What is DD Form 2285? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 2285, Invitational Travel Order for International Military Student, July 1995, and its job is straightforward: Invitational Travel Order (ITO) for International Military Student (IMS). 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.
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
- 2. Country.
- 4. Issuing security assistance organziation, S A O. a. Name of organization.
- b. Mailing address.
- 5. Funding. Press space bar to mark X in first box if IMET fiscal year, second box if FMS case identifier, or third box if other (INL, etc.).
- a. IMET fiscal year (if applicable).
- b. F M S case identifier, if applicable.
- c. Other (specify).
- 6. International military student information. a. Name (surname in all caps, first name, middle name).
- b. Sex. X first box if male, second box if female.
- c. Country service rank.
- d. U S equivalent rank/pay grade.
- e. Country service.
- f. Country service number.
- g. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- h. Place of birth (city, province or district, and country).
- 7. Invitation. The Secretary of (U.S. military department):
- Proceed on or about (date - 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- From (debarkation point - home country):
- To (training installation):
- 8. Authorized training (list in sequence of attendance). No additional training to that specified in this order will be provided. a. (1) R C N, line 1.
- (2) WCN.
- (3) MASL IIN.
- (4) MASL description.
- (5) Military service course I D number.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 4 pages and approximately 124 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why read the Privacy Act Statement? Because it sits ahead of the personal data fields deliberately. It names the collection authority, the principal purpose, the routine uses of your data and the consequence of declining. Reading it afterward tells you nothing you can still act on.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How often does a form like this change? Unpredictably — revision follows directive changes, altered collection requirements and updated notice language. What is the practical defence? Verifying not stated every time you download rather than trusting a saved copy.
What does this page actually provide? The blank form and a description of it. What does it not provide? Legal guidance, procedural rulings, or any assurance about a particular filing. Who answers those? not stated, the administrative office that serves you, or the authority identified in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2285?
- DD Form 2285, Invitational Travel Order for International Military Student, July 1995
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?