What is DD Form 2710? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 2710, Prisoner Background Summary, March 2013, and its job is straightforward: Prisoner Background Summary. That single line covers most of what people want to know before they download it.
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.
How current is this? Edition not stated, publisher status not stated. That is the version described throughout this page.
What the form asks for
- 3. Maiden name.
- 4. Nickname.
- 5. Aliases.
- 6. Age.
- 8. Sex. Press space bar to mark X in first box if male, second box if female.
- 8. Place of birth (city, county, state).
- 9. Date of birth (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 10. Race. X if American Indian/Alaska native.
- X if Asian.
- X if black or African American.
- X if native Hawaiian or other Pacific islander.
- X if white.
- X if unknown (reviewer of form will mark if prisoner does not answer).
- 11. Ethnicity. X first box if Hispanic or Latino, second box if not Hispanic or Latino, or third box if unknown.
- 12. Nationality.
- 13. Religion.
- 14. Height.
- 15. Weight.
- 16. Identifying marks (scars, tattoos, etc.). X first box if no, second box if yes.
- 17. Hair color. X first box if auburn, second box if black, third box if blond, fourth box if brown, fifth box if gray, sixth box if red, seventh box if silver, eighth box if white, or ninth box if bald.
- 18. Eye color. X first box if black, second box if blue, third box if brown, fourth box if green, fifth box if gray, sixth box if hazel, or seventh box if violet.
- 19. Gang association: X first box if no, second box if yes.
- Gang name/location (City, state).
- 20. Cult/extremist association: X first box if no, second box if yes.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 5 pages and approximately 200 fields.
Why do two kinds of pdf exist? Because two kinds of user exist. One completes the form on screen and forwards a file; the other prints a blank and fills it by hand. The fillable release has interactive boxes, the printable release is a static image of the same page.
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.
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 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.
Is the form its own instruction manual? Partly. The rest sits in not stated, which is also the authority where the two texts conflict.
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.
Do you need to know which branch issued a related form? No. DD numbering is Department-wide and unified, which means the number on its own is a complete address for the document.
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.
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.
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 2710?
- DD Form 2710, Prisoner Background Summary, March 2013
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?