How to Fill Out and Submit the Navy Operational Duty Screening Form (NAVPERS 1300/16)

NAVPERS 1300/16, the Report of Suitability for Overseas and Remote Duty Assignments, is the form your command uses to certify that you and your dependents are fit to transfer to an overseas or designated remote duty station. You fill in the administrative header, your command completes the 14-question review in Part I, the CMC/COB or Senior Enlisted Advisor endorses in Part III, and the CO or OIC signs the suitable-or-unsuitable determination in Part IV. Your Command Career Counselor then submits the outcome through BUPERS Online. The clock is tight: screening must start within three business days of orders and finish within 30 days for you (60 for each dependent).¹

Where to Get the Form

Use the current version, NAVPERS 1300/16 (Rev. 07-2024). The governing directive is OPNAVINST 1300.14E.² Your command’s Suitability Screening Coordinator should have copies, and you can also download it from MyNavy HR or pull it through BUPERS Online, the system that processes and tracks every overseas and remote duty screening.³

Do not confuse NAVPERS 1300/16 with NAVMED 1300/1. NAVMED 1300/1 is the separate medical, dental, and educational screening form completed by a healthcare provider during the clinical portion of the process, and it feeds into your command’s determination on the 1300/16.⁴

Filling Out the Form

The Header Block

The top of the form captures administrative data: name, date, number of dependents, current ship or station, current Unit Identification Code, the proposed overseas or remote location, and the proposed UIC for the gaining command. Verify the gaining UIC against your orders before you write anything down. An incorrect UIC routes the screening to the wrong reviewing authority and costs you days you don’t have.²

Part I: Command Review

Part I is a series of 14 questions your command uses to judge whether you and your dependents are suitable for the proposed location. It covers performance, disciplinary history, financial standing, psychological readiness, and medical and dental fitness.³ The command evaluates the whole picture. A record of unresolved financial or disciplinary problems can render you unsuitable even when a clinician has cleared you medically.

For enlisted personnel, Part I also confirms you have enough obligated service to cover the prescribed tour. If you don’t, you are automatically unsuitable, and you cannot use a NAVPERS 1070/613 page 13 entry to extend for overseas transfer purposes.

Part III: Senior Enlisted Endorsement

Your Command Master Chief, Chief of the Boat, or Senior Enlisted Advisor either endorses or declines to endorse the assignment in Part III.

Part IV: CO or OIC Endorsement

Part IV is the signature that ultimately matters. The CO or OIC marks you suitable or unsuitable and signs the form.² Without that signature, nothing moves in BUPERS Online.

The Clinical Piece That Has to Accompany It

A military physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or independent duty corpsman completes NAVMED 1300/1 for the medical, dental, and educational side of the screening. The Suitability Screening Coordinator at your military treatment facility files the completed original in your medical record and keeps a copy for audit.⁴

Medical

Clinicians look at ongoing specialty care needs, behavioral health stability, recent hospitalizations, and any new diagnoses that could interfere with your ability to perform at the gaining command. If you or a dependent needs frequent specialist visits, the provider must confirm those resources exist at or near the new duty station. Disqualifying conditions vary by location; a remote site with a small clinic has a much longer list than a major installation.⁵

Dental

Your dental readiness classification is recorded on NAVMED 1300/1. You need Class 1 or 2, meaning no anticipated dental emergencies and no conditions likely to become emergencies within 12 months. Class 3 or 4 will generally make you unsuitable until the issues are treated and your classification improves.

Dependents and EFMP

Every dependent traveling with you goes through the same medical screening. If any family member has a medical, developmental, mental health, or educational need expected to last six months or longer, enrollment in the Exceptional Family Member Program is mandatory.⁶ Two additional forms come into play: DD Form 2792 (Family Member Medical Summary), completed by the treating provider, and DD Form 2792-1, completed when a dependent receives special education or early intervention services. The sponsor and, if applicable, the spouse must sign the release authorization on DD Form 2792 before the provider fills it in. Refusing that release can make your family ineligible for accompanied travel at government expense.⁷

An EFMP Category 3 or 4 by itself should not make you unsuitable if the gaining MTF confirms it can support the condition. Do not hold up the rest of the screening waiting on EFMP categorization.⁸

Submitting Through BUPERS Online

Once the CO signs, the completed package goes into BUPERS Online for the official report. Only personnel assigned as Command Career Counselor or above in BOL have access to the overseas screening application to enter the determination.⁸ Before the CCC submits, they need:

The signed NAVPERS 1300/16.
Member status: suitable or unsuitable. If unsuitable, the reason must be stated. Medical reasons require the appropriate ICD code from the servicing MTF, the action taken (limited duty, Physical Evaluation Board), and when the member will be fit for duty.
Dependent status: same suitable/unsuitable reporting, with EFMP enrollment and any assignment limitations noted when the reason is medical.
Obligated service: for enlisted who have not yet obligated for the tour, the command must justify the delay. Officers select N/A.
Anti-terrorism training: confirmation that it is complete, or justification for delay.
Days to complete screening, counted from the date orders were issued. If the command took more than 30 days, written justification is required.

