What is DD Form 2789? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 2789, Waiver/Remission of Indebtedness Application, 20140917 draft, and its job is straightforward: Waiver/Remission of Indebtedness Application. That single line covers most of what people want to know before they download it.
Does it apply to your branch? Yes. The DD prefix means Department of Defense, not one service, so the same blank serves the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and the Coast Guard under Defense jurisdiction. There is no Army version and no Navy version to search for.
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. Type of claim (REQUIRED). Press space bar to mark X in first box if waiver, second box if remission.
- 3. Rank/Grade (REQUIRED).
- 4. Social Security Number (REQUIRED).
- 5. Agency/Service (REQUIRED). X only one box: first if Army, second if Navy, third if Air Force, fourth if Marine Corps, fifth if Other.
- Specify other agency or service.
- 6. Status (REQUIRED). X first box if active, second box if guard/reserve, third box if retired, fourth box if separated, fifth box if DoD civilian, or fifth box if annuitant.
- 6. If active, enter end of enlistment period date: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no separators.
- 6. If guard or reserve, enter end of enlistment period date.
- If retired, enter date of retirement.
- If separated, enter separation date.
- If civilian, enter Service Computation Date.
- 7. Current complete mailing address (REQUIRED). Street, City, State, Zip Code.
- 8. Place of assignment or employment.
- 9.b. Home telephone. Include area code.
- 9.c. E-mail address (REQUIRED).
- 10. Type of debt or pay and allowance erroneously paid.
- 11. Gross debt amount (REQUIRED).
- 12. State the date and how you first became aware of debt or erroneous payment (REQUIRED). Attach notification, if available.
- 13. If you were aware of debt or erroneous payment, explain the actions you took to correct the situation (REQUIRED).
- 14. Reason for requesting waiver or remission and why you feel it should be approved (REQUIRED). Financial hardship applies only to remission and if claimed, a financial statement must be attached.
- 15. For annuitants, provide name, SSN and date deceased of military member/sponsor (REQUIRED).
- 16. Attach copies of all pertinent documents (REQUIRED), such as Request for B A H, Statement of Service, Separation Worksheet, DD Form 214, Travel Voucher, Notification of Personnel Action. If not available, explain.
- 17. (REQUIRED). a. If military or civilian, did you receive leave and earnings statement(s)? Mark one box: first if yes, second if no.
- b. If military or civilian, did you request them on EMSS/MYPAY? Mark one box: first if yes, second if no.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 6 pages and approximately 82 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 2789?
- DD Form 2789, Waiver/Remission of Indebtedness Application, 20140917 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?