What is DD Form 2711? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 2711, Initial Custody Classification, March 2013, and its job is straightforward: Initial Custody Classification. 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.
Where does the requirement come from? From not stated, with not stated responsible for the document itself. Those are the names to cite if anyone asks under what authority you filed.
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. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no dividers).
- 2. Interviewer name.
- 3. Press space bar to mark X in first box if pre-trial, second box if post-trial.
- Classification worksheet. 11. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 12. Time.
- 13. Interviewer name.
- 14. X first box if pre-trial, second box if post-trial.
- 4. Identification. a. Prisoner name (last, first, middle) (also known as).
- 16. Administrative factors. a. Suicide risk. (1) How do you feel about being here?
- (2) Have you ever thought about committing suicide? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- If (1) or (2) is yes: (3) Have you ever been disciplined in the service or fired from a job because of drug or alcohol use? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- 17. Management factors. a. What charge(s) are you confined for?
- b. Substance abuse. (1) Have you ever used drugs or alcohol? Drugs: X first box if no, second box if yes.
- Alcohol: X first box if no, second box if yes.
- (2) Have you ever used drugs/alcohol in this enlistment? Drugs: X first box if no, second box if yes.
- Alcohol: X first box if no, second box if yes.
- If (1) or (2) is yes: (3) Have you ever been disciplined in the service or fired from a job because of drug or alcohol use? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- (4) Has drug/alcohol use ever led to family problems or conflicts? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- (5) Have you ever been arrested while under the influence of drugs or alcohol? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- (6) Has use of drugs/alcohol resulted in other problems, such as blackouts or loss of friends? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- c. Pending charges/warrants/detainers. Do you have any outstanding warrants/detainers or additional pending charges? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- If yes, explain.
- d. History of violence. (1) Have you ever assaulted another person? X first box if no, second box if yes.
- If yes: (2) Non-physical altercation? X first box if no, second box if yes.
Download the form
Which files are here? These: PDF. How much work is involved? 4 pages, about 78 entry 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Can you leave fields blank? Not safely. A reviewer cannot tell a deliberate omission from a missed question, so mark inapplicable items N/A. And date fields? Match the format shown on the form — conventions differ, and misreading a date is easy.
What is the Privacy Act Statement doing on the form? Telling you, before you supply personal identifiers, under what authority the information is collected, what it will be used for, who else may see it, and whether answering is voluntary or mandatory. Is it worth reading? It is the only part of the form written for your benefit rather than the file's.
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.
Where do you look up an unclear entry? The form face first, not stated second. And when the two disagree? not stated controls.
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.
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.
Can you assume a matching number is the same form? No, and this is where downloads go wrong. Read the prefix. Army numbering and Department numbering are independent systems, so the digits alone tell you nothing about which document you need.
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.
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 2711?
- DD Form 2711, Initial Custody Classification, 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?