How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 1618: DoD Transportation Agreement

DD Form 1618 is the Department of Defense transportation agreement a civilian employee signs before the government will pay to move them for a transfer within the continental United States. Signing commits you to at least 12 months of federal service at your new duty station in exchange for paid relocation costs. The current version is dated December 2023, and the fillable PDF is available from the Executive Services Directorate at esd.whs.mil.¹

When You Need to Sign It

You complete DD Form 1618 any time the DoD authorizes travel and transportation allowances for a civilian position within CONUS. That covers permanent changes of station between CONUS locations and new appointments or student trainee assignments where the government is paying to move you. The form cites 5 U.S.C. §§ 5723 and 5724 as the authority requiring the signed agreement before any allowances can be paid.²

If your transfer takes you outside the continental United States, this is not your form. OCONUS assignments use DD Form 1617, which references different statutes and has a different commitment structure with tour-of-duty requirements that vary by location.³ The two forms look similar. Confirm with your HR office which one applies before you sign anything.

Filling Out the 12 Blocks

DD Form 1618 is a single page. Before starting, pull out your official job offer or tentative selection notice and your travel authorization. You will need the exact duty station names, your appointment date, and confirmation of whether you were classified as a new appointee or student trainee.²

Block 1, Name. Full legal name in Last, First, Middle Initial format.
Block 2, Type of Agreement. Check one of four boxes: Initial, Renewal with PCS, Renewal without PCS, or PCS Only. Your HR office tells you which applies.
Block 3, Appointment Date. Enter in YYYYMMDD format. This is the effective date of your appointment or transfer, not the day you physically move.
Block 4, New Appointee or Student Trainee. Yes or No. This determines whether your agreement falls under § 5723 (new appointees) or § 5724 (transfers).
Block 5, New Assigned PDS Location. City, state, territory, or country of your gaining permanent duty station.
Block 6, Actual Residence. Your home address at the time of appointment or transfer.
Block 7, Previous PDS Location. City, state, territory, or country of the duty station you are leaving.
Block 8, Other Remarks. Leave blank. This block is completed by personnel office or employing agency officials only.
Blocks 9 and 10, Employee Signature and Date. You sign and date. This is the binding act.
Blocks 11 and 12, HR Officer Signature and Date. A designated civilian personnel officer, human resources officer, or their designee signs and dates as the witnessing official.

Every entry has to match your travel authorization exactly. A misspelled duty station in Block 5 or Block 7, a wrong appointment date in Block 3, and the form will bounce back or cause a reimbursement claim to be rejected later. Check each field against your official orders before you sign.

Submitting the Form

Once you and the HR officer have both signed, route the form through your local Human Resources Office or the installation’s civilian personnel section. That office confirms it matches your assignment details and forwards it to finance. Keep a copy for your records; you will need it when filing your travel voucher and later tax paperwork.²

The signed DD Form 1618 is a prerequisite to your PCS travel authorization. Block 21 of DD Form 1614, the actual travel authorization, asks whether a signed transportation agreement is on file and what date it was signed.⁴ Until DD Form 1618 is processed, the government cannot obligate funds for your relocation. After your travel orders are issued, you can schedule household goods pickup, book travel, and set your move timeline.

What the 12-Month Commitment Actually Means

The heart of DD Form 1618 is a written promise to stay in government service for at least 12 months after you report to your new permanent duty station. The requirement comes from 5 U.S.C. § 5724(i), which allows the government to pay relocation expenses for a CONUS transfer only after the employee agrees in writing to that 12-month period.⁵ The same 12-month rule applies to new appointees and student trainees under 5 U.S.C. § 5723.⁶

The clock starts the day you report for duty at the new station. Not the day you sign the form, not the day you leave your old location. Every option in Block 2, including the renewal categories, carries the same baseline 12-month obligation.

If You Leave Before 12 Months Are Up

If you do not complete 12 months at the new duty station, or you are removed for cause before the tour ends, you owe the government back. The repayment language on the form is blunt: you must repay the total expense of travel and transportation to the permanent duty station, and you are also responsible for the cost of returning to your actual residence.² The statute treats the amount spent by the government as “a debt due the Government,” recoverable from the employee.⁵

Your agency can withhold any final pay to satisfy the debt. That includes your last paycheck and any unused leave payout, which may be reduced or zeroed out before it reaches you.

There is one exception. If you cannot finish the 12 months for reasons beyond your control that your agency accepts as valid, you are not required to repay. Both the statute and the form use the phrase “separated for reasons beyond his control that are acceptable to the agency concerned.”⁵ Common examples include a reduction in force, a medical condition that prevents continued service at the location, or the agency reassigning you before the period ends.

If DFAS does assess a debt and you believe the amount is wrong or should not exist, you can request reconsideration and then a formal hearing. CONUS employees have 30 days to request the hearing after the initial determination; OCONUS employees have 45 days. Collection is suspended while the hearing is pending, and a written decision is typically issued within 60 days.⁷

1
Department of Defense. DD Form 1618 DoD Transportation Agreement
2
Department of Defense. DD Form 1618 – Department of Defense (DOD) Transportation Agreement: Transfer of Civilian Employees to and Within Continental United States (CONUS)
3
Department of Defense. DD Form 1617 – Department of Defense (DoD) Transportation Agreement: Transfer of Civilian Employees Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS)
4
Executive Services Directorate. Request and Authorization for DoD Civilian Permanent Duty or Temporary Change of Station Travel
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5724 – Travel and Transportation Expenses of Employees Transferred; Advancement of Funds; Reimbursement on Commuted Basis
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5723 – Travel and Transportation Expenses of New Appointees and Student Trainees
7
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Debt Hearing