What is DA Form 3917? It is the Department of the Army form titled REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL, and it exists so that you can refuse collection and disposal. That single line covers most of what people arrive looking for. The rest of this page fills in the details.
Which edition is on this page? The one dated 01/01/2009, status ACTIVE. On army forms the edition date is the version, printed on the page itself so any copy can be checked.
Do I fill this in myself? Usually yes, unless an administrative office keeps the record for you, in which case they enter what you supply. The form itself belongs to G-9 and is prescribed by AR 420-1. It runs to 1 page(s) and about 200 fields.
What the form asks for
- CONT
- CONT_1
- CONT_10
- CONT_11
- CONT_12
- CONT_13
- CONT_14
- CONT_15
- CONT_16
- CONT_17
- CONT_18
- CONT_19
- CONT_2
- CONT_20
- CONT_21
- CONT_22
- CONT_23
- CONT_24
- CONT_25
- CONT_26
- CONT_27
- CONT_28
- CONT_29
- CONT_3
Download the form
Which formats can I download? These: PDF. All of them carry the same published page — the difference is not what the form says but how you get words onto it.
Fillable or printable — which do I want? Fillable, if there is a keyboard involved: the boxes are interactive objects that store text. Printable, if there is a pen involved: the boxes are just lines on paper. Nothing else distinguishes them.
What do I open a pdf with? Any current browser will display one, and any dedicated reader will do better. For fillable use the reader is the safer choice, because some browser viewers accept typing and then discard it when the tab closes. Test one field and one save before committing.
Is it free? Yes, entirely. No registration stands between you and the file, and what arrives is exactly what the publisher released.
Where do you start? At the top of the page, with the identifying entries: name as your official records spell it, identification number, unit or organisation, date of preparation. Why first? Because those entries are what the form is filed and searched under later, and a record indexed on a misspelled name is a record nobody retrieves.
How should you work through the entry fields? With the tab key. It follows the order the form was constructed in, which is usually the order the page reads, so nothing gets passed over. Do check boxes work the same way? They are clicked rather than tabbed into. In an exclusive group, a second click elsewhere clears your first choice, as intended.
Why does my text vanish when I print? Because one-line fields have no wrap, and anything past the field width is truncated on paper even though the screen shows all of it. Where should the overflow go? Into remarks, or onto a continuation. What about entries that do not apply? Enter the mark meaning "none". Blank space is ambiguous; a reviewer cannot tell an omission from a considered nil.
When do you sign? Last, after every other entry is settled. Until the signature is applied the document is a draft, however complete it looks. What if more than one signature is required? Reviewing official, approving authority and witness sign in the order the blocks print, and each dates the form on the day of signing rather than the day it was prepared. What goes wrong most often? Mandatory fields left empty, transposed digits in identification numbers, dates with day and month reversed, and old entries surviving in a working copy that was reused instead of a fresh blank form.
What is the Privacy Act statement on the page? A notice appearing wherever personal information is collected, setting out the authority for the collection, the purpose, the routine uses, and whether your disclosure is mandatory or voluntary. When should you read it? At the point you reach it, before entering the details it covers. And afterwards? Your completed copy holds personal data and is stored and transmitted under the rules that apply to such records.
What happens after signing? The form is routed as the prescribing directive requires: to a named office, through the unit administrative channel, or into the personal file. Do you get the original back? No, so make a copy first. Who sets the retention period? The applicable records schedule, not the office holding the document.
What if this form is not the only one you need? Search by series and number. Within the DA series, forms under the same proponent or the same prescribing directive tend to be required as a set, and anything named on the face of one normally accompanies it. Are continuations part of that? They are, along with covers and transmittals, and all of them are collected in advance rather than after a query.
When is an edition replaced? When the proponent revises the form and publishes a new edition date. What should you do with a copy kept on your own machine? Check its date against the edition in force before reusing it. Does the change reach backwards? It does not; work already completed on an earlier edition remains valid as filed.
What exactly is this site? A place to download reproductions of published Department of the Army documents. Is it part of the Department of the Army? No — it is independent, issues no forms of its own, and has no authority over any of them. Can it tell you whether your completed form will be accepted? It cannot, and nothing written here is legal advice. Who answers the real questions? G-9 or the administrative office servicing your unit, on any question of entry, requirement or eligibility.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 3917?
- REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL
- Which edition is current?
- 01/01/2009
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-9
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, PDF
Publisher notes
- 42-ITEM ONLY PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA