What is DD Form 3047? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form X636, Disposition of Remains Election Statement - Notification of Subsequently Identified Partial Remains, 20150129 draft, and its job is straightforward: Disposition of Remains Election Statement Notification of Subsequently Identified Partial Remains. 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.
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. Name of deceased (last, first, middle initial).
- 2. Service/grade of deceased.
- 3. DCIPS Case number.
- 4. Person Authorized to Direct Disposition (PADD). a. Name (last, first, middle initial).
- b. Relationship to deceased.
- c. Telephone number (include area code).
- d. Current residence address (street, apartment number, city, state and zip code).
- 5. Selection of disposition options. Option 1. Transferred for burial above original casket. Initials.
- Funeral home name and address.
- Option 2. Transferred to funeral home for cremation at government expense. Initials.
- Urn choice. X first box if solid bronze, second if solid walnut.
- Funeral home name and address.
- Option 3. Cremated and delivered. Initials.
- Urn choice. X first box if solid bronze, second if solid walnut.
- Deliver to: Name and address.
- Option 4. I authorize the appropriate Military Service to make disposition by burial at sea. Initials.
- Option 5. Armed Forces Medical Examiner System may retain for teaching/research and as a medical specimen. Initials.
- I do not want to be notified, and authorize the parent Service to make disposition. Initials.
- 6. In the event that further subsequent remains are identified: Notify, option 1. I would like to be notified and choose to accept individual portions for disposition. Initials.
- b. Date.
- 8.a. Typed or printed name of witness.
- c. Date.
- 7.a. Signature of PADD.
- b. Signature of witness.
Download the form
What can you download? The available set is PDF. How big is the job? The form runs 1 pages with roughly 24 fields to complete.
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.
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.
Why will not the xfdl file open? Because it is not a pdf. Xfdl belongs to IBM Lotus Forms, long the Department's electronic form format, and it needs IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or an equivalent reader installed first.
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.
What is the first thing to check? The edition date on the face of the form. Does it read not stated? If not, the copy is superseded, and a superseded DD form is a real problem: Department-level revisions replace the blank for every service at once, so an old file on a shared drive is stale everywhere, not just in your office.
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.
What if DD Form 3047 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.
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.
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 3047?
- DD Form X636, Disposition of Remains Election Statement - Notification of Subsequently Identified Partial Remains, 20150129 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?