Which document is this? DD Form 2271, official title Decontamination Tag. What does it do? It exists to Decontamination Tag. Everything on this page builds on those two facts.
Is there a version specific to your service? No. A DD number is issued at Department level, which is the whole point of the prefix — every military department and defense agency works from one identical document. Looking for a branch variant wastes time you do not have.
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.
How current is this? Edition not stated, publisher status not stated. That is the version described throughout this page.
Download the form
Which files are here? These: none published here. How much work is involved? unknown pages, about unknown entry fields.
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.
What does any of this cost? Nothing. Every format listed is a free download. One practical note: save the file and open it in a desktop pdf reader, because browser previews often ignore interactive fields and lose what you typed.
Where do you start? At the top. Identification first, the substance of the entry second, certification last. Why that order? Because fields lower on the page often depend on data you established in the header, and filling out of sequence produces contradictions.
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.
Which fields are required? Treat all of them as required, marking N/A where an item genuinely does not apply. What trips people on dates? Writing them in a familiar format instead of the one the form specifies.
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.
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 sends forms back most often? An obsolete edition, blank required boxes, handwriting illegible after scanning, dates in a format the form did not ask for, and certification without a signature or without a 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.
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.
How do you find a form referenced inside this one? By its number alone. The DD sequence runs across the entire Department, so a number identifies exactly one document regardless of which service cited it.
Can you assume a matching number is the same form? No, and this is where downloads go wrong. Read the prefix. Army numbering and Department numbering are independent systems, so the digits alone tell you nothing about which document you need.
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 2271?
- Decontamination Tag
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- No file published here