The Joint Formation | The DrillMaster

There might be some confusion as to what a joint formation looks like and when one is authorized so we will break it down here.

The photo at the top of the page shows the Old Guard and Marine Barracks Washington companies with a barely visible Navy Ceremonial Guard company at the left of the photo marching in a parade in Washington DC.

What is a Formation?

What is a “formation”?

A squad (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard) or element (Air and Space Forces) is the smallest formal formation what we have in the US military which is comprised of a minimum of three to a maximum of ten personnel.
An informal formation would be a detail which is formed to do some sort of work and usually made up of volunteers. For more about the types of details the US military uses, please read the linked article.

Two or more squads creates a Platoon or Flight. Two or more Platoons creates a Company or Squadron. Two or more Companies creates a Battalion or Group. Two or more Battalions creates a Division or Wing/Delta. It gets a bit complicated in a couple of places because the Army uses “Squadron”, the Navy and Coast Guard go off into groupings that suit their needs and the Space Force is, well, the Space Force.

With all this in mind, we can see that any grouping of members of the military, at any level, is called a formation. We have smaller formations within larger formations.

Elements

Because “formation” is used to describe all of the formations above, I want to add a bit more of an explanation to help you understand this concept a bit better.

Each formation is made up of elements.

A squad is made up of individuals from one service. Each individual is an element of the squad.
A platoon is made up of two or more squads and each squad is an element of the platoon.
Likewise, platoons are elements of a company, etc.
This also can be a bit confusing because the Air Force uses the term “element” instead of “squad”.

Specialty Formations

Certain formations are formed only to perform a very specific duty. A Color Guard, Firing Party, and Pallbearers are specialty formations. These specialty formation are known in the ceremonial drill world as the three “Ceremonial Elements”.

What is Meant by “Joint”?

For the military, “joint” means two or more services together in a formation. Some formations are authorized to be joint formations, others are not.

Single Service or Joint?

Can any formation be “joint”? No. How do we know what is authorized to be a joint formation? We turn to the three service drill and ceremonies manuals, Army Training Circular 3-21.5, Marine Corps Order 5060.20, and Air Force Pamphlet, 34-1203.

In U.S. military drill and ceremonies, we operate from a position of positive authority—that is, we are authorized to perform only what is specifically outlined in our respective service manuals. This means we do not operate from a system where “anything not prohibited is allowed.” Instead, only what is explicitly authorized is permissible.

In each manual there is a description of the make up of each formation. At the squad/element level, we read about the Soldiers or Airmen lined up next to each other. This means that a squad is not authorized to be a joint formation and that extends to the higher formations. But there is context to be understood at the higher levels which we will cover in a moment.

The manuals implicitly indicate that formations are not authorized to be joint by consistently describing each element as belonging to a single service.

From the Army:

TC 3-21.5 provides guidance for Army-wide uniformity in the conduct of drill and ceremonies.
TC 3-21.5, Preface (2021) (emphasis mine)

From the Marine Corps (applies to the Navy and Coast Guard):

3. Mission. All Commanding officers, Officers-in-Charge, and personnel will execute close order drill and ceremonies in accordance with this Order in order to foster discipline and esprit de corps in our Marines. Commanding Officers, Officers-in-Charge, and all personnel shall familiarize themselves with this Order.
MCO 5060.20, introduction (2019) (emphasis mine)

From the Air Force (applies to the Space Force):

This publication applies to the United States Space Force, Regular Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard.
AFPAM 34-1203 (2022) (emphasis mine)

We can see that the specifics for each drill and ceremonies manual involves only that service.

For a Color Guard, we have several rules that must be followed. You can find those here:

Click here for information on joint military and first responder funeral guidance.

Standard Joint Ceremonies

While each service honor guard constantly supports their own ceremonies, many ceremonies in and around Washington DC require a representation of two or more services. This representation is either one individual on a color guard, or a platoon or company formation.

The Joint Funeral

The photo below shows the first joint Air Force and Space Force funeral for the Air Force General who was instrumental in creating the Space Force. The joint formation shown here is a squadron: one flight (platoon) from each service, joint colors, AF commander, and AFHG guidon bearer. The firing party was all Guardians and pallbearers were Airmen.

Joint Colors

One individual from each service carries their own service departmental color in a very specific order. There is also guidance as to which service mans each guard position.

This applies to the service honor guards and also every military duty station around the world. If you can form a joint service color guard, then you need to follow the guidance in the TC, MCO or AFI 34-1201, Protocol.

