Fillable Form DA 638

What is the DA 638 form?

The DA 638 form is issued by the Department of Army used to recommend a soldier for a type of reward or recognition within the United States Army.

Can I fill out the DA 638 form?

If you wish to recommend a certain soldier within the United States Army for a certain type of reward, then you are eligible to fill out the DA 638 form.

What do I need to fill out the DA 638 form?

To fill out the DA 638 form, you will need your information, the information of the soldier you will be recommending for a reward, additional advocate for the awarding, and information regarding the reward itself.

Specifically, you will need:

For yourself

• Your name, title/position, rank, address, relationship to the awardee, and signature

For the information of the soldier you will be recommending

• His or her name, rank, social security number, organization, previous awards, branch of service, recommended award to be given to the soldier, period of award, reason for award, interim award, whether the award is posthumous or not, and the proposed presentation date of the award.

For the information of the additional recommenders

• Names of all additional advocates, their ranks, their titles or positions, their comments for the awarding, and their signatures.

For the information regarding the awarding of the reward itself

• Description of up to four (4) achievements that reflect why the soldier is deserving of the award and the proposed citation.

How do I fill out the DA 638 form?

We will be giving you a step-by-step guide on how to fill out the DA 638 form.

Before attempting to fill out this form, ensure that you have everything needed to fill out this form, listed above. Make sure that all the information that you are about to place is completely accurate as this is a legal document and must be treated with utmost care.

Addressing DA 638
Before filling in anything else, you must first address the form.

On the left side of this section, fill in the “To” section with the address of the department you will be sending this form to. On the right of that box is the “From” box, and here you must place your name and address. On the far right of this section, input the date of completion of this form in the YYYY/MM/DD format.

Part I - Soldier Data
In this part, you will be placing all the data regarding the soldier whom you believe should receive this award.

First, you will be needing the soldier’s name. Place this at the box labeled “4.” in the format of last name, first name, and then middle initial. Following this, put the soldier’s current rank. Finally, for this line, place the soldier’s Social Security Number (SSN).

In the next line, place the soldier’s organization. Following this, state any of the soldier’s previous awards, if there are any.

In the following line, place their branch of service. Next, indicate the recommended award and the period of the award, which you can show by indicating the from and to dates of the award in question.

In the final pair of lines for this part, write down the reason for this award. Next, tick the appropriate “Yes or No” box indicating if there is an interim award. If “Yes” was selected, you will be asked to state the award given. Next, indicate whether the award given is posthumous by checking the corresponding “Yes or No” box. Finally, write down the proposed presentation date.

Part II - Recommender Data
For this section, you will need to place all the data that is required of you, the recommender.

In the first box of this section, place again your name in the last name, first name, then middle initial format. Next, place your current address in the designated box.

In the following line, you will need to put your title or position within the United States Army. Next, indicate your rank within the army.

Finally, for this segment, write down your relationship to the awardee and then place your signature.

Part III - Justification and Citation Data
For this section, you will be needing to input any and all justification answering why the soldier in question deserves to be given the award that you recommended.

In the boxes labeled “Achievements” write down in a paragraph the reasons why you believe that the soldier in question should be given the award. These can be anecdotes of the soldier’s bravery, skill, resourcefulness, heroism, or any other reason why you believe his talents should be recognized. You can place up to four (4) separate entries illustrating his achievements.

In the box labeled “Proposed Citation” write down the formal reason why you believe this soldier should be recognized.

Part IV - Recommendations/Approval/Disapproval
This part will cover any additional recommendations given by your peers, commanding officers, or witnesses to the soldier’s deeds.

In the line before this section, you must once again input the full legal name of the soldier to be awarded following the format of last name, first name, and then middle initial. Afterward, place the soldier’s SSN.

The first question of this part will ask you to verify that all information placed in Part I is correct and that the individual in question is eligible for an award in accordance with AR 600-8-22. In order to verify everything, affix your signature in the designated area and place the date of signing in the format of YYYY/MM/DD.

Intermediate authorities are able to recommend the soldier’s awarding by indicating their name, rank, title or position, comments, and signature in the designated areas. They must also indicate their date of signing in the YYYY/MM/DD format. Note that up to three (3) intermediate authorities can place their recommendation in Part IV. However, up to five (5) more individuals can give their recommendation in the Addendum, thus a total of eight (8) individuals can provide input.

An approval authority can approve, disapprove, recommend an upgrade, or recommend a downgrade depending on how they believe the soldier should be treated by marking the designated box. He or she will also need to input their name, rank, title or position, comments, and signature. They will also need to place the date of signing in the YYYY/MM/DD format.

Part V - Orders Data
This part holds information regarding the orders data.

The first line will ask for the Orders Issuing HQ and the Permanent Order No. The line following will require the name of order’s approval authority and their rank. Then, the form will require the title/position, approved award, orders approval authority’s signature, and date of signing in the YYYY/MM/DD format, and finally the Distribution.

Addendum
The addendum is an optional part where additional intermediate authorities can place their recommendations for the soldier in question. Filling out this part follows the same process as filling out the intermediate authorities section from the fourth paragraph from Part IV.

Once you have filled out everything you needed to fill out, congratulations, you have successfully completed the DA 638 form, and can forward it accordingly.