What does this form do? DA Form 5983-E is titled EQUIPMENT OPERATOR QUALIFICATION RECORD (EGA), and its job is to equipment operator qualification record (ega). Anyone sent to find "the 5983-E" is being sent here. Everything below expands on that one function.
Which edition is on this page? The one dated 03/01/1991, status ACTIVE. On army forms the edition date is the version, printed on the page itself so any copy can be checked.
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 unknown page(s) with about unknown entry fields, which is the honest measure of the work involved. Who owns the form and when it is raised comes from G-4 and PAM 750-8 respectively.
Download the form
Which formats can I download? These: none published here. 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.
Do I need special software? Not for reading — a pdf opens in the browser you already have. For filling, install a full pdf reader rather than trusting the in-browser viewer, which sometimes displays fields it cannot save. Type into one field, save, reopen and confirm the text survived.
Does the download cost anything? No. There is no charge, no account and no email address to surrender, and the file you receive is the published document with nothing added to it.
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.
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 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.
How do you find related forms? By series and number. Documents in the DA series sharing a proponent or a prescribing directive are commonly used together, and a form cited on the face of another usually goes forward with it. When should you gather them? Before submission — continuation sheets, cover sheets and transmittal documents belong in the package from the start.
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 G-4, or to the administrative office that services your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5983-E?
- EQUIPMENT OPERATOR QUALIFICATION RECORD (EGA)
- Which edition is current?
- 03/01/1991
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-4
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- No file published here
Publisher notes
- 42-ITEM ONLY PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA