Start here if you have been told to submit DD Form 827. First, know what you are filling: Arrears in Pay, Application For. The document is titled DD Form 827, Application for Arrears in Pay, March 1985.
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.
Then settle the schedule. You are working under not stated, with not stated responsible for the document, and your organization layers its own deadlines on that. Ask before you assume a date.
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.
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.
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.
Then check your work against the usual failures: an obsolete edition, empty required boxes, handwriting nobody can read after scanning, wrong date format, missing signature or date.
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 1 pages, and you will complete roughly 21 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.
Go with the typed route whenever the choice is yours. Consider what happens after you submit: the copy gets scanned, forwarded and filed, and each pass costs handwriting some legibility. Block letters help if you are stuck with a pen.
What the form asks for
- 1. Claimant Data. a. Name (last, first, middle initial).
- 1.b. Social security number.
- 1.c. Pay grade.
- 1.d. Rank.
- 1.e. Signature.
- 1.f. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 1.g. Mailing address (Street, P O Box, City, State, Zip Code).
- 2. Period for which arrears are believed to be due from the U.S. a. From (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 2.b. To: 4 digit year, two digit month, two digit day.
- 3. Claimant served in: press space bar to mark X in first box if Army, second box if Navy, third box if Air Force, fourth box if Marine Corps, or fifth box if Coast Guard.
- 4. Last date enlisted/entered on active duty (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 5. Last date discharged/released from active duty (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 6. Place of discharge (City, state).
- 7. Facts and circumstances on which claim is based.
- 8. Disbursing/Finance Officer. (Complete only if claimant is on active duty. Continue on reverse side if additional space is needed.) I hereby certify that I have not and will not pay any portion of this claim for the following reasons:
- 8.a. Name (last, first, middle initial).
- 8.b. Unit/command name.
- 8.c. Signature.
- 8.d. Date signed (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 8.e. Disbursing Officer Symbol Number.
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
Now that it is complete, send it where not stated or your local procedure says it goes. Before you do, make yourself a copy — scan it or save the file elsewhere. It costs you nothing and saves you the whole exercise if the original goes missing.
If the form points you to another document, you can find it by number alone. DD numbering runs across the whole Department, so you do not need to work out which service issued it — one number, one form, everywhere.
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.
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 827?
- DD Form 827, Application for Arrears in Pay, March 1985
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?