Start here if you have been told to submit DD Form 2894. First, know what you are filling: Designation of Beneficiary Information. The document is titled DD Form 2894, Designation of Beneficiary Information, 20110106 draft.
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 Old copies circulate in shared drives for years, and a DD form is revised centrally for every service at once, so a superseded blank may not carry the fields your reviewer expects.
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
First, look at what you can download. The set covers PDF, the form runs 2 pages, and you will complete roughly 51 fields.
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.
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.
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.
You will not be charged for any of these; the whole set is free. Before you start entering data, save the file to your computer and open it there. Fields behave far more reliably in a desktop reader than in a browser preview.
What the form asks for
- 1.a. Retired member's name (last, first, middle initial).
- 1.b. Social security number (dashes entered automatically).
- 2. Designated beneficiary information. a. First beneficiary. (1) Share percentage.
- 2.a.(2) Full name (last, first, middle initial).
- (3) Social Security number (dashes entered automatically).
- (4) Relationship to member.
- (5) Address (Street, apartment number, city, state and zip code).
- 2.b. Second beneficiary. (1) Share percentage.
- 2.b.(2) Full name (last, first, middle initial).
- (3) Social Security number (dashes entered automatically).
- (4) Relationship to member.
- (5) Address (Street, apartment number, city, state and zip code).
- 2.c. Third beneficiary. (1) Share percentage.
- 2.c.(2) Full name (last, first, middle initial).
- (3) Social Security number (dashes entered automatically).
- (4) Relationship to member.
- (5) Address (Street, apartment number, city, state and zip code).
- 2.d. Fourth beneficiary. (1) Share percentage.
- 2.e.(2) Full name (last, first, middle initial).
- (3) Social Security number (dashes entered automatically).
- (4) Relationship to member.
- (5) Address (Street, apartment number, city, state and zip code).
- 2.e. Fifth beneficiary. (1) Share percentage.
- 2.e.(2) Full name (last, first, middle initial).
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 2894 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.
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 2894?
- DD Form 2894, Designation of Beneficiary Information, 20110106 draft
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?