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DA Form 2166-8-1 belongs to the DA series of Department of the Army publications. Its official title is NCOER COUNSELING AND SUPPORT FORM, and its stated purpose is ncoer counseling and support form. Edition in force: October 2011. Publication status: not stated. Length is 1 page(s), with roughly 200 fields available for entry.
The office of primary responsibility is G-1. Use is prescribed by AR 623-3, 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.
Available formats: PDF. Each is a rendering of the same official layout; the content is identical across them and only the means of completion differs. The pdf is the reference copy. Fillable pdf carries interactive form fields; a printable pdf is the same page image without them, intended for pen entry 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.
Download of every format is free and requires no account. Files are served as published, without alteration to the page image.
What the form asks for
- ADDRESS
- APFT2
- APFT2a
- APFT_Date
- APFT_Height
- APFT_Standard
- APFT_Weight
- APPOINTED_DUTIES
- BulletComments1
- BulletComments10
- BulletComments11
- BulletComments12
- BulletComments2
- BulletComments3
- BulletComments4
- BulletComments5
- BulletComments6
- BulletComments7
- BulletComments8
- BulletComments9
- CMDCodedropdwnList1
- CMDCodedropdwnListBX2
- ContentArea1
- DUTIES
Completion follows the printed sequence of blocks from the top of the page downward. The heading area takes the identifying particulars — name, identification number, organisation, date of preparation. Retrieval of the record from a file depends on these entries, and they are therefore filled first.
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.
Where personal information is gathered, the form carries a Privacy Act statement giving the collection authority, the purpose, the routine uses, and the mandatory or voluntary character of the disclosure. It is read before entries are made rather than afterwards. A completed copy holds personal data and is stored and transmitted under the corresponding safeguards.
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 documents on this page are reproductions of published Department of the Army forms, offered for download. This is an independent site with no connection to the Department of the Army and no authority to issue forms. Nothing stated is legal advice, and no assurance is given regarding acceptance by any office. Doubts about a specific entry, requirement, or eligibility are resolved by the proponent or by the servicing administrative office.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 2166-8-1?
- NCOER COUNSELING AND SUPPORT FORM
- Which edition is current?
- October 2011
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-1
- In which formats can it be downloaded?