How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 1351-2: Blocks, Receipts, Filing

To fill out DD Form 1351-2, download the current November 2025 edition, enter your identifying and orders information in Blocks 1 through 11, list every leg of your trip with correct dates, locations, and two-letter travel mode codes in Block 15, itemize your expenses in Block 18 with any government-furnished meals noted in Block 19, handle split disbursement in Block 1 if you used a Government Travel Charge Card, sign Block 20a, and submit through SmartVoucher, Travel Voucher Direct, or DTS depending on your travel type.¹ Using any edition other than the November 2025 form is one of the most common reasons DFAS returns a voucher without payment.²

Check Whether You Should Be Using DTS Instead

Before you fill out anything by hand, confirm the manual form is the right path. The Defense Travel System handles most TDY travel electronically and generates its own voucher. Army active duty, Reserve, and National Guard members on TDY orders are generally required to use DTS unless the assignment was in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area, and other branches have similar TDY requirements.³ If DTS applies to your travel, do not use SmartVoucher or a paper DD 1351-2.

Manual filing is for the situations DTS does not cover: PCS moves, certain reserve duty orders of limited duration, casualty travel, and wounded-in-action travel typically require the paper form. The rest of this walkthrough assumes you are in one of those situations.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull everything together first. You will need:

Your travel orders plus every amendment, endorsement, and attachment. Missing the page with the official seal is a frequent cause of returned vouchers.²
An itemized receipt for every lodging expense regardless of amount, and a receipt for any single expense of $75 or more.⁴
Your direct deposit information for travel pay. Updating your regular pay EFT in myPay does not automatically update travel EFT; you have to update them separately.⁵
The outstanding balance on your Government Travel Charge Card if you used one for official expenses.
Your DoD ID number or SSN for Block 4.¹

Download the form from the Washington Headquarters Services forms portal to make sure you have the November 2025 edition.⁶ DFAS also offers SmartVoucher, a guided tool that walks you through each field and produces a completed form.⁷

Blocks 1 Through 11: Identifying Information

These opening blocks tie the voucher to you, your orders, and your pay account. Inaccurate or incomplete entries here are the second most common reason DFAS returns a voucher.²

Block 1 (Payment): The dollar amount you want sent to the GTCC contractor for split disbursement. If you did not use a government travel card, leave it blank.¹
Block 2 (Name): Your full legal name as it appears on your orders.
Block 3 (Grade): Your current pay grade.
Block 4 (SSN/DoD ID): One or both.
Block 5 (Type of Payment): Check TDY, PCS, or the applicable dependent travel box.¹
Blocks 6a–6e (Address and Email): Your current mailing address and email. Finance uses these for questions about the claim.
Block 7 (Phone): A daytime number with area code.
Block 8 (Travel Order Number): Copy this exactly from your orders.
Block 9 (Previous Government Payments/Advances): If you received a travel advance for this specific trip, enter the amount. Otherwise leave it blank.⁸
Block 10 (For D.O. Use Only): Leave blank. This is for the disbursing office.
Block 11 (Organization and Station): Your unit or organization name.⁸

Block 15: Building the Itinerary

Block 15 is where most errors happen. An incomplete itinerary is one of the top reasons for payment delays.⁹ List every leg of your trip in chronological order. Each row needs a date, a location, and a two-letter travel mode code.

Dates and Locations

Record the year at the top of the date column, then enter the month and day for each departure and arrival. Every location must include the city and state, or city and country for overseas travel. Generic labels like “home” or “office” without a city and state are not valid entries.¹⁰ If you changed transportation modes during a single leg, list the location where the change happened as a separate row. All dates and locations must match your travel orders and endorsements.

The Two-Letter Mode Codes

Each code has two letters. The first letter identifies the funding source. The second identifies the vehicle type.¹⁰

First letter, funding source: T (government ticket/GTR), G (government transportation), C (commercial at your own expense), P (privately owned vehicle).
Second letter, mode: A (automobile), P (plane), B (bus), R (rail), V (vessel), M (motorcycle).

Drove your own car? That is PA. Government-provided vehicle is GA. A commercial flight booked through the CTO on a government ticket is TP. A flight you paid for out of pocket is CP. Wrong codes can delay the claim or produce the wrong reimbursement rate.

POV Mileage in Column 15f

When you used a privately owned vehicle, enter the mileage between your departure and arrival points in Column 15f. The disbursing office calculates reimbursement using standard rates. For TDY travel in 2026, the authorized POV rate is $0.725 per mile when no government vehicle is available.¹¹ For PCS moves, the Monetary Allowance in Lieu of Transportation rate is $0.205 per mile.¹² If a government vehicle was available and you chose to drive your own car anyway, the lower $0.205 rate applies even for TDY.

Blocks 18 and 19: Expenses and Meals

Block 18 is where you itemize every expense you want reimbursed: lodging, transportation costs, parking, tolls, and similar charges. Each entry needs to align with the dates and locations in your itinerary. Include a brief description for each item so finance can match it to a receipt.

