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Defense Department form, series DD, number 2537. Full title: Visual Information Caption Sheet. Function: Visual Information Caption Sheet. Edition in force: not stated. Publisher status: not stated.
Issued under not stated, with not stated as proponent. A DD number marks a Department-wide instrument: the same blank form serves every military department and the defense agencies, rather than one service alone.
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: PDF. The form runs 2 pages and contains approximately 200 fillable fields.
Pdf serves as the base format. In the fillable variant, each box is an interactive field that holds typed text inside the document. In the flat printable variant, no fields exist — the page prints as a blank to be completed by hand. Typed entries survive transmission; handwriting does not always survive scanning.
What the form asks for
- FillText1
- L01
- L02
- L03
- L04
- L05
- L06
- L07
- L08
- L10
- L100
- L101
- L102
- L103
- L104
- L105
- L106
- L107
- L108
- L109
- L11
- L110
- L111
- L112
Order of completion: identification block first, substantive entries second, certification and signature last. The blank is laid out in that sequence and the sequence is not arbitrary — later entries often depend on data established in the header.
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 Superseded editions of DD forms are frequently rejected at the receiving office, since Department-wide forms change centrally and older layouts lose their field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.
Certification requires a signature in the designated block — ink on paper, or a digital signature where the receiving office supports one. Typing a name into the field does not constitute execution. CAC-based signing is the usual digital method for Defense forms.
Privacy Act Statements accompany DoD forms that gather personal identifiers. Content of the statement: legal authority, principal purpose, routine uses, and the effect of declining to provide the information. It is printed on the form for that reason.
Errors seen most often involve edition mismatch, empty mandatory fields, illegibility after scanning, date formats inconsistent with the printed instruction, and unsigned or undated certification.
Instructions printed on the form or in not stated govern individual field entries. Where the two differ, the governing publication controls.
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 2537 is normally found by its number alone, without regard to service.
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.
This page distributes a published Department of Defense document and describes it. It is not a source of legal advice and makes no representation about acceptance of any completed form. Questions of applicability, eligibility or procedure belong to not stated, the servicing personnel office, or the office named in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2537?
- Visual Information Caption Sheet
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?