There are two ways to obtain the DA 1380. One is through an Internet search. The other way is from your drive. Once you have your DA 1380, how do you get started?

Here is a scenario.

You reported to Fort Eustis one morning, in his aviation medicine, to do your Airborne Physique Phase 1. Phase 1 takes you all morning to complete. You finished in the middle of lunch.

He returns the following week for Phase 2. After Phase 2, he returns to his unit and provides them with copies of the results of his airborne physical examination. While doing this in your unit, you also prepare and submit a school application.

While there, you decide to sign for the missing field equipment you need for the next field training exercise. You see your supply sergeant. Immediately after signing for the items you need, he informs you that additional items have arrived from the battalion supply.

By the time he’s done with all of this, he has 15 minutes left for lunch at DFAC.

How would you record this scenario on a DA 1380?

If you have a DA 1380 form that can be completed, open it. If you have a blank copy, make another copy and fill it in with pencil. Use a black ballpoint pen on the actual copy for a neat finish if done by hand.

Block 1 is “date”. Since this is related to the payment, or something that could affect the payment, you want to use the DFAS date format. That is the “YYYYMMDD” format.

Block 2 is “from:” Print or write your unit and your unit’s address.

Block 3 is “Retirement Year End Date.”

Your Retirement Year End (RYE) date is based on the date you originally started your Army Reserve contract. This is based on your continuing contract. For example, your reservation contract started on November 1. His RYE will be on October 31 of the following year.

Let’s say you were on active duty before that, from April 1, 2010 to October 31, 2014. Your reserve contract began on November 1, 2014, the day after the last day of your active contract. Your current RYE would still be October 31, 2015, not March 31, 2015, because your initial active reserve contract, in a continuous reserve run, determines your RYE.

Please review AR 140-185 for details on the end date of the retirement year.

Fill this block using the “YYYYMMDD” format.

Block 4 is the “to” block. This will be the address of the staff updating your record. For Soldiers in the Troop Program Unit (TPU), this is usually your full-time support staff.

These personnel, primarily one of the unit administrators, will process your DA 1380.

Write “commander” in all caps in this block. Below, write the address of your unit where the support staff is located.

Your support staff will process this for withdrawal points if you used an “N” code. They will process your DA 1380 for retirement and pay points if you used a “P” code. If your support staff cannot process this at the reserve center, they will send you to Battalion S1.

If you are an Individual Mobilization Augmentor (IMA) or a member of Individual Prepared Reserves (IRR), you will use the HRC address for the office that updates your records.

Block 5 is your name. Write your name on the block in the order shown on the block label.

Block 6 it’s your note. Write your pay grade. This is the alphanumeric code for your range.

Block 7 is your branch. Enter your “Area of ​​Soldier Concentration” (AOC) / Military Primary Occupational Skill (MOS) code in this block.

Block 8 it is left blank unless block 4 is different from the allocation unit.

Block 9 It gives you the opportunity to mark the type of training, duties or instruction in which you are involved.

If you choose “other”, write the description in the box next to “other.”

Block 9, column A, is the date you participated in the training. If the day, month, and year are in separate columns, use the format DD MM YYYY respectively within the day, month, and year columns.

Block 9, column B, list the hours of training you did.

Block 9, column C, are the retirement points you earned. There are two different encodings to mark if you get retirement points and pay or just get retirement points.

An “N” code marks unpaid time. You only get retirement points. A code “P” marks the time paid, you get both retirement points credit and pay.

A “1” next to one of the letter codes represents a 4 hour training block; 2 hours if you participated in funeral honors as a member of the funeral detail. A “2” represents two training blocks. You can only get a maximum of “2” per day.

Using the Airborne Physical scenario above, I would use “N1”. Phase I took the morning and part of the lunch time to complete, approximately 4 hours. “N1” will give you a retirement point, but it doesn’t pay.

In another scenario, where a Soldier does a full day RST, that day would be marked “P2”. A “P2” would earn you two retirement points and pay for two blocks of training or two days of training.

Block 9, column D, lists the nature of the tasks you performed or the training / instruction you received. For the airborne physical scenario, you could say, “Airborne Physicist, Phase I, at Fort Eustis, VA. Retreat points only.”

For the RST scenario, an example of the description might read: “Rescheduled training (RST) to make up for the battle mount lost on October 25, 2014.” The second day of RST would go on the next line, with the same information assuming a full day of training was made up. The comment along this line could read: “Rescheduled Training (RST) to make up for the lost battle assembly on October 26, 2014.

This scenario assumes that the Soldier did two RST days to make up for the two lost days of the drill.

Block 10 is a typewritten name, grade and title of the officer / noncommissioned officer / officer who observed you, or was aware that you were performing the duties in DA 1380. The names of the support staff members who observed you are common entries for block 10 and block 11.

Block 11 It is the signature of the Soldier or qualified official listed in Block 10.

Some additional notes:

1. If you are assigned to a unit, send this form to your unit. If you are assigned to the IRR or IMA, please submit this form to the Human Resources Command (HRC). Send it to the office that manages your pay, records, and points.

2. If you are assigned to a unit and you are submitting this form directly to your Regional Personal Action Center (RPAC) or HRC, you are helping them feel overwhelmed. This reduces your ability to carry out your own assigned mission.

3. Use a DA 1380 to cover one month. If your training event overlaps two months, send two DA 1380s, one covering each month.

3. Do not complete a DA 1380 for your Army correspondence courses / computer-based courses if you complete them on your own.

If your commander authorized you, in writing, to enroll in a course and complete it for pay, then complete a DA 1380 for the course you just completed. Send a certificate of completion and the completed DA 1380 to those who manage your records. Check with your unit for specific policies that cover this.

4. Depending on funding from the Army Reserve and your unit, you may be paid to take your structured development courses on your own. Check your unit’s policy on this. If this applies to you and you want to be paid, please bring a certificate and a completed DA 1380 to your unit.

5. If your unit gives you AT orders to come complete your structured development courses, then you will only be paid for your AT orders. Use the certificate as documentation that you completed the course.

Additional references:

1. AR 140-185, retirement year and retirement points

2. Army Human Resources Command, “Earn Retirement Points.”

3. Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, Memorandum dated February 10, 2014, on the use of DA 1380 to award retirement points.