Which document is this? DD Form 1685, official title DD Form 1685, Data Exchange and/or Proposed Revision of Catalog , August 1993. What does it do? It exists to Data Exchange and/or Proposed Revision of Catalog Data. Everything on this page builds on those two facts.
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.
Where does the requirement come from? From not stated, with not stated responsible for the document itself. Those are the names to cite if anyone asks under what authority you filed.
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
- Enter M O E rule to be deleted.
- 5.b., line 1 of 6. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 1. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 1. Enter C A G E code.
- 5.b., line 1. Enter proposed reference numbers.
- 5.b., line 1. R N F C
- 5.b., line 1. R N C C
- 5.b., line 1. R N V C
- 5.b., line 1. D A C
- 5.b., line 1. R N S C
- 5.b., line 1. R N A A C
- 5.b., line 2. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 3. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 4. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 5. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 6. Mark X if used.
- 5.b., line 2. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 3. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 4. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 5. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 6. Enter L to R.
- 5.b., line 2. Enter C A G E code.
- 5.b., line 3. Enter C A G E code.
- 5.b., line 4. Enter C A G E code.
Download the form
What can you download? The available set is PDF. How big is the job? The form runs 2 pages with roughly 112 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.
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.
In what order do you complete it? The printed order, top to bottom. Header data comes before the body, and the body before the signature block. The sequence is not decorative — later entries are keyed to earlier ones.
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.
Is the form its own instruction manual? Partly. The rest sits in not stated, which is also the authority where the two texts conflict.
What happens after you finish? It routes to the office specified in not stated or in local guidance. And your own record? Save a duplicate first; nobody regrets having one.
What if DD Form 1685 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.
Why do some instructions cite both a DA and a DD form? Because the procedure touches both systems, not because the forms are related. Service forms answer to a service proponent; DD forms answer to not stated or another Department office. The sequences were never aligned.
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 1685?
- DD Form 1685, Data Exchange and/or Proposed Revision of Catalog , August 1993
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?