Block 19 covers government-furnished or deductible meals. If the government provided meals during your TDY, at a dining facility or included in a conference registration for example, note them here so the finance office can reduce your per diem accordingly.⁸

Split Disbursement for GTCC Users

If you charged official travel expenses to a Government Travel Charge Card, use Block 1 to send money directly to the card contractor (Citi). Enter the dollar amount that should go to the contractor to cover your outstanding balance. Military members are required to designate an amount equal to their total outstanding GTCC balance. Anything beyond that goes to your personal bank account by EFT.¹ DoD civilian employees are strongly encouraged to use split disbursement but are not strictly required to.¹³ Watch the math. If you enter a split disbursement amount larger than your total reimbursement, the whole payment goes to the card company and nothing comes to you.

Blocks 20 and 21: Signatures

Block 20a is your signature as the claimant, either wet-signed or digitally signed. Blocks 20c and 20d require a reviewer, someone who checks that the form is filled out correctly, to print their name and sign.⁸

Block 21 is for an Approving Official, and it is only required when the voucher claims an entitlement not already included in the travel orders. If everything on the voucher falls within what the orders already authorized, Block 21 can stay blank.⁸

Receipts and Supporting Documents

The Joint Travel Regulations require an itemized receipt for every lodging expense regardless of the dollar amount, and a receipt for any single expense of $75 or more.⁴ Receipts must be legible and show the vendor name, date, description, and amount paid. Attach the original travel orders with all amendments and endorsements; the page with the official seal has to be included.²

If you used a government-procured plane ticket, include documentation of the ticket so finance does not reimburse you for something the government already paid. A missing receipt for even one night of lodging typically means that expense gets removed from the final reimbursement.

Lost Receipts

If a receipt was lost or destroyed, you can submit a written statement in its place. The statement must explain what happened and contain the same information the receipt would have shown: vendor name, dates the service was provided, price, any tax, total amount, and confirmation that you paid.¹⁴ One exception: a lost-receipt statement cannot substitute for an online-booking hotel receipt. If you booked lodging online, the confirmation is available in your email or through the booking platform, so the JTR does not accept a statement in its place.⁴

Where to Submit the Completed Voucher

DFAS offers three submission channels, and using the wrong one delays your claim.³

SmartVoucher works best for TDY vouchers not processed in DTS. Log in with a CAC or myPay credentials at smartvoucher.dfas.mil, and the system walks you through each field and generates the completed DD 1351-2.⁷
Travel Voucher Direct is an upload portal for certain claim types, including PCS vouchers for service members on short-duration orders (139 days or less), casualty travel, wounded-in-action travel, and civilian PCS or evacuation claims. Access it through the DFAS askDFAS portal and select “Submit a Ticket.”³
The Defense Travel System is required for most active-duty TDY travel. Your Defense Travel Administrator registers you and provides access. DTS lets you create the authorization, book reservations, generate the voucher, and route it for approval in one system.³

DFAS does not list a fax number or mailing address for general travel voucher submission on its current submission guidance page. If your situation does not fit SmartVoucher, TVD, or DTS, check with your local finance or disbursing office for alternative instructions.

Common Reasons Vouchers Get Returned

DFAS sees the same mistakes repeatedly. Check for these before you submit:

Using any edition other than the November 2025 DD 1351-2 will get the claim sent back immediately.²
Missing phone numbers, blank email fields, or a mismatched order number in Blocks 1 through 14 all trigger a return.²
Sending orders without the page containing the official seal, or omitting an amendment, sends the claim back.²
Gaps in dates, missing locations, or wrong travel mode codes in Block 15 are a top cause of payment delays.⁹
Approving officials are required to return claims that do not accurately reflect GTCC charges through split disbursement.¹³

Checking Status After You Submit

Processing times vary by branch, claim type, and volume. As of May 2026, Army PCS vouchers are averaging about 7.8 business days, with up to three additional business days for the deposit to reach your bank.¹⁵ TDY vouchers and other branches may differ. If your voucher had errors, add the round-trip time for DFAS to return it and for you to fix and resubmit.

To check whether your claim has been paid, log in to myPay and select “Travel Voucher Advice of Payment” from the main menu. If the claim is complete, the advice of payment shows a breakdown of what was disbursed and any deductions finance applied.¹⁶ This is currently available for Army active duty, Reserve, National Guard, and defense agency employees. Members of other branches should check with their service-specific pay office for status inquiries.

1
Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1351-2 – Travel Voucher or Subvoucher
2
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Top Errors on Military PCS Travel Vouchers
3
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Where to Submit Your Claim (DD Form 1351-2)
4
Department of Defense. The Joint Travel Regulations
5
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. DD Form 1351-2 Travel Voucher Checklist Military Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
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Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1351-2 – Travel Voucher or Subvoucher
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Completing Your TDY Travel Voucher
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. DD Form 1351-2 Travel Voucher Instructions
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Wounded Warrior Family Travel Voucher Guide
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United States Marine Corps. How to Fill Out a DD Form 1351-2 Travel Voucher
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General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates
12
Defense Travel Management Office. Mileage Rates
13
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Split Disbursements
14
Defense Travel Management Office. Information Paper – What is a Valid Receipt
15
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Army Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Travel Vouchers
16
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Check Travel Voucher Status