AF Form 107, the Air Force Report of Survey, is the document that opens a Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss (FLIPL) when government property has been lost, damaged, destroyed, or found in excess. Completing it means gathering the item’s identifying data and a factual account of what happened, routing the form through your unit’s Report of Survey monitor, and cooperating with the investigating officer the commander appoints. One thing to confirm before you start: most Air Force units now use DD Form 200 for this process, and AF Form 107 is the legacy version of the same investigation.
AF Form 107 or DD Form 200
The Air Force renamed its Report of Survey process to Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss to match Department of Defense terminology, and current guidance in DAFMAN 23-300 directs units to use DD Form 200 for financial liability investigations. AF Form 107 remains available and some units still refer to it by name, but the information you collect and the steps you follow are the same either way. If a supervisor tells you to prepare a Report of Survey, ask whether they want AF Form 107 or DD Form 200. In most cases today the answer is DD Form 200. Your base’s Report of Survey Program Manager can hand you the correct version along with any local supplements.
When a Report of Survey Is Required
You need one whenever government property can’t be accounted for and the loss goes beyond normal wear and tear. That covers items missing after an inventory, property damaged or destroyed by accident or misuse, stolen equipment, and excess items on hand that don’t match accountable records.
Under DAFI 23-101, automatic inventory adjustments are allowed only for pilferable items valued under $100 and unclassified controlled items under $1,000. Any loss above those thresholds requires a formal investigation. So does any loss involving classified, sensitive, or controlled material, regardless of dollar value.
Information to Gather Before You Fill It Out
Missing details are the single most common reason paperwork gets kicked back. Have all of this in hand before you start writing:
- National Stock Number, the 13-digit code in the format 1234-00-567-8901. It appears on the item’s property tag and in your unit’s custody receipt listing.
- Item description and nomenclature exactly as they appear in supply records, not a nickname.
- Serial number for any serialized equipment, taken from the data plate or the custodian inventory report.
- Exact quantity lost, damaged, or unaccounted for.
- Acquisition cost, meaning the original unit price the government paid. Your Equipment Accountability Element or supply activity can look this up.
- Circumstances narrative covering the date of the incident or discovery, the location, who was responsible for the property, and the condition of the item at the time.
Attach supporting documents where they exist: police reports for theft, photographs of damage, maintenance records if the item failed, and witness statements. None of these is always mandatory, but an investigating officer who has to chase down basic facts will take longer to close the case.
Completing the Form
The form is built around who, what, when, where, why, and how. Fill in the identification blocks with the NSN, nomenclature, serial number, quantity, and cost. The narrative block does most of the real work. Write in plain, factual language, stick to what you know firsthand, and avoid speculating about fault. That determination belongs to the investigating officer.
Your unit’s Report of Survey monitor reviews the completed form before it moves up. The monitor checks that every required block is filled in, that the narrative answers the basic questions, and that supporting statements and documents are attached. Administrative errors caught here save weeks of back-and-forth later.
Submitting the Form and What Happens Next
The process runs on two anchor deadlines. After the loss is discovered, your organization has 15 calendar days to conduct a thorough search and notify the commander that a Report of Survey may be needed. If the item still hasn’t turned up at the end of that period, the commander appoints an investigating officer.
The investigating officer then has 30 days from appointment to complete the investigation. Within two days of being appointed, the officer should contact the base Report of Survey Program Manager for training on how to conduct it. The officer interviews witnesses, reviews records, inspects damaged property when relevant, and writes findings that include a recommendation on whether anyone should be held financially liable.
The completed package then goes to the appointing authority. If the appointing authority agrees that negligence or abuse occurred, the FLIPL documentation is forwarded to the supply activity so property records can be adjusted. That finding of “negligence or abuse evident” is what triggers potential financial liability for the individual involved.
Financial Liability and Your Pay
If the investigation concludes you were negligent or abused government property, the cost of the item or repairs can be deducted from your pay. Under 37 U.S.C. ยง 1007(e), the amount of any damage or repair cost caused by a service member’s abuse or negligence is deducted from that member’s pay. For officers charged with issuing military supplies, any deficiency in those supplies is charged against the officer unless they can show they were not at fault.
Federal law does cap what can come out of your paycheck at once. After court-martial forfeitures or other legally authorized withholdings, deductions cannot reduce your actual take-home pay for any month to less than one-third of your monthly pay. If the debt resulted from an overpayment that wasn’t your fault, the monthly deduction is limited to 15 percent of your pay unless you agree to a faster repayment schedule.
You can contest the findings. If you believe the investigation was flawed or the liability determination was wrong, submit a rebuttal through your chain of command. The appointing authority must consider your response before making a final decision, and getting it in promptly protects your later appeal options.
Mistakes That Slow the Process
Late reporting is the biggest problem. The 15-day clock starts when the loss is discovered, and blowing past it creates the impression that your unit wasn’t taking accountability seriously. Incomplete narratives are close behind. If the investigating officer can’t tell what happened from your write-up, the investigation stalls while they track down details you should have included.
Keep custodian inventory reports current. Discrepancies that surface during a routine inventory are far easier to resolve than ones discovered months later during an audit. If something goes missing, report it immediately rather than hoping it turns up. The Air Force treats a prompt, honest report very differently from a loss someone tried to hide.