DA Form 3078, the Personal Clothing Request, is the document that records and authorizes every personal clothing transaction for enlisted Soldiers, from initial issue at basic training through replacements, exchanges, and supplemental issues later in a career. To use it, your unit supply section prepares the form under AR 700-84, your commander approves it, you sign for the items at the issuing facility, and copies go to unit supply, finance, and you. AR 700-84 makes it the only authorized document for obtaining personal clothing items for Active Army enlisted Soldiers, Individual Ready Reserve and Individual Mobilization Augmentee personnel, and USAR and ARNG enlisted Soldiers attending initial entry training.
What DA Form 3078 Is and Who Files It
The form is built around enlisted Soldiers. If you are enlisted on active duty, in the Reserve, or in the National Guard, your personal clothing transactions flow through it. Commissioned and warrant officers generally do not use DA Form 3078 for routine uniform purchases because officers buy their own uniforms and receive a one-time initial uniform allowance of $400 as reimbursement.1Department of Defense. Financial Management Regulation Volume 7A Chapter 30 – Officers’ Uniform and Equipment Allowance
Officers do appear on the form in one narrow set of cases. AR 700-84 authorizes gratuitous clothing issues for both officers and enlisted personnel when clothing is destroyed while administering emergency first aid, when items no longer fit after surgery-related weight changes, or when gear is contaminated or lost during evacuation from a combat theater. Those replacements are documented on DA Form 3078 regardless of rank.
Where to Get the Current Form
The current version of DA Form 3078 is available through the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil. Search by form number and download the PDF. Before filling anything in, check the edition date printed in the lower-left corner to confirm you have the latest revision, because supply personnel are required to reject superseded forms.
Most Soldiers will not need to download the form themselves. At Central Issue Facilities and Clothing Initial Issue Points, supply staff typically generate DA Form 3078 through the Automated Clothing Initial Issue Point System. When it is prepared manually, AR 700-84 requires it to be completed in ink or indelible pencil, with an original and four copies.
The Blocks You Need to Complete
The form is a single page split into header blocks, item columns, and a remarks and signature section. Knowing the block numbers up front prevents the back-and-forth that happens when supply sends a form back for corrections.
In the header:
- Block 1 (Document No.) is assigned by the issuing facility, not by you.
- Block 3 is the date the form is prepared.
- Block 4 is your name: last, first, middle initial.
- Block 5 is your SSN. Some installations now also use the DoD ID Number depending on local policy.
- Block 6 is your current pay grade.
- Block 7 is your unit designation.
- Block 8 is your unit’s Department of Defense Activity Address Code.
- Block 11 (Category) is a single checked box: Active Army, USAR, IMA, IRR, AGR, or NG.
- Block 12 (Type of Transaction) is also a single checked box: Initial, Replacement, Exchange, Individual Charge Sale, Supplemental, Gratuitous, or Temporary.
The body of the form has three item-description columns. Block 20 lists common articles issued to all Soldiers, Block 25 lists male-specific items, and Block 29 lists female-specific items. Each row includes quantity requested, quantity issued (Block 19/24), size (Block 21/26), unit price (Block 22/27), and total cost (Block 23/28). Every item corresponds to a thirteen-digit National Stock Number built from a four-digit Federal Supply Classification and a nine-digit National Item Identification Number.2eCFR. 41 CFR 101-30.101-3 – National Stock Number
The bottom carries the weight. Block 30 (Remarks) is where special notations go: the funding appropriation, inventory certification entries, deployment operation names for gratuitous issues, and supplemental-issue authorization language. Block 31 is your signature confirming receipt. Blocks 16 through 18 capture the authorizing regulation, the approving authority’s signature, and the date of approval.
Filling It Out for an Initial Issue
For a first-time clothing issue, your unit supply section or the CIIP prepares the form. Mark Block 12 as “Initial.” Leave Blocks 1, 2, 9, 13, and 15 blank; the issuing facility fills those in. In Block 16, enter “AR 700-84” as the authorizing regulation. Your commander or their commissioned or warrant officer representative signs Block 17 (Approved By) and dates it in Block 18. The commander also enters the authorized quantities in the REQ column of Blocks 19 and 24.
You then carry the form to the Army Military Clothing Sales Store or CIIP. The facility issues the items, completes the applicable blocks including pricing, and you sign Block 31 on the original and all copies to confirm you received everything. The resource manager enters the funding appropriation in Block 30.
Filling It Out for a Replacement
When clothing bag items wear out or are damaged, your unit supply sergeant prepares a new DA Form 3078 marked “Replacement” in Block 12. Your commander determines whether any shortages trace back to initial issue items that were never provided. Shortages of initial-issue items must be requested within 15 days of assignment. Missing clothing beyond that is replaced at your own expense within 30 days of assignment.
Filling It Out for a Maternity or Supplemental Issue
Pregnant Soldiers use DA Form 3078 for the maternity Army Service Uniform, and the process has its own requirements. Start with a pregnancy confirmation from a doctor at your local Military Treatment Facility, who updates your medical records with a pregnancy profile. Your commander signs a memorandum authorizing the issue and wear of the uniform.
For the maternity ASU, your supply sergeant prepares DA Form 3078 marked as a supplemental issue and signed by the unit commander, per AR 700-84, paragraph 1-6p. Block 30 must include this exact language: “Issued as supplemental items as authorized by CTA 50-900 (Clothing and Individual Equipment).”3The United States Army. Pregnant and a Soldier? Let’s Discuss Maternity Uniforms Attach a copy of your pregnancy profile to the form. Once signed, take it to the local AAFES to receive the uniform. The authorization lasts three years; if another pregnancy occurs within that window, you use the same items, and after three years you can request a new supplemental issue by repeating the process.
The Maternity Utility Uniform follows a separate process that does not require DA Form 3078. Active-duty Soldiers receive up to three sets and National Guard and Reserve Soldiers receive two sets from the Central Issue Facility, per CTA 50-900, and the MUU must be returned to the CIF within 90 days of returning to duty post-pregnancy.3The United States Army. Pregnant and a Soldier? Let’s Discuss Maternity Uniforms
Submitting the Form and Distributing Copies
Completed forms go to the Unit Supply Room or Central Issue Facility depending on the type of transaction. Supply personnel verify every entry against physical stock before signing off. For manual forms, bring the original and all four copies together; partial submissions will be rejected.
Once the transaction is complete, copies are distributed this way: the unit keeps one copy as an accountable record, the CIIP or AMCS forwards the original and one copy to the servicing finance office for payment processing, and you keep one copy as your personal receipt. For initial issues, the unit retains an additional copy until you have completed 180 days of service and received all items.
The National Archives records schedule for DA Form 3078 sets retention periods. The installation clothing issue point destroys its copies after two years, while the unit of assignment destroys its copy after six months provided inventory has been completed without discrepancy.4National Archives and Records Administration. NC1-AU-80-050 – Request for Records Disposition Authority When you transfer to a new unit, your clothing record forwards to the gaining organization. At separation, the record is destroyed.
Keeping Your Copy
Hold on to your personal copy. It is your proof that items were issued in serviceable condition and in the recorded quantities. If a dispute arises during an inventory or at separation, that copy is the first thing supply will ask for.