So what is DD Form 2589? The short answer: a Defense Department document, officially DD Form 2589, Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces, July 1998, used to Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces. 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 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.
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
- 1. Reporting D. O. D. component.
- 2. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 3. Command. a. Title.
- b. Location.
- c. Unit identification code (UIC).
- 4. Position title.
- 5. Position number.
- 6. Military grade.
- 7. A. O. C. or A. F. S. C. or N. O. B. C. or O. C. C. series.
- 8. Status. Press space bar to mark X in first box if filled, second box if vacant.
- 9. Position's military essentiality reason code.
- 10. Determination reason. X first box if required by law, second box if essential for performance, or third box if other compelling reason.
- 11. Discussion,
- 12. Approved by (name).
- Signature.
- 14. Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition) recommendation.
- 13. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 15. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 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 19 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2589 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.
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 2589?
- DD Form 2589, Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces, July 1998
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?