How to Fill Out and Submit AF Form 348: Findings, Benefits, and Appeals

AF Form 348 is the Department of the Air Force’s Line of Duty (LOD) determination record — the document that decides whether an injury, illness, or death happened while you were in a qualified duty status. The completed form becomes a permanent record that controls your access to medical continuation, incapacitation pay, disability retirement, and VA-related benefits. It is governed by Department of the Air Force Instruction (DAFI) 36-2910 and applies to Regular Air Force, United States Space Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard members serving under Title 10 or full-time under Title 32.¹ Any condition sustained in a qualified duty status is presumed to be in the line of duty, and the burden falls on the Department of the Air Force to overcome that presumption.

When the Form Has to Be Initiated

A sick-call visit does not automatically trigger an AF Form 348. For Air Reserve Component (ARC) members, an informal LOD on AF Form 348 must be initiated when any of the following applies:¹

You need medical treatment that extends beyond the duty period in which the condition was incurred or aggravated, or you are requesting medical continuation (MEDCON) orders or incapacitation (INCAP) pay.
You require inpatient hospitalization. Emergency room visits and minor outpatient procedures alone do not count.
The condition is a disqualifying disease process under DAFMAN 48-123.
The injury is likely to cause permanent disability.
You die, are injured, or aggravate a condition while traveling directly to or from the place of duty.
You die, are injured, or aggravate a condition while staying overnight before or between inactive duty training periods at a site outside reasonable commuting distance.
The injury or death occurs during funeral honors duty or the travel to and from it.
You are an ARC member on orders for more than 30 consecutive active-duty days and choose to leave active duty before your medical condition is resolved.

For Regular Air Force and Space Force members, any duty-status injury, illness, or death that raises a question about service connection may prompt an LOD determination. If the condition is clearly service-related and no misconduct is suspected, the administrative process can resolve it without a full AF Form 348 investigation. When the circumstances are unclear or misconduct is suspected, the form is mandatory.

Where to Get the Form

The current fillable PDF is on the Department of the Air Force e-Publishing website.² ARC members routing through the Headquarters Readiness and Integration Organization (HQ RIO) should also pull the supplemental documents from the HQ RIO LOD page — the Medical Provider Form and the Member LOD Initiation Form both travel with the AF Form 348.³

Supporting Documents to Assemble

A complete package, particularly for ARC submissions through HQ RIO, includes:³

All medical documentation tied to the injury or illness: emergency room records, treatment notes, imaging, and civilian provider records.
Duty status verification: certified orders or AF Form 40A covering the period of injury or illness.
AF Form 348 completed through the active-duty unit commander’s signature (Part III, lines 23a, b, and c).
The Medical Provider Form completed by the treating military medical provider.
The Member LOD Initiation Form.
Documentation that you received the required LOD briefings.

Witness statements are not on the formal checklist, but when the circumstances are ambiguous they carry real weight. If anyone saw the incident, get a signed written statement before people PCS and memories fade.

Who Fills Out Each Part

AF Form 348 is not a form you complete on your own. You supply the underlying facts, but the document moves through medical, command, legal, and approval channels.

Military Medical Provider

A military medical provider reviews the medical records and writes a narrative description of the condition. The provider determines whether the condition existed prior to service and whether service aggravated it, paying attention to acute flare-ups of chronic conditions. The provider supplies clinical evidence and does not make the LOD finding itself.¹

Immediate Commander

Your immediate commander documents the circumstances and identifies your duty status at the time (Title 10, Title 32, active duty, or civilian). The commander decides whether the condition occurred during an unauthorized absence, resulted from misconduct, or existed prior to service, then recommends one of three outcomes: In Line of Duty (ILOD); Not in Line of Duty due to a pre-existing condition that was not service-aggravated (NILOD-EPTS-NSA), when no misconduct is indicated; or referral for a formal investigation.¹

Legal Advisor

For Regular Air Force and Space Force members, the commander forwards the form to the Legal Advisor for a legal sufficiency review. For ARC members in the informal LOD process, this review is recommended but optional at the wing commander’s discretion.¹

Appointing Authority

The appointing authority makes the final call. They can find the case ILOD, find it NILOD-EPTS-NSA when there is no indication of misconduct, or direct a formal investigation. If the appointing authority thinks the finding should be NILOD for any reason other than a straightforward pre-existing condition, they must appoint an investigating officer and convert the case to a formal LOD.¹

Informal Versus Formal Investigations

DAFI 36-2910 sets up two tracks, and the difference affects how long the process takes and what you are up against.

