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DD Form 493 — a Department of Defense document. Title of record: DD Form 493, Extract of Military Records of Previous Convictions. Stated purpose: Extract of Military Records of Previous Convictions. Edition date 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.
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 2 pages and contains approximately 43 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.
What the form asks for
- 1. Name (last, first name, middle initial)
- 2. Social security number.
- 3. Rank.
- 4. Unit or command name.
- 5. a. Type of court martial.
- 5. b. C M order or S C M number.
- 5. c. Headquarters.
- 5. d. Articles.
- 5 . e. Synopsis of specification or specifications including date of offense, if more space is needed, continue on reverse.
- 5. f. Sentence adjudged..
- 5. i. 1. a. Typed or printed name of person signing original entry in military record (last, first, middle initial).
- 5. i. 1. b. Rank.
- 5. i. 2. a. Typed or printed name of person signing original entry in military record (last, first, middle initial).
- 5. i. 2. b. Rank.
- 6. b. C M order or S C M number.
- 6. a. Type of court martial.
- 6. c. Headquarters.
- 6. d. Articles.
- 5. g. Date sentence adjudged (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 5. h. Date sentence finally approved.
- 6 e. Synopsis of specification or specifications including date of offense, if more space is needed continue on reverse.
- 6. f. Sentence adjudged.
- 6. g. Date sentence adjudged (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6. h. Date sentence finally approved.
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.
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.
Signature is manual ink on printed copies and digital where the receiving system accepts it. A typed name in a signature field is a name, not a signature. Common Access Card credentials support digital signature in pdf where the form and the reader permit.
Where personal information is collected, a Privacy Act Statement appears on or with the form. It names the collection authority, the purpose, the routine uses of the data and the consequence of withholding it. Reading it precedes filling the form.
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.
Guidance for specific entries sits on the form face and in not stated; the directive is authoritative where the two do not agree.
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 493 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.
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 493?
- DD Form 493, Extract of Military Records of Previous Convictions
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?