What is DA Form 5149-1-R? It is the Department of the Army form titled BRANCH IDENTIFICATION SUMMARY - CONTINUATION SHEET (LRA), and it exists so that you can branch identification summary - continuation sheet (lra). 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 11/01/1982, 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 USACE and is prescribed by TM 5-623. It runs to 1 page(s) and about 176 fields.
What the form asks for
- AREA
- AREA_1
- AREA_10
- AREA_11
- AREA_12
- AREA_13
- AREA_2
- AREA_3
- AREA_4
- AREA_5
- AREA_6
- AREA_7
- AREA_8
- AREA_9
- CODEA
- CODEA_1
- CODEA_10
- CODEA_11
- CODEA_12
- CODEA_13
- CODEA_2
- CODEA_3
- CODEA_4
- CODEA_5
Download the form
What file types are offered? PDF, XFDL. The page image is the same in every one of them; only the way you complete it changes from format to format.
What is the difference between fillable and printable? A fillable pdf has live fields that accept typing and can be saved with your entries in place. A printable pdf is the same blank page with no live fields, meant to come out of a printer and be completed with a pen. Both print identically once filled.
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. What opens an xfdl file? Only the IBM Lotus Forms Viewer. The format is IBM Lotus Forms, carried by several Army systems, and no pdf reader or word processor will touch it.
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.
What happens if your answer is too long for the field? It prints cut off. A single-line field does not wrap, so text running past the edge stays readable on screen and then disappears at the margin on paper. What do you do instead? Move it to the remarks area or onto a continuation sheet. And a field that does not apply to you? Mark it as not applicable rather than leaving it blank — an empty box tells the reviewer nothing about whether you read the question.
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 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.
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.
Which other forms travel with this one? Those found by series and number: DA series documents sharing a proponent or a governing directive are frequently needed in combination, and a form referenced on the face of another generally accompanies it. Do you assemble them before or after sending? Before. Continuation sheets, cover sheets and transmittals are part of the same package.
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.
Who publishes these files? This site does, as copies of published Department of the Army forms offered for download. Is there any official connection? None — the site is independent of the Department of the Army and issues nothing itself. Will a given office accept your document? That is not something anyone here can state, and none of this page is legal advice. Where do you take a specific question? To USACE, or to the administrative office that services your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5149-1-R?
- BRANCH IDENTIFICATION SUMMARY - CONTINUATION SHEET (LRA)
- Which edition is current?
- 11/01/1982
- Who is responsible for this form?
- USACE
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF
Publisher notes
- 41-ITEM ALSO PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA