So what is DD Form 1638? The short answer: a Defense Department document, officially DD Form 1638, Report of Disposition of Contractor Inventory, October 1986., used to Report of Disposition of Contractor Inventory. Anything else you need follows from that.
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.
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
- Section 1, Summary. Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Cases for On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Cases for Adjustments
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Cases for Receipts
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Line Items for On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Line Items for Adjustments
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Line Items for Receipts
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Acquisition Cost for On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Acquisition Cost for Adjustments
- Enter Industrial Plant Equipment Acquisition Cost for Receipts
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Cases For On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Cases For ADJUSTMENTS
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Cases For RECEIPTS
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Line Items For On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Line Items For ADJUSTMENTS
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Line Items For RECEIPTS
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Acquisition Cost For On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Acquisition Cost For ADJUSTMENTS
- Enter Other Contractor Inventory Acquisition Cost For RECEIPTS
- Enter Total Cases for On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Total Cases for ADJUSTMENTS
- Enter Total Cases for RECEIPTS
- Enter Total Line Items for On Hand Begining of Report Period
- Enter Total Line Items for ADJUSTMENTS
- Enter Total Line Items for RECEIPTS
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 1 pages and approximately 149 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.
Is xfdl worth downloading? Only if you have the viewer. The format comes from IBM Lotus Forms, which carried Defense form distribution for a long stretch, and no ordinary pdf application will read it.
Do you pay for these? No. Free download, every format. What should you avoid? Filling the form inside a browser tab; the fields frequently do not save.
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.
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.
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 1638 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.
Why do editions change at all? Three reasons, mostly: the prescribing directive gets reissued, the information collected changes, or the required notice language is amended. Are you notified when it happens? No. Which is why confirming not stated at the moment you download is worth the few seconds.
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 1638?
- DD Form 1638, Report of Disposition of Contractor Inventory, October 1986.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?