Fillable Military Forms

DD Form 878 — DD Form 878, Military Mail Dispatched, November 1978.

Military Mail Dispatched

Start here if you have been told to submit DD Form 878. First, know what you are filling: Military Mail Dispatched. The document is titled DD Form 878, Military Mail Dispatched, November 1978..

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.

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.

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.

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

Step one is picking the format. You have PDF to choose from, across 3 pages, with approximately 130 fields to complete.

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

  • Item 7. Dispatched to
  • Item 8. Carrier and routing
  • Item 9. a. Airmail
  • Item 9. b. M. O. M.
  • Item 9. c. S. A. M.
  • Item 9. d. Surface
  • Item 9. e. Total. Total is automatically calculated for items 9. a. through 9. d.
  • Item 7. Dispatched to
  • Item 8. Carrier and routing
  • Item 9. a. Airmail
  • Item 9. b. M. O. M.
  • Item 9. c. S. A. M.
  • Item 9. d. Surface
  • Item 9. e. Total. Total is automatically calculated for items 9. a. through 9. d.
  • Item 7. Dispatched to
  • Item 8. Carrier and routing
  • Item 9. a. Airmail
  • Item 9. b. M. O. M.
  • Item 9. c. S. A. M.
  • Item 9. d. Surface
  • Item 9. e. Total. Total is automatically calculated for items 9. a. through 9. d.
  • Item 7. Dispatched to
  • Item 8. Carrier and routing
  • Item 9. a. Airmail

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 878 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.

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.

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 878?
DD Form 878, Military Mail Dispatched, November 1978.
Which edition is current?
Not stated by the publisher
Who is responsible for this form?
Not stated
In which formats can it be downloaded?
PDF

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