What is DD Form 870? It is a Department of Defense form titled DD Form 870, Request for Fiscal Information Concerning Transportation Requests, February 1987., and its job is straightforward: Request for Fiscal Information Concerning Transportation Requests, Bill of Landing and Meal Tickets. 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 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.
How current is this? Edition not stated, publisher status not stated. That is the version described throughout this page.
What the form asks for
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
- Date.
- Section A- Document Description. 1. D.O. Voucher number.
- 2. D.O. or Accounting Date.
- 3. Transportation Request Number (include prefix).
- 4. Bill of Lading Number (include prefix).
- 5. Meal ticket number (include prefix).
- 6. Amount.
- 7. To.
- 8. Accounting Classification (include station number).
- 9. Fiscal Officer. a. Typed name.
- 9.b. Grade.
- Section B - Information requested on document described above. 10. Press space bar to mark X if appropriate: Issuing office.
- 10. Complete name and address of issuing office and/or officer (include zip code).
- 11. Mark X if appropriate: Accounting Classification.
- 11. Accounting Classification (include station number).
- 12. Address.
- 13. Mark X if: Traveler or Items Shipped.
- 13. Traveler or items shipped.
- 14. Mark X if: Authority for Shipment or Travel.
- 15. Mark X if Other.
- 14. Authority for Shipment or Travel (special order number, contract number, etc.).
- 15. Other information requested.
- 16. Film number.
Download the form
What formats exist for this form? PDF. What is the scale of it? 1 pages and approximately 32 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.
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.
Do you pay for these? No. Free download, every format. What should you avoid? Filling the form inside a browser tab; the fields frequently do not save.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 870?
- DD Form 870, Request for Fiscal Information Concerning Transportation Requests, February 1987.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?