Army Forms Archive

DA Form 4187 — PERSONNEL ACTION

personnel action

A newer edition of this form has been issued (09/01/2025). Download the current edition.

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DA Form 4187 belongs to the DA series of Department of the Army publications. Its official title is PERSONNEL ACTION, and its stated purpose is personnel action. Edition in force: 09/01/2025. Publication status: ACTIVE. Length is 2 page(s), with roughly 200 fields available for entry.

Responsibility for content and revision lies with G-1. The prescribing directive is AR 600-8, which sets both the trigger for use and the disposition of the completed document. Entry is made by the named party or by the records clerk holding the file, with review and signature applied in the prescribed order. This edition has been superseded by a newer one. It is kept accessible for reference and for records already completed under it.

Formats offered: PDF, DOC. All are the same published layout in different containers, and the choice between them is a matter of how the entries will be made rather than what appears on the page. The pdf serves as the authoritative rendering. A fillable pdf exposes editable fields on screen; a printable pdf is the blank form as a flat page for handwriting.

The pdf displays in current browsers and in any reader application. For fillable use a full reader is preferable to a browser viewer, since viewers vary in whether entered data is retained. A doc format is included. Being an editable word file, it lends itself to drafts and template work, but the layout is not fixed and may move as text is added.

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

  • APPRV_A
  • APPRV_B
  • APPRV_C
  • APPRV_D
  • BEEN_VER
  • Button8
  • CMD_AUTH
  • COMMENT_A
  • COMMENT_B
  • COMMENT_C
  • COMMENT_D
  • CommandsignDate
  • Commandsignat
  • ContentArea1
  • DATE28aa
  • DATE28bb
  • DATE28cc
  • DATE28dd
  • DISAPPRV_A
  • DISAPPRV_B
  • DISAPPRV_C
  • DISAPPRV_D
  • DUTY_FROM
  • DUTY_TO

The blocks are worked through in the order they appear on the sheet. At the head sit the identifying entries: name, identification number, unit, date. Because the filed record is indexed on these, they precede everything substantive.

Typed entry is made straight into the interactive fields. The tab key moves through them in the order set at build time, generally matching the reading order of the page. Boxes and buttons respond to a click; in an exclusive group, one selection cancels the others. Single-line fields do not wrap, and anything longer than the field width prints cut off although it may still display in full on screen. Extended text goes to remarks or a continuation sheet rather than into a narrow box.

The signature block is completed last and by hand or by an accepted electronic means. An unsigned form is a draft. Where a second signature is called for — reviewing official, approving authority, witness — each is applied in the order the blocks appear and dated as of application, not as of preparation. Blank mandatory fields are the most frequent defect; a nil entry is marked as such rather than left empty. Other recurring faults: transposed digits in identification numbers, dates in the wrong order of day and month, and stale copies retaining prior data because a working file was reused instead of a fresh blank form.

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.

The completed form is routed as the governing authority prescribes: to the office named in the directive, through the unit administrative channel, or into the individual's file, depending on the case. A copy is retained by the preparer. Filing and retention follow the records schedule applicable to the series rather than local practice.

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.

Revision by the proponent supersedes an edition. Version is read from the edition date printed on the form itself, and a stored copy is compared against the current edition before it is used again. Documents already executed under an earlier edition are not redone because of the change.

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 4187?
PERSONNEL ACTION
Which edition is current?
09/01/2025
Who is responsible for this form?
G-1
In which formats can it be downloaded?
PDF, DOC, PDF

Publisher notes

  1. REQUIRES PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT (AR 340-21)

Other forms in the series