What is DD Form 1285? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 1285, Request for V A Compensation or Pension Information, May 1976., and its job is straightforward: Request For VA Compensation or Pension Information. That single line covers most of what people want to know before they download it.
Does it apply to your branch? Yes. The DD prefix means Department of Defense, not one service, so the same blank serves the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and the Coast Guard under Defense jurisdiction. There is no Army version and no Navy version to search for.
Who decides this form exists? not stated owns it; not stated directs its use. If someone told you to file this, the authority traces back to those.
Is this the right edition? The current one is dated not stated, and the publisher carries it as not stated. Check that against whatever copy you already have before going further.
What the form asks for
- Gross amount of retired pay.
- Last name, first name, middle initial.
- Address: street number, city, state and zip code.
- Service number.
- Social security number. Do not include dashes.
- Date of birth.
- Date of first entry into service.
- Retirement date.
- Retired grade.
- Service department.
- To: (name and address).
- Remarks (section 1).
- Date requested.
- Name and title of requesting officer.
- Signature of requesting officer.
- Section 2 - To be completed by VA. Press space bar to mark X in first box if above individual is not receiving compensation or pension, second box if individual is receiving compensation or pension, or third box if individual has applied for compensation or pension.
- If applicable, amount of compensation or pension (per month).
- Effective date.
- Claim number.
- V A office of jurisdiction.
- Remarks, section 2.
- Date V A completed.
- Name and title of V A official.
- Signature of V A official.
Download the form
Which files are here? These: PDF. How much work is involved? 2 pages, about 26 entry fields.
Fillable or printable — which do you have? Click inside a box. If it accepts a cursor and typed text, the file is fillable and your entries save with it. If nothing happens, the pdf is flat, and the only way forward is printing it and writing on paper.
Is handwriting acceptable? Yes, but it is the weaker choice. Scanning flattens pen strokes and reproduction blurs them, while typed characters survive the whole chain intact. Print in capitals if you are working from a paper blank.
Can you skip around the form? Better not to. The layout runs identification, then content, then certification, and entries near the bottom frequently take their meaning from what sits above them.
What if your copy is old? Replace it. Check the date printed on the form against not stated. Old blanks circulate for years in shared folders, and because a DD revision lands across the whole Department at once, the receiving office will be working from the new layout.
What about a box that does not apply to you? Enter N/A rather than leaving it empty. An empty field reads as an oversight and sends the form back; N/A reads as an answer. What about dates? Use the format printed beside the field, not the one you write by habit.
What is the Privacy Act Statement doing on the form? Telling you, before you supply personal identifiers, under what authority the information is collected, what it will be used for, who else may see it, and whether answering is voluntary or mandatory. Is it worth reading? It is the only part of the form written for your benefit rather than the file's.
How do you sign electronically? With a digital signature, usually CAC-based, in a reader that handles it. Will typing your name work? Not as execution — it fills a field without certifying anything. Either way, the date goes in immediately after.
Which mistakes are worth a final check? Superseded edition, gaps in mandatory fields, unreadable writing on a scanned copy, non-conforming date format, unsigned or undated certification.
What if a specific field still puzzles you? Read the instructions printed on the form, then not stated. Which wins if they differ? The directive.
Who receives it? The office not stated designates, subject to whatever local instruction your organization adds. What do you keep? A copy, made before the form leaves your hands.
What if DD Form 1285 points to another form? Search the series and number. Because the DD sequence is common to every military department, no branch qualifier is needed to land on the right file.
Do DA and DD numbers ever correspond? Never. DA numbering is Army-specific, administered by an Army proponent, while DD numbering is Department-wide under not stated or an equivalent Department office. Identical digits in the two systems mean two unrelated documents, which is why the prefix matters more than the number.
Should you archive this file and reuse it next year? Better not. Forms are revised as directives are reissued, as data requirements shift and as statutory notice text is updated, and none of that reaches you directly. Download fresh, check the edition date.
Is any of this advice? No. This page distributes a published Defense form and explains its contents, which is a different thing from telling you whether your circumstances qualify or whether a reviewer will accept your copy. Direct questions of eligibility, applicability and procedure to not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office designated in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 1285?
- DD Form 1285, Request for V A Compensation or Pension Information, May 1976.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?