DrDamn once you get to The White House you’re in the ‘public space’ but the grouping options are a bit hidden tbh. If you’ve played for an hour you’re almost certainly there by now. Pop up the main menu screen (option key I think) and it’s all in the ‘social’ section.
it does remind me a bit of a Rainbow 6 game tbh, and weirdly much more than the first game did. Whoever gets the right NPC unlocked first set up a clan for us 🙂.