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DA Form 1971-6 is a DA series document issued for use across the Department of the Army. Official title: Type the title here.. Purpose: chemical/biological sample documentation. The current edition carries the date March 2017 and is listed with a publication status of not stated. The form runs to 1 page(s) and contains approximately 200 entry fields.
The office of primary responsibility is TRADOC. Use is prescribed by ATP 3-11.37, which defines when the form is raised and where it goes afterward. The form is normally completed by the subject of the entries or by administrative personnel maintaining the record, then reviewed and signed as the governing authority directs.
Distributed formats: PDF. The layout is common to all of them; what varies is the method of entry. The pdf is the reference version. In the fillable pdf the entry areas are live objects that accept typing; in the printable version the same areas are inert and are filled by hand after printing.
Any modern browser or reader will display a pdf. Interactive fields behave more predictably in a standalone reader than in an in-browser viewer, which sometimes shows fields it cannot store.
Every format is available at no charge and without sign-up. Files are distributed exactly as published, with no changes to the page.
What the form asks for
- AEROSOL
- AIRCRAFT
- ARTILLERY
- BLEEDING_SORES
- BLOOD
- BLURRED_VISION
- CHANGING
- CHECK_DELIVERY_METHOD_OTHER
- CHECK_ODER_OTHER
- CHECK_REASON_OTHER
- CHECK_SAMPLE_OTHER
- CHECK_STATE_OTHER
- CHECK_SYMPTONS_OTHER
- CHECK_TERRAIN_OTHER
- CHECK_WEATHER_OTHER
- CHEMICAL_BIOLOGICAL_ALARM
- CHEMICAL_BIOLOGICAL_ATTACK
- CLEAR
- CLOUDY
- COLOR_OF_SAMPLE
- DARK_SKIN_BLOTCHES
- DATE_OF_ATTACK
- DATE_SAMPLE_COLLECTED
- DELIVERY_METHOD_OTHER
Entry proceeds block by block in the order printed on the page. Identifying particulars occupy the head of the form: name, identification number, unit or organisation, and date of preparation. These fields govern how the record is later retrieved from the file, so they are completed before any substantive block.
Interactive fields are filled by typing into them. Movement between fields is by tab, following the order established when the form was constructed, which usually tracks the page layout. Check boxes and radio groups are set by clicking, and exclusive groups permit one selection at a time. A one-line field has no wrap: text beyond its width prints truncated even when the screen shows it. Overlong content is placed in remarks or on a continuation, not forced into the field.
Signature comes at the end, applied in ink or by an accepted electronic method. Until it is applied the document is a draft. Additional signatures — reviewer, approver, witness — are taken in printed block order, each dated when signed rather than when the form was drafted. The commonest error is a mandatory field left blank; where nothing applies, the entry is marked accordingly instead of being skipped. Transposed identification digits, day and month reversed in dates, and carried-over data from a reused working copy account for most of the remainder.
Forms that collect personal information bear a Privacy Act statement covering authority, purpose, routine uses, and whether the disclosure is required or optional. Reading it precedes completion. Once filled, the document contains personal data and is subject to the handling and storage rules that attach to such records.
Disposition of the completed document follows the prescribing authority — delivery to the office it names, transmission through the unit administrative channel, or placement in the individual's record, according to circumstance. The preparer keeps a copy. Retention is governed by the applicable records schedule, not by office custom.
Companion forms are traced by series and number. Within the DA series, documents sharing a proponent or a governing directive are frequently required together, and a form cited on the face of another is generally submitted alongside it. Continuation sheets, covers, and transmittal forms are part of that set and are assembled in advance of submission.
An edition stands until the proponent issues a revision. The printed edition date identifies the version, and a copy held locally is checked against the edition now in force before reuse. Prior executions under a superseded edition are not reopened for that reason.
The files here are reproductions of published Department of the Army documents, provided for download. This site is not part of the Department of the Army and issues no forms of its own. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no representation is made as to acceptance of a document by any office. Where an entry, a requirement, or a question of eligibility is in doubt, the proponent or the servicing administrative office answers it.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 1971-6?
- Type the title here.
- Which edition is current?
- March 2017
- Who is responsible for this form?
- TRADOC
- In which formats can it be downloaded?