Informal LOD

Most determinations are informal. The commander gathers the facts, the medical provider documents the clinical picture, the legal advisor checks the paperwork where required, and the appointing authority decides. No investigating officer is appointed. The processing timeline is 90 workdays.¹

Formal LOD

A formal investigation is required whenever the appointing authority believes misconduct may have caused the condition, or the circumstances are otherwise questionable. An investigating officer runs the case, interviews witnesses, and prepares a detailed report. Wing commanders also direct formal investigations for suspected misconduct, questionable circumstances, and re-investigations. Formal LODs take considerably longer, particularly for ARC members where an LOD determination board may be involved.¹

The Possible Findings

The final entry on AF Form 348 will fall into one of these categories, and each one carries different consequences.¹

In Line of Duty (ILOD): the condition occurred in an authorized duty status and was not caused by misconduct. This preserves full benefit eligibility.
Existed Prior to Service, Service Aggravated (EPTS-SA): the condition predates military service but service made it worse beyond its natural progression. You keep eligibility for care and benefits related to the aggravation.
Not in Line of Duty, Not Due to Own Misconduct (NILOD, EPTS-NSA): the condition predates service and service did not aggravate it. This can be made informally when no misconduct is indicated, or through a formal investigation when the condition arose during an unauthorized absence without misconduct.
Not in Line of Duty, Due to Own Misconduct: a formal investigation found the condition was directly caused by your misconduct. This is the most adverse finding and cannot be made through the informal process.

What Counts as Misconduct

The misconduct standard is higher than many members expect. Simple negligence, such as failing to wear a seatbelt, is not misconduct on its own. Violating a safety standard, standing alone, is simple negligence. To rise to misconduct, the behavior must amount to gross, willful, or wanton carelessness. DAFI 36-2910 defines willful neglect as an intentional act showing reckless or wanton disregard for the consequences.¹ Intoxication, drug use, or deliberate violation of law are the kinds of facts that typically support a misconduct finding.

How the Finding Affects Your Benefits

The finding on your AF Form 348 is the gateway that opens or closes several major benefits.

Medical Care and TRICARE

An approved LOD gives ARC members access to Line of Duty care — a special eligibility that covers treatment of the specific condition for up to one year from the diagnosis date. This coverage sits apart from TRICARE Reserve Select, the Transition Assistance Management Program, and pre-activation benefits.⁴ Without an approved LOD, a reserve member not otherwise on active duty may have to pay out of pocket for treatment of the condition under investigation.⁵

Incapacitation Pay

An ILOD determination is a prerequisite for incapacitation pay under 37 U.S.C. §204(g) and (h). Reserve component members who cannot perform military duties because of an in-LOD condition can receive INCAP pay on request. Members who can still perform military duties may qualify for partial INCAP pay if they can show lost civilian income tied to the condition. Eligibility is reviewed every six months.⁶

Disability Retirement and VA Claims

Eligibility for military disability retired pay requires that the disability was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.⁷ A NILOD finding, particularly one based on misconduct, can undermine a later VA disability claim, because the VA uses the LOD determination as evidence when evaluating service connection. An EPTS-NSA finding that says service never aggravated the condition makes the service connection significantly harder to establish.

2026 Update for Reserve and Guard Members

In early 2026 the Department of the Air Force revised DAFI 36-2910 to streamline the LOD process for reserve and guard members activated for 31 or more consecutive days, specifically for continued access to health care. The new guidance applies to LOD determinations initiated on or after February 1, 2026, and touches only health-care access. Medical continuation, disability evaluations, and other LOD-dependent programs continue to follow the standard requirements in DAFI 36-2910 and DAFI 36-3212.⁸

If You Disagree with the Finding

An adverse determination is not the end. DAFI 36-2910 gives you two post-determination options, and their timelines run at the same time, so you have to move.

Written Appeal

You have 30 workdays from notification of the final determination to submit a written appeal. Regular Air Force and Space Force appeals go to the officer exercising general court-martial authority. ARC appeals go to HQ AFRC or the National Guard Bureau, depending on your component. The appellate authority can approve, disapprove, or return the appeal.¹

Request for Re-Investigation

For formal LOD determinations, you or your next of kin can request a re-investigation within 45 days of the final determination. Disagreement alone does not qualify. The request must include new and significant evidence indicating a likelihood of error, and your own statement is not new evidence. The re-investigation is limited to the issues raised by the new evidence, and only the approving authority can deny the request.¹

For ARC members, the LOD program manager sends the completed package (minus the legal review) to the member or next of kin along with notice of the right to appeal within 30 days or request re-investigation within 30 days. Those clocks run in parallel. If you are waiting on additional medical evidence to support a re-investigation request, do not let the appeal deadline slip past while you gather it.

1
Department of the Air Force. DAFI 36-2910, Line of Duty Determination, Medical Continuation, and Incapacitation Pay
2
Department of the Air Force. AF Form 348
3
Headquarters RIO. Line of Duty Determination
4
TRICARE. Line of Care Duty for Service Members
5
TRICARE Newsroom. National Guard or Reserve: Learn What To Do if You Need Line of Duty Care
6
Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 1241.01
7
MyArmyBenefits. DoD Disability Retired Pay
8
Air Force Reserve Command. Air Force Issues New Guidance to Streamline Line of Duty Decisions for Reservists