You need DD Form 370, and this page gives you the blank plus the steps for handling it. Start with what the form does: Request for Reference. Its official title is DD Form 370, Request for Reference, March 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.
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.
Finally, decide how you will complete it. You can type into a fillable file or print a blank and write by hand, and the rest of this page walks you through both paths in order.
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.
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 Old copies circulate in shared drives for years, and a DD form is revised centrally for every service at once, so a superseded blank may not carry the fields your reviewer expects.
Work through the fields one at a time and leave nothing blank. When a box does not apply to you, write N/A rather than skipping it, so the reviewer can see you read the question. Follow the date format printed beside each date field instead of the one you normally use.
Stop at the Privacy Act Statement and read it through. You will find the authority for the collection, the principal purpose, the routine uses, and whether disclosure is voluntary or mandatory. Read it now, while you still have the choice of what to disclose.
Sign last, and sign properly. On paper that means ink in the signature block. Electronically it means a digital signature, usually applied with your Common Access Card in a reader that supports it. Typing your name into the field does not sign anything. Then add the date beside your signature — an unsigned or undated form is the most common reason one comes back.
Run a final pass over the form. The errors that send it back are the same ones every time: old edition, gaps in required fields, unreadable handwriting on a scan, non-conforming dates, no signature or no date.
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
Begin by choosing a file. Available here: PDF. Plan for 2 pages and about 36 entries.
Handle xfdl in two steps. First confirm you have IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or a compatible reader on your machine; ordinary pdf software will report the file as broken. Once the viewer is running, download and fill the form.
All of it downloads free. When you are ready to work, do this: save the file locally, then open it in a full pdf application. Browsers often ignore field properties, and you can lose everything you typed.
What the form asks for
- To: Enter address here.
- 2. Applicant's Mailing address: Street, Apartment number, city, state, and zip code.
- 3. Date of birth: four digit year, two digit month, two digit day, no separators.
- 4. Dates of school attendance or employment: a. date from. Four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 4. Date of school attendance or employment: b. date to. Four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 5. Typed name: last, first, middle initial.
- 6. Date signed. Four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 7. Unit/command name.
- 8. Signature of recruiting representative.
- 9. Unit/command mailing address: Street, city, state, and zip code.
- 1. Applicant 's Name: last, first, middle initial.
- 10. What is your relationship to the applicant? Press space bar to mark X in first box if employer, second box if school official, or third box if other.
- Specify other relationship to the applicant.
- 11. How long have you known the applicant? a. Date known from: four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 11.b. Date known to: four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 12. Applicant's highest school grade completed or job title.
- 13. Inclusive dates of school attendance or employment in your school or firm: a. Date from: four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 13.b. to: four digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 14. If applicant left school or job, or was expelled, dismissed or terminated, give specific reason if known.
- 15.a. How do you rate the applicant's trustworthiness: Mark X in first box if outstanding, second box if average, third box if unsatisfactory, or fourth box if not observed.
- 15.b. How do you rate the applicant's adaptability: Mark X in first box if outstanding, second box if average, third box if unsatisfactory, or fourth box if not observed.
- 15.c. How do you rate the applicant's ability to work well with others: Mark X in first box if outstanding, second box if average, third box if unsatisfactory, or fourth box if not observed.
- 15.d. How do you rate the applicant's initiative: Mark X in first box if outstanding, second box if average, third box if unsatisfactory, or fourth box if not observed.
- 15.e. How do you rate the applicant's judgment: Mark X in first box if outstanding, second box if average, third box if unsatisfactory, or fourth box if not observed.
With the form finished, route it to the office named in not stated or in your organization's own instruction. Keep a copy first. People rarely regret having one and frequently regret not having one.
When DD Form 370 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.
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 370?
- DD Form 370, Request for Reference, March 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?