You have arrived looking for DD Form 2656-2. Before you download, confirm this is the right document: Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Termination Request. Full title: DD Form 2656-2, SBP Termination Request, April 2009.
Next, check the edition. You want not stated, currently carried as not stated by the publisher. Then confirm the form applies to you — this is a Department of Defense form, so you use it whether you serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force or Coast Guard under Defense jurisdiction.
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.
Begin at the top and move down. Enter your identifying data first, then the body of the form, then the signature block. The sequence is printed in that order because entries below frequently follow from entries above.
Before your first entry, look at the corner of the page and compare the printed date with not stated. If they do not match, stop and download again. Old copies circulate in shared drives for years, and a DD form is revised centrally for every service at once, so a superseded blank may not carry the fields your reviewer expects.
For questions about a specific entry, check the form's own instructions, and if that does not settle it, open not stated. The directive controls where they differ.
Download the form
Step one is picking the format. You have PDF to choose from, across 2 pages, with approximately 19 fields to complete.
Choose pdf as your default. Next, click inside a box. A fillable pdf responds by outlining the field and letting you type; the text stays in the document when you save it. A printable pdf does not respond, which tells you to print the page and complete it by hand.
Prefer typing over writing. Your form will likely be scanned and emailed onward, and typed text reproduces at every stage while pen strokes fade or blur. When you do write, print in capitals so the receiving clerk can read it.
What the form asks for
- Section 2. Retired member identification. 1. Name: last, first, middle initial.
- 2. Social security number. Do not include dashes.
- 3. Retirement date (date retired pay commences): 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- Section 3 - Termination Request. 4. Retiree. a. Signature
- 4. b. Date signed. 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day
- Section 4 - Spouse concurrence. 5. Spouse. a. Signature
- 5.b. Date signed: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 5. c. Printed name: last, first, middle initial
- 5. d. Social security number. Do not include dashes.
- 6. a. Witness name: last, first, middle initial.
- 6. b. Military installation, If applicable
- 6. c. Title
- 6. d. Signature.
- 6. e. Date signed: 4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day.
- 6. f. Street address
- 6. g. City
- 6. h. State
- 6. i. Zip code
- 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.
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.
One thing this page does not do: tell you whether your submission will be accepted. We publish the document and explain how to complete it, and that is where our role ends. Nothing here is legal advice. Take questions about eligibility, applicability or procedure to not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office named in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2656-2?
- DD Form 2656-2, SBP Termination Request, April 2009
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?