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Department of Defense form 616. Official designation: DD Form 616, Report of Return of Absentee, December 1999. Purpose: Report of Return of Absentee. 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.
The form reaches military personnel across the services, civilian employees of the Department, and the personnel and records specialists who receive it.
Submission follows the schedule set by not stated and by local implementing procedures. This page provides the blank form for download and general orientation only.
The download set covers PDF. Document length is 1 pages with about 29 entry fields.
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.
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
- 1. Distribution (same as DD form 553 at time of absence).
- Report control symbol.
- 2. Name of Absentee (last, first, middle initial).
- 3. Service.
- 4. Social Security Number. Do not include dashes.
- 5. Grade or Rate.
- 6. a. Former absentee status. Press space bar to mark X in first box if escaped or sentenced prisoner, second box if absentee, or third box if deserter (administrative).
- 6. b. Date/hour Absence Began (Four Digit Year, Two Digit Month, Two Digit Day).
- 6. c. Organization and installation from which absent.
- 7. Circumstances of absentee's return. a. Mode of return. X first box if apprehended, second box if surrendered.
- b. Authorities to whom absentee surrendered or by whom apprehended. X first box if military, second box if civil, third box if FBI, fourth box if DIS, or fifth box if other.
- 7.b.(5) Specify other authority.
- 7. c. Place of Initial Return.
- 7.d. Date/hour of initial return (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- e. Required action. X first box if return to military control, second box if retained by civil authorities, third box if civil charges, or fourth box if safekeeping.
- 7.f. Military organization and installation or civilian location.
- 7.g. Date returned to military control (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 8. Disposition of absentee. a. Action by military authorities. X first box if retained, second box if transferred, third box if technical arrest orders, or fourth box if guard.
- 8.b. To (Name of Command in charge of absentee).
- 8.c. Cost of transportation to be charged to individuals account.
- 9. Remarks (include location of Service, Pay and Health Records).
- 10. Authorizing Official. a. Typed Name (Last, first, middle initial).
- 10.b. Grade.
- 10.c. Title.
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.
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.
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.
Frequent defects: obsolete edition, unfilled required boxes, handwriting that fails on reproduction, non-conforming date format, and certification without a corresponding date.
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 616 is normally found by its number alone, without regard to service.
A DD number and a DA number may appear in the same instruction without being related. DA forms belong to the Army alone; DD forms belong to the Department and are administered at Department level. The sequences are independent.
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 616?
- DD Form 616, Report of Return of Absentee, December 1999
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?