How to Complete DA Form 2627: Blocks, Routing, and Appeals

To complete DA Form 2627, the Army’s Record of Proceedings Under Article 15, UCMJ, you and your commander fill in different portions at different stages: the commander sets out the offenses and level of proceeding, you record your elections after consulting a defense attorney, and the commander then enters findings, filing determination, and punishment before you make your appeal election. The form is a Department of the Army form, not a DD form, despite common references to “DD Form 2627.”¹

Getting the Form

DA Form 2627 is available through the Army Publishing Directorate and related departmental publishing sites. In practice, the form reaches the accused already pre-filled with identifying information and the alleged offenses, packaged with the supporting evidence the command intends to rely on.²

Confirm Which Type of Article 15 Applies

The type of proceeding sets the punishment ceiling and appears in Block 2. Company-grade and field-grade Article 15s both use DA Form 2627. Summarized Article 15s use a different form, DA Form 2627-1, and follow a shorter process without the right to consult defense counsel; if your paperwork is a 2627-1, the block structure below does not apply.³

Company-grade, issued by a company-grade commander: up to 14 days extra duty, 14 days restriction, forfeiture of seven days’ base pay, and reduction of one grade for E-4 and below.
Field-grade, issued by a commander in the grade of O-4 or above: up to 45 days extra duty, 60 days restriction (capped at 45 if combined with extra duty), forfeiture of half of one month’s base pay for two months, and reduction to E-1 for E-4 and below or one grade for E-5 and E-6.⁴

Filling Out DA Form 2627 Block by Block

The form moves through six sections corresponding to the stages of the proceeding. You will not sit down and complete it in one pass.⁵

Top Section: Identifying Information

The top of the form captures the service member’s full name, pay grade, Social Security number, unit, and base pay. Check the base pay figure before anything else. Any forfeiture of pay imposed later is calculated from this number, and an error here flows straight into finance.

Block 1: Statement of Offenses

Block 1 sets out each alleged offense and cites a specific UCMJ article, for example Article 86 for absence without leave or Article 91 for insubordination toward a noncommissioned officer.⁶ Read the wording of each specification carefully. Your response is recorded offense by offense, not as one lump.

Block 2: Commander’s Initiation

The initiating commander signs Block 2 and identifies the level of Article 15, company-grade or field-grade. This block fixes the ceiling for anything that can follow.

Block 3: Service Member’s Elections

Block 3 is yours. For company-grade and field-grade proceedings, complete it only after speaking with a defense attorney. Several decisions are recorded together:

Accept the Article 15 or demand trial by court-martial instead. This is the most consequential choice. One exception applies: if you are attached to or embarked on a vessel, you cannot refuse the Article 15.⁴
Choose an open hearing (other service members may observe) or closed.
Request a spokesperson to speak on your behalf, if you want one.
Indicate whether you will present matters in defense, extenuation, or mitigation, such as witness testimony, documents, or a personal statement.

Sign and date Block 3 whether you accept or refuse. Refusing to sign does not stop the process; the commander notes the refusal and moves on.²

Block 4a: Findings

After the hearing, the commander enters a finding of guilty or not guilty for each offense listed in Block 1. A not-guilty finding ends the proceeding on that offense and no punishment attaches to it.

Block 4b: Filing Determination

For soldiers in the grade of E-5 and above, the commander uses Block 4b to place the completed form in either the performance section or the restricted section of the Official Military Personnel File. The restricted section is less visible to promotion boards, so ask for restricted filing, through your spokesperson or directly. If you already have a prior Article 15 in the restricted section, a new one is filed in the performance section automatically.² For E-4 and below, the form is filed in the performance section.

Block 5: Appeal Election

Block 5 records whether you intend to appeal. Initial either the line accepting the appeal and submitting additional matters or the line waiving appeal, then sign and date. If you waive appeal here, a later change of mind can be rejected by the superior authority even within the normal window.⁷

Block 6: Punishment

The commander records the punishment imposed in Block 6. Every element must be precise: the exact number of days of extra duty, the exact pay forfeiture in dollars, and the specific grade to which the member is reduced. Vague entries cause problems when finance processes pay adjustments.

Routing After the Form Is Signed

Once Blocks 4a, 5, and 6 are complete, the DA Form 2627 goes to the Judge Advocate General’s office for legal review and then to finance so any pay forfeiture is applied correctly against the base pay listed at the top. The finalized form is uploaded to the Official Military Personnel File in the section chosen in Block 4b.

Recording an Appeal on the Same Form

If you elected to appeal in Block 5, the appeal itself goes through your chain of command to the next superior authority, meaning the commander one level above the one who imposed the punishment.⁴ Under AR 27-10, an appeal submitted more than five calendar days after punishment is imposed is presumed untimely. The superior commander can accept a late appeal for good cause, but that is discretionary.⁷ Only one appeal is permitted.

Three grounds are recognized: insufficient evidence, excessive punishment, and procedural error during the proceeding.⁸ The appellate authority can overturn the finding, reduce the punishment, or leave it unchanged, but cannot increase it. Heavier punishments (forfeitures exceeding seven days’ pay, reduction from E-4 or above, extra duty or restriction exceeding 14 days) must be referred to a judge advocate for legal review before the appellate authority acts.⁴ The results are recorded back on the original DA Form 2627.

If Part of the Punishment Is Suspended

A commander can suspend part or all of a punishment, meaning it does not take effect unless you violate a condition, typically committing another UCMJ offense during the suspension period. A suspension cannot last longer than six months from the date imposed, and it ends automatically if your enlistment expires first. Complete the period cleanly and the suspended punishment is remitted.⁹ If you violate a condition, the commander can vacate the suspension and impose the original punishment after giving you notice and a chance to respond. An already-executed reduction or forfeiture that was then suspended can only be re-suspended within four months of the original execution date.

Correcting or Removing the Form Later

If the Article 15 was unjust or the form contains errors, and you have exhausted the appeal on the DA Form 2627 itself, you can petition your branch’s Board for Correction of Military Records using DD Form 149.¹⁰ Identify the DA Form 2627 as the document at issue, explain what is wrong and what correction you want, and attach supporting evidence. If more than three years have passed since you discovered the error, explain the delay; the Board has discretion to consider late applications, but the burden is on you.

1
TJAGLCS Criminal Law Deskbook. 05 Nonjudicial Punishment
2
United States Army Trial Defense Service. Article 15 Fact Sheet
3
Army.mil. Article 15 Information
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 815 – Art 15 Commanding Officers Non-Judicial Punishment
5
Army.mil. Trial Defense Service
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 886 – Art 86 Absence Without Leave
7
Army.mil. Army Regulation 27-10 Military Justice
8
Florida National Guard. Article 15
9
Joint Service Committee on Military Justice. Part V of the Manual for Courts-Martial
10
Washington Headquarters Services. Application for Correction of Military Record Under the Provisions of Title 10 US Code Section 1552