. (AFH 33-337 p. 167)
- References
- One reference goes in parentheses after the subject title. Two or more go under "References:" on the second line below SUBJECT, lettered (a), (b), (c). (AFH 33-337 pp. 167–168)
Air Force and Space Force
Text
- Text
- Starts on the second line below the subject or references. Single-spaced, with one blank line between paragraphs and subparagraphs. Paragraphs are numbered; a single paragraph is not. (AFH 33-337 p. 169)
- Subparagraphs
- The first line is indented so that the number or letter sits under the first character of the parent paragraph's text; every later line returns to the left margin. Levels: 1., a., (1), (a), underlined 1, underlined a, [1]. (AFH 33-337 pp. 169, 180)
- Continuation pages
- At least two lines of text on each page; a paragraph of fewer than four lines is not divided. The first page is never numbered. Numbers are optional on a one- or two-page memorandum and required on a longer one: ½ inch from the top, flush right, starting with page 2, with the text four lines below the number. (AFH 33-337 p. 169)
Air Force and Space Force
Closing
- Authority line
- "FOR THE COMMANDER" in capitals on the second line below the text, 4.5 inches from the left edge of the page. (AFH 33-337 p. 170)
- Signature block
- On the fifth line below the text (or below the authority line), 4.5 inches from the left edge. Name in capitals, grade and service; duty title; organization if it is not on the letterhead. A line that is too long continues under the third character of the line above. In a dual signature the junior official is at the left margin. (AFH 33-337 pp. 170–171)
- Attachments
- "Attachment:" or "2 Attachments:" at the left margin on the third line below the signature block; two or more are numbered. The listing is not divided between pages. (AFH 33-337 pp. 171–172)
- cc and DISTRIBUTION
- "cc:" on the second line below the attachments, or the third line below the signature block. "DISTRIBUTION:" on the second line below the attachments or cc, or the third line below the signature block. (AFH 33-337 pp. 172–173)
Air Force and Space Force
Indorsements and the memorandum for record
- Indorsements
- Numbered 1st Ind, 2d Ind, 3d Ind. On the same page: "1st Ind, office symbol" at the left with the date flush right, on the second line below the last element of what it indorses; then MEMORANDUM FOR, the text and the signature block. On a separate page: the first line cites the indorsement number with the originator's office, the date and the subject of the original; the second line carries the indorsing office and the date. (AFH 33-337 pp. 182–183)
- Memorandum for record
- The separate-page MR reads MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD, has no FROM element, and is signed with the name and the organization and office symbol in place of the duty title. The explanatory note goes on the record copy under "MEMO FOR RECORD" and the date, on the second line below the signature block. (AFH 33-337 p. 188)
From one level to the next
A memorandum that has to pass through other offices on its way up or down follows the rule below. The generator keeps a reply on the page it replies to when it fits; when it does not fit, the reply starts a new page in the format the manual gives for that case.
- Air Force and Space Force. Numbered 1st Ind, 2d Ind, 3d Ind. On the same page: "1st Ind, office symbol" at the left with the date flush right, on the second line below the last element of what it indorses; then MEMORANDUM FOR, the text and the signature block. On a separate page: the first line cites the indorsement number with the originator's office, the date and the subject of the original; the second line carries the indorsing office and the date. (AFH 33-337 pp. 182–183)
Each manual does this differently: every service's rule, side by side.
Department of War letterhead: what each source says
Air Force and Space Force letterhead starts here with the Department of War seal in Department of War blue (#355E93; RGB 53, 94, 147; PMS 653 C — AFMAN33-326_DAFGM2025-01, Table 3.2). Either seal, black ink, your own letterhead image or plain paper is one click away. Which one is right for you is your command's call; this is what has been published, with the dates.
- Department of the Air Force (23 September 2025). The guidance memorandum to AFMAN 33-326 changed the letterhead seal to the Department of War seal, one inch in diameter, ½ inch from the upper left and top edge of the paper, printed in Department of War blue or black, "in the DoW blue color when feasible". It applies to the Air Force and the Space Force. By its own terms it becomes void one year after its date unless the manual is changed or rewritten first; the manual posted on 23 September 2026 is the 2019 text, which prescribes the Department of Defense seal. (AFMAN33-326_DAFGM2025-01, changed pars. 3.3.1–3.3.2; AFMAN 33-326 par. 3.3.2)
- Department of War (1 October 2026). "Department of War and Military Seals are protected by law from unauthorized use, and these seals may NOT be used for non-official purposes." (war.gov, Branding and Trademarks)
The seals appear only inside the document you make. Military Toolkit is not affiliated with the Department of War, the Department of Defense or any Military Service, and a memorandum made here is official only when an authorized person signs it for an official purpose.
How the layout is checked
Line breaks are computed with the advance widths of the PDF standard fonts (Adobe's Core 14 font metrics). Times New Roman, Arial and Courier New share those widths with Times, Helvetica and Courier, so a line that fits in the preview fits in Word.
On 1 October 2026 the Word files of five sample documents were opened in Microsoft Word and saved as PDF; every word of the text sat within 0.3 point of its position in the generator's own PDF, with the same page breaks.
The PDF is the finished document: every line is placed where the manual puts it. The Word file is the same document left open for editing, with real paragraphs, indents and tab stops, so a change you make there keeps the format. Page breaks follow the manuals as well: at least two lines of a paragraph on each side of a break, and a signature block never alone at the top of a page.
Sources
- AFH 33-337, The Tongue and Quill, 27 May 2015, incorporating Change 1 of 19 November 2015; certified current 27 July 2016. Chapter 14, The Official Memorandum (pages 163–190). Listed as the current edition in the Air Force e-Publishing product index on 1 October 2026.
- AFMAN 33-326, Preparing Official Communications, 31 July 2019. Chapter 3, Stationery Standards and Uses. The file on e-Publishing was re-posted on 23 September 2026 and is the 2019 manual with no guidance memorandum attached.
- AFMAN33-326_DAFGM2025-01, Department of the Air Force Guidance Memorandum to AFMAN 33-326, 23 September 2025. Attachment, Interim Guidance to AFMAN 33-326. Read in a copy of the e-Publishing file as it stood with the memorandum attached. The memorandum says it "becomes void after one year has elapsed from the date of this memorandum, or upon publication of an interim change or rewrite of AFMAN 33-326, whichever is earlier."
Read on 1 October 2026. A command supplement or a local operating instruction can add to these rules; where it does, it governs.
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