How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 1348-6: Single Line Item Requisition

To fill out DD Form 1348-6, the DoD Single Line Item Requisition System Document (Manual-Long Form), complete the eighty numbered MILSTRIP card columns on the front with the coded routing, funding, and identification data your supply system needs, then use the eleven blocks on the back to describe the item in enough plain-language detail that a procurement officer can source it without calling you.1Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1348-6 DoD Requisition Both sides have to be right. A wrong character on the front routes the order to the wrong source or leaves it unfunded; a vague description on the back sends the form back to your desk with questions.

Confirm You Need the Long Form First

Before you start filling in blocks, verify that DD Form 1348-1A won’t do the job. The 1348-6 exists for two situations: the item has no National Stock Number, or the manufacturer’s CAGE code and part number together exceed the fifteen characters the 1348-1A can hold.2Defense Logistics Agency. ADC 1361 Retirement of Legacy MILSTRIP Requisitioning Form DD1348M The long form also gives you room for exception data — narrative instructions about substitution, urgency, or technical requirements.

Search DLA’s Federal Logistics Information System or your service’s parts database before assuming an item is non-standard. An NSN is a thirteen-digit code: a four-digit Federal Supply Classification code followed by a nine-digit National Item Identification Number.3eCFR. 41 CFR 101-30.101-3 – National Stock Number Items that look non-standard sometimes carry NSNs under different nomenclature or a cross-referenced NATO stock number. Filing a 1348-6 for a cataloged item wastes processing time and typically triggers an automatic return from the Supply Support Activity.

Where to Get a Blank Form

The current edition, dated February 1985, is available as a fillable PDF from Washington Headquarters Services.4DoD Forms Management Program. DD 1348-6 – Single Line Item Requisition System Document, DoD (Manual-Long Form) A copy is also hosted by GSA,5General Services Administration. DD Form 1348-6 DoD Single Line Item Requisition System Document and the DLA forms page links back to the WHS library for the full DD series.6Defense Logistics Agency. DLA Official Forms

Front Side: The MILSTRIP Card Columns

The front is a grid of eighty numbered card columns — the same format every MILSTRIP transaction uses. Not every column applies to every requisition, but the ones that do must be exact.

Document Identifier, Routing Identifier, Media-and-Status (Columns 1–7)

Columns 1–3 hold the three-character Document Identifier Code, typically A0A or A0B for a standard requisition depending on the material category. Columns 4–6 carry the Routing Identifier Code that directs the requisition to the correct supply source, whether a DLA distribution center, a service inventory control point, or GSA. Column 7 is the Media-and-Status code, telling the source how you want status updates delivered.1Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1348-6 DoD Requisition

Manufacturer and Part Number (Columns 8–22)

Columns 8–12 hold the Federal Supply Code for Manufacturers, which in practice is the five-character CAGE code identifying the vendor. Columns 13–22 hold the part number. When the combined CAGE-plus-part-number overflows these fifteen characters, continue the full string on the back in Block 1.

Unit of Issue and Quantity (Columns 23–29)

Columns 23–24 take a two-letter unit-of-issue code: EA for each, BX for box, DZ for dozen, GP for a group that should ship together.7General Services Administration. The Special Order Program: MILSTRIP Guidance Columns 25–29 hold the quantity as a five-digit number, right-justified and zero-filled (three units becomes 00003). A wrong unit of issue is one of the fastest ways to get a requisition rejected, or worse, to receive one loose piece when you needed a full case.

Document Number (Columns 30–43)

The document number is the fourteen-character string that will track this requisition from creation to receipt. It breaks into three parts: a six-character DoDAAC identifying your activity (column 30 for the service designator, columns 31–35 for the activity), a four-digit ordinal date for the creation date (columns 36–39), and a four-digit serial number your supply office assigns sequentially (columns 40–43). Every status update, shipment notice, and receipt document will reference this number, so verify it before the form leaves your hands.

Signal, Fund, and Priority (Columns 51–61)

Column 51 is the signal code, telling the supply source where to ship the material and where to send the bill. Columns 52–53 carry the two-character fund code identifying the appropriation that pays for the item; your unit’s resource manager or comptroller assigns this. Columns 60–61 hold the priority designator, a two-digit code from 01 (highest) to 15 (lowest) based on your unit’s Force/Activity Designator and urgency of need. Routine stock replenishment sits around 13–15; urgent operational needs may warrant 01–03. Your supply officer determines which priority applies, and inflating it without justification invites scrutiny from the inventory control point.

Remaining Front-Side Fields

Several other columns refine how the system processes the order: column 44 (demand code), 45–50 (supplementary address), 54–56 (distribution code), 57–59 (project code), 62–64 (required delivery date), and 65–66 (advice code). Not all apply to every requisition. Your supply activity’s standing operating procedure specifies which ones your unit completes and which the SSA fills in downstream.

Back Side: The Identification Data Blocks

The back is where the form earns its “long form” name. Eleven numbered blocks give you room to describe the item in plain language, and this is what the procurement officer actually reads when deciding how to source your order.

  • Block 1, Manufacturer’s Code and Part Number. Use this block when the CAGE code and part number together exceed the fifteen characters available in columns 8–22. Write the full CAGE code first, then the complete part number.
  • Block 2, Manufacturer’s Name. The full legal name of the manufacturer or vendor.
  • Block 3, Manufacturer’s Catalog Identification. Catalog number, product line designation, or other reference the manufacturer uses.
  • Block 4, Date. Enter in YYMMDD format.
  • Block 5, Technical Order Number. If the item appears in a military technical order, enter that number.
  • Block 6, Technical Manual Number. Same concept for a technical manual reference.
  • Block 7, Name of Item Requested. The common or official nomenclature, specific enough that someone unfamiliar with your equipment could search for it.
  • Block 8, Description of Item Requested. The most important block on the form. Include physical dimensions, materials, power requirements, performance specifications, and any other detail that distinguishes this item from similar products. Sub-fields 8a (Color) and 8b (Size) capture those attributes separately.
  • Block 9, End Item Application. Identify the system or equipment the requested item supports. Sub-fields cover Source of Supply (9a), Make (9b), Model Number (9c), Series (9d), and Serial Number (9e) of the end item.
  • Block 10, Requisitioner. Your clear-text name and mailing address. Not a DoDAAC. A readable address where someone could reach you.
  • Block 11, Remarks. Exception data, justification for sole-source procurement, substitute-acceptable flags, or special shipping instructions.

Block 8 is where most returned forms fail. A description like “gasket, rubber” forces the procurement officer to come back and ask what size, what durometer, what flange pattern, and every round trip adds days. Write Block 8 as if the person reading it has never seen the item and cannot call you for clarification.1Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1348-6 DoD Requisition

Get the Signature and Submit

Take the completed form to your unit’s Supply Officer or Accountable Officer for signature. That signature confirms two things: the unit has authority to make the purchase, and funds are available in the cited appropriation. Without it, the SSA will reject the requisition on sight.

After signature, route the form to the Supply Support Activity. Depending on your service branch and location, submission may be a physical hand-off, a scanned upload into a logistics information system, or manual data entry by supply technicians at the SSA. When a unit transmits electronically, the coded front-side data feeds directly into the Defense Logistics Management Standards transaction set, and the back-side narrative travels as an attachment or is keyed into the remarks field of the automated system.

Tracking the Requisition

Once the supply system accepts the requisition, status updates come back keyed to the document number from the front of the form. These updates use two-character supply status codes defined under DLMS. Common codes include BA (item being processed for release or shipment) and various B-series codes flagging cancellations or other actions.8Defense Logistics Agency. Defense Data Standards Resources Your supply office should have a current DLMS status code table. If an unfamiliar code appears, check there before assuming the order is on track.

Processing time varies. Standard-priority orders for commercially available items may clear initial processing within a few business days; high-demand or sole-source items can take weeks. The required delivery date in columns 62–64 gives the source a target, not a guarantee. If status updates stop or a reject code appears in columns 65–66, contact the SSA immediately. A reject left unresolved quietly kills the requisition without further notice.

Common Mistakes That Delay Requisitions

Most rejected 1348-6 forms fail for the same handful of reasons:

  • Wrong or missing CAGE code. If you cannot find it, search the DLA CAGE code database before submitting. Leaving the field blank or guessing forces procurement to research it, or reject the form.
  • Mismatched unit of issue and quantity. Ordering “5 EA” when the item is cataloged by the box means you may receive five individual pieces. Check the unit of issue against the manufacturer’s packaging before filling in columns 23–29.
  • Vague Block 8 description. “Hose, flexible” helps no one. Include inner diameter, length, pressure rating, fitting type, and material.
  • Incorrect fund code. Verify the two-character code with your resource manager before submission. A mismatched fund code means the obligation cannot post, and the requisition stalls until someone fixes it.
  • Document number collisions. If your supply office reuses a serial number from earlier in the fiscal year, the system may reject the new requisition as a duplicate. Keep the serial number log current.