AFH 33-337, Tongue and Quill, provides the formatting standards and guidelines for several types of

official Air Force documents as derived from AFMAN 33-326, Preparing Official Communications. While

the Tongue and Quill has historically had visual examples of document formatting for users to follow,

actually replicating those standards was left as an exercise for the user. In order to reduce duplication

of effort across the Air Force, Microsoft Word templates for the most common Air Force document

formats are now available through e-Publishing and preloaded into Air Force computers with the AF

These templates provide the basic formatting rules and technical setup – margins, font size, page layout,

and so on – which should save users time and effort in finding a “good” template to work from or,

worse, building a document from scratch. This User Guide provides instructions on the best way to use

these templates, as well as instructions on modifying them for more specific use needs.

Note: These templates provide the basic, catch-all formatting rules for their document types. They should

not be used in replacement of the Tongue and Quill, as they do not include full detail on all formatting

rules, optional styles, or conditional cases. Additionally, check to see if your command supplements

AFMAN 33-326, or if there are operating instructions or local guidance on document standards.

is as simple as replacing the placeholder text with your own – formatting such as margins, spacing,

indents, and the like are all handled automatically through the templates’ built-in rules and styles.

Where to Find the Templates

The templates are available in two places: on Air Force E-Publishing, and preloaded into Air Force

computers with the AF Standard Desktop Configuration.

On Air Force E-Publishing (https://www.e-publishing.af.mil), go to the home page and click on “Items of

Interest.” Click to download the template you need and save it somewhere on your local computer.

Then, just double-click on the template file to open a new document based on that template. Note E-

Publishing does not require a CAC to access. This method works on any computer with Microsoft Word

The templates are also built into Microsoft Word on Air Force computers with the AF Standard Desktop

Configuration. When opening up MS Word, or by accessing the File  New menu, you will be presented

with a grid of template options. Find whichever template matches the document you are preparing, and

certain categories of text. While Word typically has dozens of styles available to use, in the templates

the only styles available are those required for the document being written.

The names of each style are self-explanatory. For example, in the Official Memorandum template, the

“MEMO FOR” style is used for the “Memorandum For” element, the “Body” style is used for body

paragraphs, and the “Signature” element is used for the signature block. The “Normal” style is used for

certain elements that do not have specific formatting rules, or for formatting elements not covered by

the template itself. Diverting from the default styles should be done sparingly!

Using Tab Stops

A number of features in the templates rely on the use of the “Tab” character to ensure proper

alignment, paragraph numbering, and spacing. By default, hitting Tab will normally move the cursor to

The “Body” style in the templates is used for the main content of each paper and provides automatic

numbering or bulleting. They are functionally the same as Word’s built-in numbered lists or bulleted

lists that you are likely familiar with. To create a sub-paragraph or sub-bullet, simply hit Tab at the start

of a new line in the “Body” style, and the cursor will move over and change to the appropriate

paragraph heading. To move a paragraph back to the left, press “Shift + Tab” at the start of the

In the Official Memorandum in particular, the “Memo For” and “From” elements are supposed to have

elements on different lines aligned with each other. The “Memo For” element in particular might

include multiple entries on the same line, if the recipient offices are short in length. Proper alignment is

accomplished through Tab Stops – this includes the first line, which has a tab stop aligned at the same

distance as “two spaces” from the “FROM:” header.

Using Quick Parts

“Quick Parts” is a tool within MS Word that allows you to insert predefined objects into a document.

Within the Official Memorandum template are a number of Quick Parts that provide boilerplate for a

number of Memorandum elements that may be optional or replicated.

To insert a quick part, go to the “Insert” menu, and on the far right select “Quick Parts.” From there, if

you click on any of the parts, it will insert directly at your cursor’s present position.

The templates provide the baseline standard for formatting and content layout expected for Air Force

official documents. However, formatting standards may be modified by supplements to AFMAN 33-326,

or there may be need for customized templates specific to a unit or use case. For example, rather than

having users manually enter a unit’s letterhead on every document, it is possible to modify the AF

template and create a unit-specific template that has the letterhead pre-filled, thereby saving more time

for users down the road. Alternatively, a unit may be interested in having a template for the Trip Report

memorandum type specifically, and wants to modify the body of the template to have the standard trip

report headings and elements described in the Chapter 14 example.

This will open up the template file itself, rather than creating new “Document 1”. Any changes made to

the template at this point will save to the template itself, and documents made from it in the future will

reflect these changes. We recommend that custom templates use “File  Save As” to distinguish

themselves as new templates, with a naming convention describing their origin, function, and currency,

such as “123 FW Memorandum Template YYYYMMDD”.

Make sure that your new template is saved as a .DOTX file, not a .DOCX file; otherwise, your template

may be subject to accidental changes or overwrites.

the document as normal, and then save as a new template.

Changing the Header

The most common modification users will make to the template is changing the letterhead to their

unit’s authorized letterhead. To accomplish this, edit the template, and then double-click in the header

area. Then, overwrite the placeholder text as appropriate to your unit according to AFMAN 33-326.

Take care to distinguish between the first line and the second lines onwards, as the first line has slightly

When preparing a document with For Official Use Only (FOUO), Controlled Unclassified Information

(CUI), or classified information, you are required to use classification markings IAW DoDM 5200.01 Vol 2,

Marking of Information. The templates come with premade header and footer quick parts that provide

formatting for classification banner markings. After double-clicking the header or footer, in the top left

there are dropdown menus for the Header and Footer, similar to the Quick Parts menu.

Select the header which matches your intended use; for AF papers

without letterhead, this may be the “Page 2+” header with or

without classification. Take note that the first page of each

however official letterhead is not required for all paper types.

Rather, it is made available for circumstances where local

guidance or user preference might warrant the inclusion of a

letterhead on a document.

Note: The “Page 1 Footer w. Classification” option by includes a

classification authority block. The classification authority block is

not required for unclassified, FOUO, CUI documents, and so the

AFMAN 33-326, Preparing Official Communications, states that official AF letterhead may use blue or

black ink; the AF templates as provided default to blue coloration, but you may prefer a change to black

for some purpose. Changing the color of the letterhead text is no different than changing the color of