Start here if you have been told to submit DD Form 1386. First, know what you are filling: Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary. The document is titled DD Form 1386, Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary, April 2006.
Your second step is the edition, not stated, listed as not stated. Your third is scope. Because the number carries a DD prefix, you use the same blank as every other military department and defense agency; no service-specific version exists for you to hunt down.
Then settle the schedule. You are working under not stated, with not stated responsible for the document, and your organization layers its own deadlines on that. Ask before you assume a date.
Before you download, pick your approach — editable file or printed page. What follows covers the formats first, then the entries, then what you do afterward.
Now fill it in. Work from the top of the page downward, and do not jump ahead — the identifying block comes first, the substance of your entry second, the certification last. Later boxes often depend on what you put at the top.
Check the edition before you type a word. The date appears on the face of the form; it should read not stated. When it does not, discard the file and take a fresh copy from this page. Department-level revisions replace the blank across all services simultaneously, which means an old printout can be out of step everywhere.
If a particular field puzzles you, read the instructions printed on the form first, then go to not stated. When the two disagree, follow the directive.
Download the form
Step one is picking the format. You have PDF to choose from, across 1 pages, with approximately 171 fields to complete.
Download the pdf first. After it opens, test a field with your cursor. Fillable means you type, tab to the next box, and save your work inside the file. Printable means the page is a flat blank, so print it and write your answers in ink.
Type when you can. Printed entries stay legible after the form is scanned, copied and forwarded, and handwriting often does not survive that trip. If you must write by hand, use block capitals and press firmly.
What the form asks for
- Press space bar to mark X in first box if Recapitulation (line 8 and 9a applicable), or second box if Summary (line 8 and 9b applicable).
- Mark X in first box if original, second box if revised.
- 1. Vessel name.
- 2. Status.
- 3. Voyage document number.
- 4. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day, no separators).
- 5. Loading port.
- 6. Heavy lifts.
- 7. Outsize dimension.
- Page number.
- Number of pages.
- 8. Description and location of heavy lifts and other special data. Lines a and b (both Recapitulation and Summary): (1) destination port, line 1 of 11.
- (2) If line a (Recapitulation), Description. If line b (summary), commodity category.
- (3) If line a (recapitulation), length-width-height. If line b (summary), for MSC use only.
- (4) If line a: self-sustaining?
- (5) If line a: non-self-sustaining?
- (6) Vessel (line a only).
- (7) Cargo (line a only).
- If line a (recapitulation): (8) Stow location. If line b (summary): (4) Transportation code.
- If line a (recapitulation): (9) Long tons. If line b (summary): (5) On deck.
- 9. Total cargo loaded. (1) If line a (recapitulation): Destination port. If line b (Summary): Number of units - privately owned vehicles, mail or other.
- 9.(2) Service (line a only).
- 9.(3) Long tons (line a only).
- 9.(4) Measurement tons (line a and b).
Now that it is complete, send it where not stated or your local procedure says it goes. Before you do, make yourself a copy — scan it or save the file elsewhere. It costs you nothing and saves you the whole exercise if the original goes missing.
Should you need a related form, look it up by its number. The DD sequence is Department-wide, which makes your search simple: no service qualifier, no branch-specific variant to track down.
Here is where people go wrong. They see a number in an instruction and download whichever form matches it. But DA and DD are separate systems — Army-specific in one case, Department-wide under not stated in the other — so check which series you were sent to before you take the file.
Do not archive this file and reuse it in a year. Forms are reissued as directives are revised, as data requirements shift, and as statutory notice text is amended. Your protection is simple: download fresh each time and confirm the edition date.
Finally, understand the limits of what you have read. This page distributes a published Department of Defense form and describes how to fill it out. It does not give legal or procedural advice, and it cannot promise any outcome for your particular case. For that, contact not stated, your administrative office, or the authority identified in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 1386?
- DD Form 1386, Ocean Cargo Manifest Recapitulation or Summary, 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?