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Department of Defense form 2388. Official designation: DoD Mail Bag Label. Purpose: DoD Mail Bag Label. Current edition not stated, status not stated.
Prescribing authority: not stated. Proponent: not stated. Unlike service-specific publications, DD forms carry Department-level authority and apply across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard when operating under Defense jurisdiction.
Users include uniformed members of any branch, DoD civilian employees, contractor personnel where authorized, and the administrative staff who process the completed record.
Timing of submission is fixed by not stated and by the implementing guidance of the submitting organization. What follows describes the blank document, not agency procedure.
Available formats: none published here. The form runs unknown pages and contains approximately unknown fillable fields.
The pdf is the primary distribution format. A fillable pdf accepts typed entries in defined field boxes and stores them in the file; a printable pdf is a flat image of the blank, meant for pen entry after printing. The distinction matters for legibility and for records that pass between offices.
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.
All formats download free of charge. Pdf files open in any modern reader; interactive fields behave most predictably in a desktop application, less so in browser viewers.
The document is filled from the top down. Identification precedes substance, substance precedes certification. Fields lower on the page are commonly keyed to entries made above them.
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 Superseded editions of DD forms are frequently rejected at the receiving office, since Department-wide forms change centrally and older layouts lose their field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.
Instructions printed on the form or in not stated govern individual field entries. Where the two differ, the governing publication controls.
Once executed, routing follows not stated and the submitting organization's own instruction. Keeping a copy is standard.
Associated forms are traced by number within the series. Because the DD sequence is common to all military departments, no service qualifier is needed to identify a referenced form.
Where a DA form is cited alongside a DD form, the two belong to different systems: DA numbering is Army-specific and administered by an Army proponent, while DD numbering is Defense-wide under not stated or an equivalent Department office. Numbers do not translate between the systems.
Editions change because the underlying directive changes, because collection requirements are revised, or because Privacy Act language is updated. Checking the edition date at the point of download is the practical response.
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 2388?
- DoD Mail Bag Label
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- No file published here