So what is DD Form 2656-8? The short answer: a Defense Department document, officially DD Form 2656-8, SBP Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet, 20110106 draft, used to Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet. Anything else you need follows from that.
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.
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.
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. Member's Name (Last, First, Middle initial)
- 2. Social Security Number. Do not include dashes.
- 3. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 4. Are you married? Press space bar to mark X in first box if yes, second box if no.
- 5. Do you have any dependent children? X first box if yes, second box if no.
- 6.a. Spouse's name (last, first, middle initial).
- 6.b. Social Security Number.
- 6.c. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6.d. Date of marriage (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6.e. Place of marriage (city, county, state).
- 7. Dependent children. a. Name (last, first, middle initial). Line 1 of 6.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 7.d. Relationship (natural, step, adopted, foster).
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 2.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth.
- 7.d. Relationship.
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 3.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
- 7.c. Child's date of birth.
- 7.d. Relationship.
- 7.a. Name of dependent child, line 4.
- 7.b. Child's social security number.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 1 pages and approximately 38 fields.
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.
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.
Is there a charge? No — free, all formats. Where should you open the file? In a full pdf application on your own machine. Browser-embedded viewers handle field properties unpredictably.
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.
Is the form its own instruction manual? Partly. The rest sits in not stated, which is also the authority where the two texts conflict.
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.
What if DD Form 2656-8 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 2656-8?
- DD Form 2656-8, SBP Automatic Coverage Fact Sheet, 20110106 draft
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?