What does this form do? DA Form 5138 is titled SEPARATION ACTION CONTROL SHEET, and its job is to separation action control sheet. Anyone sent to find "the 5138" is being sent here. Everything below expands on that one function.
Is this the current version? The edition offered here is dated 09/01/2010, published with the status ACTIVE. That date is the version number of a military form; there is no other.
Who is responsible for this document? G-1 maintains it, and AR 635-200 prescribes when it is used and where it goes. Completion falls to the person the entries describe or to the administrative staff holding the file. As for effort: 1 page(s), roughly 137 fields.
What the form asks for
- CASEFORW_A
- CASEFORW_B
- CONVENEDON
- ContentArea1
- DATE_A
- DATE_A_1
- DATE_A_2
- DATE_B
- DATE_C
- DATE_D
- DATE_E
- DATE_F
- DATE_G
- DATE_H
- DATE_I
- DATE_J
- DATE_J_1
- DATE_PREP
- DAYREQ_A
- DAYREQ_A_1
- DAYREQ_A_2
- DAYREQ_B
- DAYREQ_C
- DAYREQ_D
Download the form
What can I download here? The formats available are PDF, XFDL. Each one reproduces the identical official layout. What separates them is the method of entry, nothing on the page itself.
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.
Which application should I use? Reading takes nothing beyond a browser. Filling takes a proper pdf reader, since browser viewers vary in whether they retain what you type — verify with a single field and a save before you fill the whole form. What is xfdl? The IBM Lotus Forms format used inside Army systems. It requires the Lotus Forms Viewer; nothing else opens it.
Do I have to sign up? No. Every format is free, no account is involved, and the file is distributed unmodified.
Which entries come before the rest? The identifying ones at the head of the page: name, identification number, unit, date of preparation. Does it matter that they come first? Yes — everything downstream retrieves the record by those values, so they are worth getting right before you touch the substantive blocks.
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.
Can a field hold a long answer? Not if it is sized for one line — there is no wrap, and the excess prints missing while remaining visible as you type. So where does the extra text belong? In the remarks area or a continuation sheet. Should you skip fields that are irrelevant to your case? No. Mark them accordingly, because an empty field reads as an oversight rather than an answer.
Where does the signature belong in the sequence? At the very end, by hand or by an accepted electronic means. An unsigned form is a draft regardless of how full it is. Are countersignatures needed? Where the form provides for them — reviewing official, approving authority, witness — taken in printed order and dated on the day applied. What should you check before releasing it? Empty mandatory fields, digit transposition in identification numbers, day-month inversion in dates, and residue from an old copy used in place of a blank one.
What does the Privacy Act notice tell you? The legal authority behind the collection, what the information is for, the routine uses it may be put to, and whether disclosure is compulsory. When is the right moment to read it? Before completing the personal entries, at the point the statement appears. What follows from it? Your finished copy contains personal data, so store and send it the way your office handles that category.
Where does the finished form go? Wherever AR 635-200 says — to the office it names, along your unit administrative channel, or into the individual's own record, depending on why it was raised. Should you keep a copy? Yes, before it leaves your hands. How long is it held? The records schedule for the series decides that, and local practice does not override it.
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.
Why do editions change? Because the proponent revises the content, and the edition date printed on the page marks the result. How do you tell whether a stored copy is still current? Compare its printed date against the edition in force before you use it again. Does a new edition invalidate what you already filed? No. Records executed under a superseded edition stand as they are.
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-1 or the administrative office servicing your unit, on any question of entry, requirement or eligibility.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5138?
- SEPARATION ACTION CONTROL SHEET
- Which edition is current?
- 09/01/2010
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-1
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF
Publisher notes
- 42-ITEM ONLY PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA,