To fill out DD Form 1348-1A correctly, look up your codes in WebFLIS before you write anything, then enter the National Stock Number, condition code, unit of issue, signal code, priority designator, and purpose code in their designated blocks, sign the form, and route it through your unit’s supply officer for submission. The form is the Issue Release/Receipt Document used across DoD to requisition, issue, receive, and transfer cataloged supply items, and every block maps to a specific record position in the Military Standard Requisitioning and Issue Procedures (MILSTRIP) system. One wrong code will bounce the whole transaction.
Use the 1348-1A only for items that carry a National Stock Number. If your item has no NSN, that’s the DD Form 1348-6 instead, and it uses manufacturer’s code and part number rather than an NSN.
Before You Start: Form and System Access
Download the current edition of DD Form 1348-1A (dated July 1991) as a fillable PDF from the DoD Executive Services Directorate at esd.whs.mil. That’s the official repository, and outdated editions get rejected, so pull a fresh copy rather than reusing an old file.
You also need access to two DLA systems before most of the fields make sense:
- WebFLIS (Web Federal Logistics Information System) is DLA’s lookup database for NSNs, item names, reference and part numbers, and Commercial and Government Entity codes. Register through the DLA Account Management and Provisioning System (AMPS) at amps.dla.mil with your Common Access Card, then request the WebFLIS Basic User or Standard User role.
- ETID (Electronic Turn-In Document) is the web application that generates a 1348-1A for turn-ins and auto-populates most fields when the item has a valid NSN. ETID also requires AMPS registration and a CAC. Hazardous waste is not processed through ETID.
Filling In the Blocks
Work through the form field by field. The codes below are the ones that most often get entered wrong.
National Stock Number (Block 25)
The thirteen-digit NSN goes in Block 25, record positions 8–22. It’s a four-digit Federal Supply Classification code followed by a nine-digit National Item Identification Number. Verify the NSN in WebFLIS every time. Copying an NSN off an old document without confirming it’s still active is one of the most common causes of a rejected requisition.
Document Identifier Code
This code sits in the first record positions and tells the supply system what kind of transaction you’re running: an initial requisition, a follow-up, a cancellation, and so on. Your unit’s supply SOP or the MILSTRIP desk guide lists the code that matches your action. Pick the one that describes what you’re actually doing, not what you’d like the system to do.
Routing Identifier Code
The three-character Routing Identifier Code (RIC) tells the system which supply activity will process the request. Your supporting supply activity assigns the RIC based on who manages the item. If you don’t know it, ask before you submit rather than guessing.
Condition Code
A single letter describing the physical state of the item. The receiving warehouse uses it to decide whether the materiel goes to a shelf, a repair line, or disposal, so it needs to be accurate.
- A — Serviceable, issuable without qualification. New, used, repaired, or reconditioned materiel that works and has more than six months of shelf life remaining.
- B — Serviceable, issuable with qualification. Functional but restricted to certain units or uses, often because of limited remaining service life (three to six months of shelf life).
- F — Unserviceable but reparable. Broken and economically worth repairing. Routes the item to maintenance rather than disposal.
- H — Unserviceable, condemned. Beyond repair, contaminated, or past shelf-life expiration with no extension possible.
Don’t code an item H just because your unit no longer wants it. Excess serviceable property keeps its real condition code and goes to DLA Disposition Services for reutilization.
Unit of Issue and Quantity
Unit of Issue is a two-character abbreviation for the package size: EA for each, BX for box, DZ for dozen, and so on. Quantity is the number of those units. Entering “12” with a Unit of Issue of BX means twelve boxes, not twelve items. Mismatched UI and Quantity is a fast way to receive the wrong amount of materiel.
Signal Code
A single character telling the system where the materiel ships and who pays. The common values:
- A — Ship to the supplementary address; bill the activity in the Fund Code field.
- B — Ship and bill both to the supplementary address.
- C — Ship to the supplementary address; bill the requisitioner.
- J — Ship to the requisitioner; bill the activity in the Fund Code field.
Check the signal code against your unit’s fund code before you submit. A wrong signal code sends the shipment to the right place with the wrong account charged, or sends the materiel itself to a funding office instead of your warehouse.
Priority Designator
A two-digit number from 01 through 15 that controls how quickly the system processes your request. It isn’t a preference field. The priority is calculated from your unit’s Force/Activity Designator combined with the Urgency of Need Designator. Priority 01–03 is reserved for the highest-urgency combat-essential needs; 14–15 covers routine stock orders. Inflating the priority is a compliance violation that supply officers flag during reviews.
Purpose Code
The Purpose Code explains why you’re holding or requesting the item. A designates general issue stock available without restriction. E covers items reserved for specific plans or projects. J marks stock for Military Assistance Program or NATO grant aid. Most routine requisitions use A. The full list runs to roughly twenty codes.
Submitting and Tracking the Requisition
Once the form is complete, it routes through your unit’s designated supply officer for verification before entering the processing pipeline. Army transactions flow through GCSS-Army; the other services run their own automated logistics platforms, and the underlying transaction data format is standardized across DoD.
After submission, the system returns a status confirmation. You can track the requisition through the automated database and see whether the item is in transit, backordered, or pending shipment. Physical copies of the 1348-1A travel with the cargo and get scanned at checkpoints, building the audit trail that federal financial management regulations require.
If the requisition stalls, use the follow-up Document Identifier Code to query status or escalate. Don’t submit a second requisition for the same need. That creates a duplicate demand signal and can produce double shipments, which then have to be dealt with as excess property.
Using the Same Form to Turn In Excess Property
The 1348-1A is also the required document for turning property in to DLA Disposition Services, and the turn-in process has its own rules:
- Prepare at least three copies of each form. Two copies must be physically attached to the property.
- One NSN per form. You can group multiple identical items under a single form only if they share the same stock number.
- Attach all applicable certifications directly to the property: demilitarization (DEMIL), Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MPPEH), hard drive sanitization, and inert certifications as appropriate.
- Physically segregate the property so it matches, item by item, the accompanying forms.
You can prepare turn-in documents by hand or through ETID, which auto-populates most fields when the item has a valid NSN. Disposition Services rejects turn-ins that arrive with incomplete paperwork or property that isn’t segregated to match the forms.
Sensitive, Hazardous, and Ammunition Items
Items requiring demilitarization, containing hazardous components, or involving ammunition need extra entries. DLA assigns DEMIL codes indicating the required degree of physical destruction before disposal, and the correct DEMIL code must appear on the form. Without it, Disposition Services cannot accept the item.
Ammunition-related submissions processed as Material Data for Ammunition Submissions require a certification statement on the 1348-1A confirming the material has been inspected or processed by DDESB-approved means and, to the best of the preparer’s knowledge, does not pose an explosive hazard. Leaving that statement off stops the transaction.
Hazardous waste doesn’t go through ETID or the standard 1348-1A turn-in process at all. It’s processed through the Hazardous Materials Management System–Hazardous Waste Disposition system. Routing hazardous waste through the normal channel produces a rejection.
Mistakes That Cost You
The errors that cause the most trouble aren’t dramatic. They’re wrong condition codes, mismatched Units of Issue, inflated priority designators, and missing certifications on turn-ins. Each one can delay delivery, trigger a rejection, or leave a discrepancy in your property book that shows up in the next audit.
Federal law under 10 U.S.C. § 2721 requires DoD to maintain property records on both a quantitative and monetary basis. When the records don’t match what’s on hand, the result is a Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss under Army Regulation 735-5 or the equivalent in other services. If the investigation finds that someone’s negligence caused the loss, financial liability generally doesn’t exceed one month’s base pay. Exceptions apply to accountable officers, personnel who lose personal arms or equipment, and damage to government quarters from gross negligence, where liability can equal the full value of the loss.
Verify every code in WebFLIS before you enter it. Keep your signed copies of each 1348-1A organized and accessible; they’re your proof that property left your custody through proper channels. When you’re not sure about a code or a procedure, ask your installation’s supply support activity before submitting.