BOL accepts only two final statuses: Suitable or Unsuitable. There is no “pending” option that saves in the system. If your screening is not finished, the CCC must submit a pending report explaining the delay and resubmit every 30 days, or the command will start getting delinquency reports.⁸ A suitable determination through BOL is the official clearance that allows Navy Personnel Command to finalize your PCS orders and authorize household goods shipment. You and your dependents cannot transfer until the screening is completed and area clearance is issued.⁹

Deadlines

The clock starts the day you receive transfer orders. Your CO must ensure the screening is initiated within three business days. Your own screening must be fully completed within 30 days, and each dependent must be screened within 60 days.¹ These windows are strictly enforced; if your command runs past 30 days, it has to explain why in BOL.⁸

Do not let a dependent’s pending determination stall your own. MILPERSMAN 1300-304 tells commands to proceed with the service member’s screening while awaiting the dependent outcome, and the same holds for pending EFMP categorization.

Pregnancy has its own rule. If you or a dependent will be in the third trimester at the time of transfer, the screening cannot be completed until six weeks after delivery. That postponement is built into the process and will not, by itself, cancel your orders, but your command must report the delay through BOL with the appropriate justification.¹

If You Are Found Unsuitable

An unsuitable determination does not always kill your orders. If the CO believes a waiver is justified, the command submits the unsuitable report through BOL and uses the member comments section to explain why. You are not authorized to transfer until Navy Personnel Command approves the waiver, and the approval is filed in your electronic service record.⁸ Without a waiver, the orders will likely be modified or cancelled and your detailer will work a new assignment.

Even a suitable determination can be revoked. If new information surfaces at the transferring command or any intermediate stop en route (misconduct, an emergent medical condition, a change in family circumstances), the command must hold your orders in abeyance and notify your detailer at NAVPERSCOM immediately. You and your dependents are responsible for reporting any changes that affect suitability, and failing to disclose them can result in disciplinary action under UCMJ Article 107 for making a false official statement.⁸

A Boundary Worth Knowing

If your orders send you to operational duty (Type 2 or Type 4 billets for enlisted, Type C or Type D for officers), you also need an operational screening under MILPERSMAN 1300-800. Completing that does not waive the overseas screening on NAVPERS 1300/16; both must be done, and the operational screening also has to be completed within 30 days of orders.¹⁰ The overseas and remote duty program also treats OCONUS and designated remote CONUS sites under the same procedural requirements, so there is no lighter version of the process for a remote domestic assignment.³

Tips to Keep the Screening on Schedule

Most delays happen at the front end, in paperwork. Pull your medical records, immunization history, dependent records, and any EFMP documentation before your first clinical appointment. If your child receives special education services, get the school working on DD Form 2792-1 early; schools move on their own timeline, and waiting for that form is a common reason commands blow past 30 days.

Verify the gaining command’s UIC against your orders before you fill in the header. Check your dental readiness classification; if it is not current and you get classified as Class 3, you will need treatment before the screening can go through, so schedule that dental appointment the day your orders arrive. A suitable determination remains valid for the assignment unless a significant change in your medical status occurs before departure, so finishing early protects you from last-minute problems.

1
MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1300-302 – Suitability for Overseas/Remote Duty Assignment and Suitability Reporting
2
U.S. Navy. Report of Suitability for Overseas and Remote Duty Assignments
3
MyNavy HR. Overseas Screening
4
U.S. Marine Corps. NAVMED 1300/1 – Medical, Dental and Educational Suitability Screening for Service and Family Members
5
U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay. Overseas Screening Disqualifying Conditions
6
MyNavy HR. Exceptional Family Member Program
7
Navy Fleet and Family Readiness. DD Form 2792 – Family Member Medical Summary
8
MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1300-304 – Suitability for Overseas Assignment Screening Procedures
9
Department of the Navy. BUMEDINST 1300.2B – Suitability Screening, Medical Assignment Screening, and Exceptional Family Member Program Identification and Enrollment
10
MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1300-800 – Transfer of Personnel to Operational Duty