Which document is this? DD Form 2839, official title DD Form 2839, Career Status Bonus (CSB) Election, April 2009. What does it do? It exists to Career Status Bonus Election. Everything on this page builds on those two facts.
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.
How current is this? Edition not stated, publisher status not stated. That is the version described throughout this page.
What the form asks for
- Section 1 - Personal identification. 1. Name (last, first, middle initial).
- 2. Social security number (do not include dashes).
- 3. Rank/pay grade/branch of service.
- 4. Date of initial entry into military service (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no dividers).
- 5. Date for determination of active duty service completed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6. Date of notification (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Section 2. Determination of eligibility. 7. Press space bar to mark X in first box if eligible to elect Career Status Bonus, or second box if not eligible.
- If not eligible, give reason.
- 8. Date of determination (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 9. Service authenticating representative. a. Printed name (last, first, middle initial).
- b. Signature.
- Section 3 - Not eligible for Career Status Bonus. 10.a. Signature.
- b. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 11. Witness. a. Printed name (last, first, middle initial).
- b. Rank/pay grade.
- c. Position/duty title.
- d. Organization.
- e. Organizational address.
- f. Signature.
- g. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Section 4 - Eligible and electing. 12.a. I elect to receive the CSB as follows: X first box if single lump sum payment of $30,000, second box if 2 annual payments of $15,000, third box if 3 annual payments of $10,000, fourth box if 4 annual payments of $7,500, or fifth box if 5 annual payments of $6,000.
- b. Signature.
- c. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 13. Witness. a. Printed name (last, first, middle initial).
Download the form
Which files are here? These: PDF. How much work is involved? 3 pages, about 48 entry 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.
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.
Where do you look up an unclear entry? The form face first, not stated second. And when the two disagree? not stated controls.
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.
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.
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.
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 2839?
- DD Form 2839, Career Status Bonus (CSB) Election, April 2009
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?