Joint Platoons and Companies

While not technically a joint platoon where different services are filling in positions in one platoon, this was the best description here.

MBW and AFHG moving into place at Tomb — Joint Platoons at the tomb

The service honor guards in Washington DC constantly form single and joint service formations. We will dissect this to understand how each company-sized formation is made up of one branch and yet forms a joint service formation that respects the chain of command and doctrinal structure while allowing for representation across the services.

In the images above, platoons from Marine Barracks Washington, the Navy Ceremonial Guard, and the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard advance up the steps of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery under the direction of a senior member of their service. Once they are all at the top of the steps on the plaza, an Army (senior service) officer from the Old Guard takes charge of the battalion formation.

This also applies to any installation around the world. Creating joint formations means keeping one service together in one platoon.

Joint Pallbearers

Carter Joint PB — Joint Armed Forces Pallbearers carrying the casket of President Carter.

Why is there a difference in the two photos above? On the left, is the Joint Armed Forces Pallbearers team that is managed and trained by the Old Guard. This team is highly trained and is able to be mobilized at a moment’s notice for all authorized casket carry situations to include the 8-man flag fold. Each position is manned based on the service.

On the right, is the Army and Air National Guard combined team from DC, National Guard teams combine around the country for state government funerals. Each position is manned based on experience.

The Joint Firing Party

No, this is not within the joint realm. Why? The firing party is a squad and squads are not divided.

The Honor Cordon

While not a ceremonial element, it is a staple formation used all over the world.

Here are different images of honor cordons. Cordons number from 11 to 21 members, including the commander. They are formed for arrival and departure ceremonies at the entrance of a building, on a flightline, and even indoors.

For more on cordons, please read The Honor and Sword Cordons.

Directly below at right are two images of the River Entrance at the Pentagon. Many arrival ceremonies happen here both joint and single-service. The same formations are executed, but the manning depends on who is arriving.

Joint Cordon at Pentagon — Joint Cordon Planeside

At right are image of the Old Guard setting up an Army-only cordon at Arlington National Cememtery. Just an example of the same formation being performed by one service.

The reason why both columns are not in step with each other is because the method used to post and then retrieve the cordon members is called Center Step March. This specialty command has the columns step off on the center foot so that pivots to leave and enter the formation happen simultaneously.

The States and Territories Flags Formation

Also not a ceremonial element like the honor cordons shown above, is the states and territories colors formation. At times, one or all services will carry all 50 state and 5 territory colors as seen below.

South Lawn States and Territories — States and Territories at Ft. Meyer

Other Joint Formation Occasions

A Joint Local Honor Guard

You have a situation where a retiree recently passed away and you receive notification of the funeral. The family has asked for both Soldiers and Airmen to take part since the deceased was Army and then switched to the USAF. You have the personnel from both services and can accommodate, but how do you do this?

We know that joint pallbearers is appropriate for federal- and state-level funerals, and this would be easy to support in this capacity.
The color guard also is not a problem to divide between the two services.
As previously stated, the firing party is a squad, and we have already seen that dividing at the squad and platoon level is a no-go. What might be appropriate, if you absolutely must, is have three Airmen fire under the command of an Army SGT, for example. The ceremonial needs outweigh the standards here, but don’t use that as an excuse for your poor planning.

Your Command

At your command (e.g., US Transportation Command) you are made up of representatives of each service. Let’s say you have the ability to form small nine-man platoons for your Army and Air Force contingent, but not enough from the other services, they can produce maybe five members, and the Coast Guard can scrape up two.

You have a decision to make for the upcoming change of command. You want to create the separate formations and then bring in the colors in a joint team, but the color guard takes away even more from the pseudo-battalion formation.

The command’s Sgt Major is asking you for your knowledge and expertise in handling the formation and colors presentation. What do you do? You go with the most appropriate formation that will look as good as possible. The idea you come up with is to have an Army platoon, a sea service platoon made up of Marines, Sailors, and Coasties, and an Air and Space Forces platoon. Is it within regs? No. Is it doable under the circumstances? Absolutely!

Conclusion

We have rules that cannot be bent (colors), but others can be bent due to circumstances. What we should not do is look at a circumstance and have one of our thoughts start with “Wouldn’t it be cool if we…”. That might be you heading down the wrong path. Check your regs, read as much as you can. If you still have questions, ask a competent authority (your service honor guard is an excellent and underused resource!), and there’s always the DrillMaster.

Most photos are from Getty Images with a few from DVIDS.