What is DA Form 5289-R? It is the Department of the Army form titled TRAVELING PURCHASE REQUEST, and it exists so that you can traveling purchase request (lra). That single line covers most of what people arrive looking for. The rest of this page fills in the details.
Is this the current version? The edition offered here is dated March 1984, published with the status not stated. That date is the version number of a military form; there is no other.
Who fills it out, and how long does it take? The individual named in the entries fills it, or a records clerk fills it on that person's behalf. Length is 1 page(s) with about 187 entry fields, which is the honest measure of the work involved. Who owns the form and when it is raised comes from DCS, G-4 and PAM 710-2-2 respectively.
What the form asks for
- CONTACT
- ContentArea1
- DATE_A
- DATE_A_1
- DATE_A_2
- DATE_A_3
- DATE_A_4
- DATE_A_5
- DATE_A_6
- DATE_A_7
- DATE_A_8
- DATE_B
- DATE_B_1
- DATE_B_2
- DATE_B_3
- DATE_B_4
- DATE_B_5
- DATE_B_6
- DATE_B_7
- DATE_B_8
- FNDAPR_A
- FNDAPR_A_1
- FNDAPR_A_2
- FNDAPR_A_3
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.
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.
What is the fastest way to fill the body? Tab from field to field. The order was set at build time and normally matches how the page reads, which is why tabbing catches boxes that clicking past would leave empty. And the boxes and buttons? Those take a click. Where only one option in a set can apply, choosing one deselects the other.
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.
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.
Why does the form carry a Privacy Act statement? Because personal information is being collected, and the statement declares the authority, the purpose, who else routinely sees the data, and whether answering is required or optional. Is it worth reading? Read it before you fill the fields it governs, not after. Does it change how you keep the file? It should — a filled copy is a personal record and gets the handling such records receive.
Where does the finished form go? Wherever PAM 710-2-2 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.
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 DCS, G-4, or to the administrative office that services your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5289-R?
- TRAVELING PURCHASE REQUEST
- Which edition is current?
- March 1984
- Who is responsible for this form?
- DCS, G-4
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL