You need DD Form 2589, and this page gives you the blank plus the steps for handling it. Start with what the form does: Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces. Its official title is DD Form 2589, Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces, July 1998.
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.
After that, turn to timing. The requirement comes from not stated; the form is maintained by not stated. Local implementing instructions fill in the dates, so check with the office that will receive your copy.
Last in this stage, choose your method: complete it on screen, or print the blank form and fill it out in pen. The sections below take each route step by step.
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.
Your first action is verification. Find the edition date on the form and match it against not stated. A mismatch means you are working from a superseded printing, and because DD forms change Department-wide rather than service by service, the office receiving it will notice.
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
Begin by choosing a file. Available here: PDF. Plan for 1 pages and about 19 entries.
Take the pdf if you are unsure. Then check which kind you have: if the boxes highlight when you click them, you have a fillable pdf and can type straight into it, and your entries save with the file. If nothing highlights, you have a printable pdf — send it to a printer and use black 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
- 1. Reporting D. O. D. component.
- 2. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 3. Command. a. Title.
- b. Location.
- c. Unit identification code (UIC).
- 4. Position title.
- 5. Position number.
- 6. Military grade.
- 7. A. O. C. or A. F. S. C. or N. O. B. C. or O. C. C. series.
- 8. Status. Press space bar to mark X in first box if filled, second box if vacant.
- 9. Position's military essentiality reason code.
- 10. Determination reason. X first box if required by law, second box if essential for performance, or third box if other compelling reason.
- 11. Discussion,
- 12. Approved by (name).
- Signature.
- 14. Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition) recommendation.
- 13. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 15. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Press this reset button to clear the data from all fields
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.
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.
Be careful when a procedure pairs this form with a service form. Read the prefix, not just the digits. Service forms answer to a service proponent, while DD forms answer to not stated or an equivalent Department office, and the two sequences were never aligned. Grabbing the wrong prefix gets you a form that has nothing to do with your task.
Plan to repeat this step whenever the form comes up again. Revisions follow directive changes, changes in what data is collected, and updates to notice language. Since nobody notifies you, check not stated at download and you have covered it.
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 2589?
- DD Form 2589, Acquisition Position Restricted to Member of the Armed Forces, July 1998
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?