So what is DD Form 2511? The short answer: a Defense Department document, officially DD Form 2511, NACDF Imagery Research Request, February 1988., used to Imagery Research Request, NACF. Anything else you need follows from that.
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.
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.
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
- 1. Requester's control number.
- 2. a. Requester name.
- b. Telephone number.
- 3. Date submitted (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- c. Organization.
- 4. Program.
- 5. Date required (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Service requirements. 6. File. a. Press space bar to mark X if AMPHI (aerial).
- b. X if ground/handheld.
- c. X if ACF (SAO).
- 7. Service. a. X if computer listing.
- b. X if graphic plots.
- c. X if research and selection.
- Computer search parameters. 8. Country.
- 9. Classification. X first box if all, second box if TSCW, third box if secret, or fourth box if unclassified.
- 10. Date range. a. From (day, month, year).
- b. To (day, month, year).
- 11. Mission, project or series.
- 12. Percent cloud free.
- 13. Subject description/coordinates. a. X if polygon.
- b. X if circle = -NM radius.
- c. X if point.
- 13. Subject description.
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 1 pages and approximately 24 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.
Should you type or write? Type, whenever the choice is yours. The reason is what happens after submission: the record gets copied and scanned, and every pass costs handwriting legibility that typed entries never lose.
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.
What is the first thing to check? The edition date on the face of the form. Does it read not stated? If not, the copy is superseded, and a superseded DD form is a real problem: Department-level revisions replace the blank for every service at once, so an old file on a shared drive is stale everywhere, not just in your office.
Is the form its own instruction manual? Partly. The rest sits in not stated, which is also the authority where the two texts conflict.
Where does the completed form go? To the office named in not stated or in your organization's local procedure. Should you keep a copy? Always — a scan or a saved file costs nothing and spares you the whole exercise if the original disappears.
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.
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.
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.
Is any of this advice? No. This page distributes a published Defense form and explains its contents, which is a different thing from telling you whether your circumstances qualify or whether a reviewer will accept your copy. Direct questions of eligibility, applicability and procedure to not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office designated in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2511?
- DD Form 2511, NACDF Imagery Research Request, February 1988.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?