"Attention to Orders!"... have we been doing this wrong?

So you are entirely correct sir. Unfortunately due to years of people do this incorrectly, has left us with the observed result. I had one CSM who made sure we knew this. It's something that people have seen performed wrong, and just continue to propagate it.

seems to me the Marines always had a formation. the army just gave you a sheet of paper.

You stand at attention. You are correct sir, in the sense that everyone should pay attention, but you must stand at attention for those orders, because any orders published typically come from a commissioned officer or a civilian authority, both of which warrant standing at attention for. Customs and courtesies dictate this policy.

CSM Gainey, Joe is a personal friend and a great man and leader. As for commands, D&C etc. he was sure to read and be fresh when training Soldiers on the field in prep for a ceremony, parade etc. he was as good and many and better than most. I trust that all senior leaders do the same preparations, and it is inevitable to interpret differently on occasion, then the senior voice wins.

See, That Where There's A Problem.
When I Was In The USAF ~ 1961 -1965,
As An E-4, I Netted $173.00 Per Month
Including Over Seas Pay, And We Were So Underpaid ..
We Couldn't Even PAY Attention...

The doctrine derives from TC 3-21.5 Drill and Ceremonies, updated on 03 May 2021.

ATTENTION TO ORDERS
G-6. “Attention to Orders” is the statement given prior to the formal presentation of an award or
recognition during a ceremony, in both a formal and informal setting. When the adjutant announces
“Attention to Orders” everyone present at the ceremony silence all conversations and focus on the
presentation of the award. If the commander requires military members present at the ceremony to be at the position of Attention, then execution command ATTENTION is given prior to the presentation of the award.

Example:
Formal setting: During a squadron award ceremony the unit is in a squadron formation.
The squadron commander calls all awardees to post. The awardees march to a
designated spot in front of the formation and are prepared to receive their awards. The
squadron commander announces Squadron, ATTENTION. They then direct the
adjutant to publish the orders. The adjutant reads off all Soldier’s awards to the entire
formation while the squadron commander and CSM present the awards to the
awardees.

Informal setting: During a troop hail and farewell ceremony at a local establishment or
banquet hall, the troop commander presents a few permanent change of station
awards to deserving Soldiers. The troop commander would ask the awardees to move
to the front of the crowd to receive their award. The troop commander, at their
discretion, would then direct their executive officer or troop representative to publish
the orders. The adjutant would announce “Attention to Orders.” All personnel in
attendance of the ceremony would silence all conversations and direct all their
attention to the presentation of the award.

Pay attention to the verbiage TC 3-21.5 uses. There’s no requirement to stand at the position of attention before the presentation of the award unless explicitly commanded beforehand. So, pay attention to the award being given.

The Examples
The two examples the manual uses are helpful. You only rise to the position of attention unless explicitly directed by the one in charge of the formation (in the example’s case, it was the Squadron Commander). And the Commander needed to explicitly command the formation using the traditional drill and ceremony ‘preparatory command’ and the ‘command of execution.’

The first example was deliberate in this action. However, the second more informal setting does not state a preparatory command or a command of execution. Without those two commands for movement, the formation performs no task. Referring to “Attention to Orders,” the only requirement for the formation is to pay attention to the orders provided by the Adjutant.

Correctly understanding the meaning of “Attention to Orders” can help us better acknowledge Army tradition and honor the ceremony at hand.

Next time, pay attention to what is being said. If there is no preparatory command and command of execution, then your job is to pay attention and congratulate the Soldier(s) receiving awards.

As of may 2021.

USAF doesn’t use the command except during formal outdoor ceremonies. Never saw it used otherwise. As a DAC saw it used only at Army retirement and promotion ceremonies. Inside everyone stood up at the word “attention”.

I feel late to the party answering this years later, but due to some of the responses I feel compelled to do so. There is an execution command "Attention" and there is a statement "Attention to Orders." They are not congruent. The problem is that the word "attention" is in both, so naturally everyone follows the drill command prompt to snap to the position of attention when hearing "Attention to Orders" (I just arrived to a new unit recently and they did this just last week in a promotion ceremony despite not being in formation). However, in an informal setting you would/should never expect folks to make that snap from their varied and awkward stances; rather, the adjutant publishing states "Attention to Orders" as an express vehicle for "STFU and Listen." In a form-al setting (such as a form-ation) the unit MUST have been called to "Attention" PRIOR to the commander's directive of "Adjutant, Publish the Orders." And because the unit is called to "Attention" prior to that particular exchange, we directly infer that "Attention to Orders" cannot possibly be the same command. In an informal setting, the commander may still call the unit to "Attention," but it still occurs prior to issuing the adjutant said directive.

The formation should be at attention as previously discussed, but how about the audience? The people sitting under those fancy tents, a mix of friend and family members (military and civilians), they don't get call to attention. Are they suppose to stand during the attention to orders?