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Department of Defense form 2863. Official designation: DD Form 2863, National Call to Service Election of Options, April 2006. Purpose: National Call to Service (NCS), Election of Options. Current edition 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.
Common users: service members regardless of branch, Defense civilian staff, and the offices that file, verify or retain the finished document.
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.
Formats offered: PDF. Length: 1 pages. Fillable field count: roughly 13.
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.
Xfdl is present in the set. The format belongs to IBM Lotus Forms — long the Defense standard for electronic forms — and needs the matching viewer; pdf applications will report the file as unreadable.
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
- 1. Enlistee Identification Data. a. Name (last, first, middle).
- 1.b. Social Security Number. Do not include dashes.
- 1.c. Date of enlistment (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 1.d. Service.
- 2. Service Commitment. I am enlisting in the United States (list branch of service):
- 3. Incentive election. Initial Option a.
- 3. Initial option b.
- Maximum amount of student loans eligible for repayment.
- 3. Initial Option c.
- 3. Initial option d.
- 4. Certification and Acceptance. a. Signature of enlistee.
- 4.b. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
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.
Edition in use: not stated. Because DD forms are revised at Department level and distributed to all services at once, an obsolete printing may not match the fields an office expects. The date is printed on the form face.
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.
Related documents are located by series and number. DD forms sit in a single Department-wide sequence, so a form referenced inside DD Form 2863 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.
The material here is descriptive. Nothing on the page constitutes legal or procedural advice, and no statement here determines whether a submitted form will be accepted. Such questions go to not stated, a servicing administrative office, or the authority identified in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2863?
- DD Form 2863, National Call to Service Election of Options, April 2006
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?