What is DA Form 61? It is the Department of the Army form titled APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT, and it exists so that you can application for appointment. That single line covers most of what people arrive looking for. The rest of this page fills in the details.
Am I looking at the right edition? The copy here carries the date 06/01/1981 and the status ACTIVE. Forms in the DA series are identified by edition date rather than by revision number, so that date is what you compare against.
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-1 and is prescribed by AR 135-100, AR 145-1, AR 601-100. It runs to 4 page(s) and about 200 fields.
What the form asks for
- ADV_CMP
- ADV_DAT
- ADV_TRN
- ADV_TRN_1
- ALAT_SCORE
- APOINT_EXP
- APP_HAS
- APP_HASNT
- APP_WILL
- APP_WILNOT
- ARNGUS_DP
- ARNGUS_OCS
- ATTEND
- ATTEND_1
- ATTEND_2
- ATTEND_3
- ATTND_FR
- ATTND_FR_1
- ATTND_FR_2
- ATTND_TO
- ATTND_TO_1
- ATTND_TO_2
- AWARD
- BARS
Download the form
Which formats can I download? These: PDF, XFDL. All of them carry the same published page — the difference is not what the form says but how you get words onto it.
Should I take the fillable pdf or the printable one? Take the fillable version if you will type, since its entry areas respond to the keyboard and hold what you enter. Take the printable version if you will write by hand — it is the same blank form as a flat page image. The finished result looks the same either way.
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. Why will my xfdl file not open? Because it is IBM Lotus Forms, not pdf. The Lotus Forms Viewer is the only application that reads it.
Do I have to sign up? No. Every format is free, no account is involved, and the file is distributed unmodified.
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.
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 do you send it? To the destination the prescribing directive names, which may be a specific office, the unit administrative channel, or the individual's file. Is a copy worth keeping? Always, and taken before submission. How long does the receiving office keep it? For the period the records schedule for the series prescribes, regardless of local custom.
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.
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 61?
- APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT
- Which edition is current?
- 06/01/1981
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-1
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF
Publisher notes
- PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT