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DD Form 2168 — a Department of Defense document. Title of record: DD Form 2168, Application for Discharge of Member or Survivor of Member, April 2010 (Corrected for OMB expiration and Army address). Stated purpose: Application for Discharge of Member or Survivor of Member of Group Certified to Have Performed Active Duty with the Armed Forces of the U.S.. Edition date not stated; status not stated.
Governing directive: not stated. Responsible office: not stated. The DD designation signals joint scope — all military departments, combatant commands and defense agencies draw on a single edition of the document.
The form reaches military personnel across the services, civilian employees of the Department, and the personnel and records specialists who receive it.
When the form is filed is a matter of not stated and local instruction. The description here covers the document itself and how to obtain a copy.
The download set covers PDF. Document length is 2 pages with about 44 entry fields.
Distribution centres on pdf. Two states exist: fillable, where field boxes accept keyboard input and retain it, and printable, a static blank produced for manual completion. Typed data reproduces cleanly across copies; handwritten data depends on the writer.
An xfdl file is provided as well. Xfdl is the IBM Lotus Forms format, historically standard across Defense form distribution, and it requires IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or an equivalent reader; ordinary pdf software will not open it.
Free download applies to every format listed. Any current pdf reader opens the pdf files, though field behaviour is most reliable in a full desktop reader rather than a browser preview.
What the form asks for
- Section 1. Group member data. 1.a. Member's name: last, first, middle, and maiden, if any.
- 1.b. Alias(es).
- 2. Social Security Number. Do not include dashes.
- 3. Date of birth: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no spacers.
- 4.a. Present street address (include apartment number).
- 4.b. City.
- 4.c. County.
- 4.d. State.
- 4.e. ZIP code.
- Section 2 - Service group data to support claim. 5. Name of group served with.
- 6. Identification number.
- 7. Highest grade/rank/rating held.
- 8. Highest pay grade (or actual pay).
- 9. Entry into Service. a. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 9.b. Place (include city and state of military installation).
- 10.Actual military service before/after this service. a. Dates (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 10.b. Department(s).
- 11. Home of record at time of entry. a. Street address (include apartment number).
- 11b. City.
- 11c. County.
- 11d. State.
- 11e. ZIP code.
- 12. Grade/rank/rating at time of entry.
- 13. Military installation where ordered to report (include city and state).
Completion runs in the order printed on the page: identifying data at the head, the body of the entry next, certification at the foot. Header data frequently governs what belongs in the fields below it.
The current edition is not stated. Superseded editions of DD forms are frequently rejected at the receiving office, since Department-wide forms change centrally and older layouts lose their field correspondence. Edition date appears in the lower corner of the printed blank.
Field-level instructions appear on the form itself and in not stated. The directive is the controlling text.
The completed document moves to the office named in not stated or in local guidance. A retained copy is conventional practice.
Related documents are located by series and number. DD forms sit in a single Department-wide sequence, so a form referenced inside DD Form 2168 is normally found by its number alone, without regard to service.
Some procedures pair a DD form with a service form. The two numbering systems are separate — service forms answer to a service proponent, DD forms to not stated or another Department office — and a matching number in each system means nothing.
Revision occurs when the prescribing directive is reissued, when the data collected changes, or when statutory notice language is amended. Verification of the edition date at download addresses all three.
Scope of this page: distribution of a published form and description of its contents. It offers no legal guidance and no assurance regarding any particular submission. Direct procedural questions to not stated, to the servicing personnel office, or to the office designated in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2168?
- DD Form 2168, Application for Discharge of Member or Survivor of Member, April 2010 (Corrected for OMB expiration and Army address)
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?