Download the form
Department of Defense form 2960. Official designation: DD Form 2960, DoD Plain Language Compliance, April 2013. Purpose: DoD Plain Writing Act Compliance. Current edition not stated, 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.
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.
Available formats: PDF. The form runs 1 pages and contains approximately 200 fillable 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.
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.
What the form asks for
- Button1
- Button3
- CheckBox1
- Line2
- Page1
- SignatureField1
- StaticText1
- T13
- T14
- T15
- T16
- T18
- T20
- T21
- T24
- T25
- T26
- T27
- T30
- T31
- T35
- T37
- T40
- T46
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 Superseded editions of DD forms are frequently rejected at the receiving office, since Department-wide forms change centrally and older layouts lose their field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.
The signature block takes an actual signature. On paper this means ink; electronically it means a credentialed digital signature, commonly CAC-based. Typed text in a signature field satisfies neither.
Privacy Act notice: DD forms that collect personal data carry a Privacy Act Statement stating the authority for collection, the principal purpose, routine uses and whether disclosure is voluntary or mandatory. The statement is part of the form and should be read before entry, not after.
Recurring errors: entry on a superseded edition, blanks left in mandatory fields, illegible handwriting on scanned copies, dates in a format other than the one the form specifies, missing signature or missing date beside the signature.
Field-level instructions appear on the form itself and in not stated. The directive is the controlling text.
After completion, the copy goes to the office designated by not stated or by local procedure. Retention of a personal copy is ordinary practice and costs nothing.
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.
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 2960?
- DD Form 2960, DoD Plain Language Compliance, April 2013
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?