You need DD Form 1503, and this page gives you the blank plus the steps for handling it. Start with what the form does: Message Correction Notice. Its official title is DD Form 1503, Message Correction Notice (JANAP 128), February 1979..
Then look at the edition date: not stated, publisher status not stated. After that, ask whether the form covers your situation. It almost certainly does regardless of your branch — DD forms run Department-wide rather than through a single service.
Once you know the form fits, find out when you file it. not stated sets the requirement, and not stated maintains the form itself. Your own command or agency adds local timing on top of that, so ask your administrative office if the deadline matters to you.
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.
Start at the header. Complete your identification before anything else, then work through the main entries, then finish at the certification. Skipping around causes contradictions between the top of the form and the bottom.
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.
Look up an unclear item on the form face before anywhere else, then in not stated. Should the two texts conflict, the directive is the one you follow.
Download the form
Begin by choosing a file. Available here: PDF. Plan for 1 pages and about 72 entries.
Check your software before choosing xfdl. That format belongs to IBM Lotus Forms, long used for Defense form distribution, and it needs the matching viewer. Get the viewer installed, then come back for the file.
Whichever you pick, you pay nothing — every format here is a free download. One last tip: open your pdf in a desktop reader rather than in a browser tab, because browser viewers sometimes drop the interactive fields you need.
What the form asks for
- Date.
- To.
- From.
- Press space bar to mark X if attached message has been transmitted with discrepancies noted below, or second box if cannot be transmitted until discrepancies have been corrected.
- Mark X If General Is Precedence omitted, incorrectly entered, or invalid.
- Mark X If General Is Classification indicated cannot be transmitted
- Mark X If Classification indicated cannot be transmitted is By this station
- Mark X If Classification indicated cannot be transmitted Is To the Address
- Mark X If General Is Classification omitted or incorrectly entered.
- Mark X If General Is Addressee unidentifiable or invalid.
- Mark X If General Is Downgrading/declassification instructions omitted.
- Mark X If General Is Other
- Specify any other general discrepancy.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND O C R PROCESSING) is Unauthorized plain language address.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Unauthorized or invalid characters in heading or text
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Heading/text single spaced.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Lower case letters.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is More than 69 characters per line.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Message incomplete.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Corrections not initialed.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is "MINIMIZE CONSIDERED" omitted.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Releasers signature omitted.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Page number block omitted or incorrectly entered.
- Mark X If NARRATIVE (MANUAL AND OCR PROCESSING) is Date-time group block omitted or incorrectly entered.
Submit the completed form through the channel not stated or your local guidance specifies. Save a copy for yourself before it leaves your hands, whether that means a scan, a photograph or a duplicate file.
When DD Form 1503 references another form, search on the series and number. Because DD numbers are common to every military department, the number by itself identifies exactly one document.
Watch out for one trap here. If your instructions cite a DA form as well, do not assume the numbers are connected. DA numbering belongs to the Army alone; DD numbering belongs to the Department and is administered by not stated or another Department office. The same number in each system means two unrelated forms, so read the prefix before you download.
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.
Before you go, note what is not covered here. You have the blank form and instructions for completing it; you do not have legal guidance, and no statement on this page determines what any office will do with your submission. Direct those questions to not stated, to the personnel office that serves you, or to the office designated in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 1503?
- DD Form 1503, Message Correction Notice (JANAP 128), February 1979.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?