What is DD Form 1386? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 1386, Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary, April 2006, and its job is straightforward: Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary. That single line covers most of what people want to know before they download it.
Will you need a different form because of where you serve? No. DD forms are Department-wide instruments, and that scope is what separates them from service publications. One edition, all branches, defense agencies included.
Who is behind it? not stated maintains the form, and not stated is the publication that requires it. Those two names answer most questions about why you are being asked to submit anything at all.
Which edition should you have? not stated, listed as not stated. A copy dated otherwise is a copy worth replacing.
What the form asks for
- Press space bar to mark X in first box if Recapitulation (line 8 and 9a applicable), or second box if Summary (line 8 and 9b applicable).
- Mark X in first box if original, second box if revised.
- 1. Vessel name.
- 2. Status.
- 3. Voyage document number.
- 4. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no separators).
- 5. Loading port.
- 6. Heavy lifts.
- 7. Outsize dimension.
- Page number.
- Number of pages.
- 8. Description and location of heavy lifts and other special data. Lines a and b (both Recapitulation and Summary): (1) destination port, line 1 of 11.
- (2) If line a (Recapitulation), Description. If line b (summary), commodity category.
- (3) If line a (recapitulation), length-width-height. If line b (summary), for MSC use only.
- (4) If line a: self-sustaining?
- (5) If line a: non-self-sustaining?
- (6) Vessel (line a only).
- (7) Cargo (line a only).
- If line a (recapitulation): (8) Stow location. If line b (summary): (4) Transportation code.
- If line a (recapitulation): (9) Long tons. If line b (summary): (5) On deck.
- 9. Total cargo loaded. (1) If line a (recapitulation): Destination port. If line b (Summary): Number of units - privately owned vehicles, mail or other.
- 9.(2) Service (line a only).
- 9.(3) Long tons (line a only).
- 9.(4) Measurement tons (line a and b).
Download the form
What can you download? The available set is PDF. How big is the job? The form runs 1 pages with roughly 171 fields to complete.
What is the difference between fillable and printable? A fillable pdf has real field boxes that accept typed text and hold it inside the file. A printable pdf is a flat blank with no fields at all, intended for a printer and a pen. Which one you have determines how you complete the form, so it is worth checking first.
Does typing matter? It does. Your completed form will probably be scanned, forwarded and filed, and typed text comes through each of those steps unchanged while handwriting degrades. If pen is your only option, block capitals give the receiving clerk a fighting chance.
Why will not the xfdl file open? Because it is not a pdf. Xfdl belongs to IBM Lotus Forms, long the Department's electronic form format, and it needs IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or an equivalent reader installed first.
Is there a charge? No — free, all formats. Where should you open the file? In a full pdf application on your own machine. Browser-embedded viewers handle field properties unpredictably.
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.
Why does the edition matter so much here? Because DD forms are revised centrally. When the Department reissues one, it reissues it for all branches simultaneously, and the field layout can shift. Compare the printed date against not stated before you type anything.
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 does the Privacy Act notice cover? Four things: the legal authority behind the collection, the purpose, the routine uses, and whether disclosure is required. When should you read it? Before entering personal information, while the choice is still open.
Is a typed name enough? No. The signature block takes an actual signature: pen on paper, or a digital signature applied with your Common Access Card where the receiving system accepts one. Add the date beside it before you close the file.
What goes wrong most? The same short list: old edition, empty fields, illegibility, wrong date format, missing signature or date.
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 1386 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.
Will your completed form be accepted? That is not a question this page can answer. What you have here is a published Department of Defense document, a description of it and instructions for filling it out. Nothing on the page is legal advice, and nothing here determines what any office does with a submission. Where do the remaining questions go? To not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office named in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 1386?
- DD Form 1386, Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary, April 2006
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?