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DA Form 4856 is a Department of the Army form in the DA series. Title of record: DEVELOPMENTAL COUNSELING FORM. Function: developmental counseling form. The edition presently published bears the date 03/01/2023, with a status of ACTIVE. Physical extent is 2 page(s) and about 92 fillable fields.
Responsibility for content and revision lies with T2COM. The prescribing directive is ATP 6-22.1, 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 This edition has been superseded by a newer one.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.
Available formats: PDF, XFDL, DOC. 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.
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. An xfdl file is available too. The format is IBM Lotus Forms, in use across Army form systems, and it opens only in the Lotus Forms Viewer.
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
- Assessment
- ContentArea1
- ContentArea2
- Counselor
- Counselor_Date
- Date_Assessment
- Date_Counseling
- Individual_Counseled
- Individual_Counseled_Date
- Individual_Counseled_I_Agree
- Individual_Counseled_I_Disagree
- Individual_Couseled_Remarks
- Key_Points_Disscussion
- Leader_Responsibilities
- Name
- Name_Title_Counselor
- Organization
- Page1
- Page2
- Plan_Action
- Purpose_Counseling
- R100
- R101
- R102
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.
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.
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.
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.
Associated documents are located through the series and number scheme. Forms in the DA series with the same proponent or the same prescribing directive tend to be used as a set, and any form named on the face of another normally accompanies it. Continuations, cover sheets, and transmittals fall into this category and are gathered before the package is sent.
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 4856?
- DEVELOPMENTAL COUNSELING FORM
- Which edition is current?
- 03/01/2023
- Who is responsible for this form?
- T2COM
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, DOC, PDF
Publisher notes
- PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT