The NPPSC 1900/1 Separations Questionnaire is the form you fill out to start the administrative side of leaving active duty in the Navy. Your Command Pay and Personnel Administrator (CPPA) uses it to request separation orders, draft your DD-214, and calculate your final pay. It runs 17 blocks covering your personal data, service dates, separation type, and what you want to do with your leave balance. Fill it out carefully, hand it to your CPPA at the right time with the right supporting documents, and the rest of the process moves on schedule.
Where to Get the Form
The current NPPSC 1900/1 is a fillable PDF on the MyNavy HR NPPSC Forms page.1MyNavy HR. NPPSC Forms Fillable PDFs don’t open properly inside most browsers, so right-click the link and choose “Save As” to download the file to your computer before you try to type in it. Your Command Career Counselor keeps copies as well. The most recent revision is dated May 2025.
Filling Out the 17 Blocks
The first blocks collect identifying information: full legal name, Social Security number, rate or rank, and duty station. You then enter your Expiration of Active Obligated Service (EAOS) date or, if you are retiring, your requested retirement date. Accuracy on the date matters more than anywhere else on the form. A wrong EAOS can throw off your pay and delay your separation orders.
You also pick the type of separation. Most Sailors finishing an enlistment select honorable discharge. Other choices include general discharge or retirement, depending on your record and years of service. Active-duty retirement generally requires at least 20 years of qualifying service. The separation type you enter drives which post-service benefits you qualify for, so if you have any doubt, talk to your Career Counselor before you sign.
Selling Back Leave or Taking Terminal Leave
The biggest decision on the questionnaire is what to do with your unused leave. You can sell it back, take it as terminal leave, or split the balance between the two. The form has fields for each so your personnel office can calculate your final pay.
Selling back leave means the Navy pays you a lump sum at your basic pay rate. No allowances like BAH or BAS are included. Federal law caps career leave sell-back at 60 days total, so if you sold back 15 days at a prior reenlistment, you have 45 days left to sell.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 37 USC 501 – Payments for Unused Accrued Leave
Terminal leave works differently. You stop reporting to your command but remain on active duty, drawing full pay and allowances, until the leave runs out and your separation date arrives. If you have 30 or more days saved, terminal leave often pays more than a sell-back because BAH and BAS keep coming during that time.
Documents That Go With the Questionnaire
The NPPSC 1900/1 doesn’t move by itself. Your CPPA assembles a packet around it. The Navy’s Separations and Retirements Process guide lists the documents that must accompany the questionnaire, as applicable to your situation:3MyNavy HR. Separations and Retirements Process
- NPPSC 1900/2 Separations Checklist, which tracks the key supporting documents (KSDs).
- Separation authorization: a signed administrative separation letter, separation authorization message, or officer separation orders.
- DD Form 2648 Pre-Separation Counseling Checklist, your proof that you completed the Transition Assistance Program counseling required by federal law.4Department of Defense. DD Form 2648 – Preseparation Counseling Checklist for Active Component Service Members
- Approved separation leave request, if you plan to take terminal leave.
- DD Form 2586 (VMET) and Joint Service Transcript.
- Copies of prior DD-214s, if they aren’t already in your Official Military Personnel File.
- Separation evaluation, required now if you are receiving Involuntary Separation Pay and otherwise before the DD-214 is finalized.
- DD-93 or NAVPERS 1070/602 Record of Emergency Data, reviewed and updated.
- SGLI enrollment, reviewed and updated through the SGLI Online Enrollment System.
- Command and quarters checkout sheets.
- Passenger Reservation Request and DD-884, if applicable.
Sailors transferring to the reserves also need a signed reserve contract and NAVPERS 1070/613 Agreement to Serve.3MyNavy HR. Separations and Retirements Process
Missing secondary documents like a dental endorsement or separation evaluation shouldn’t hold up the whole package. MILPERSMAN 1900-015 tells CPPAs to submit what they have and note in the case comments which items are still pending and when they will be ready.5MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1900-015 – Separation, Fleet Reserve, and Retirement Document Submission You also need a complete separation physical, including a dental exam, within six months of your separation date.6MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1900-808 – Physical Examination for Separation Book those appointments early, because clinic backlogs at larger installations are common.
When to Submit It
The Navy’s Case Routing Guidance sets a submission window. Your CPPA can submit the separation package no earlier than nine months before your separation date. The recommended target is 120 days out. The hard deadline is no later than 60 days before the start of any permissive TDY or separation leave.7MyNavy HR. Case Routing Guidance – Separations and Retirements MILPERSMAN 1900-015 restates the same 120-day floor for the required initial KSDs.5MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1900-015 – Separation, Fleet Reserve, and Retirement Document Submission
Separating from an OCONUS duty station? Aim for the early end of the window. Overseas separations add travel coordination and routing that eat into the calendar quickly.
The DD Form 2648 in your packet documents completion of Transition Assistance Program (TAP) counseling, which federal law requires to begin no later than 365 days before separation or 24 months before a planned retirement. If your separation is unanticipated and you have fewer than 365 days left, counseling should begin as soon as possible within your remaining service time.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1142 – Preseparation Counseling The Navy’s CAPSTONE event, where Career Readiness Standards are verified, must be complete no later than 90 days before separation.9MyNavy HR. Transition TAP
What Happens After Your CPPA Submits It
The completed questionnaire and its supporting documents go digitally to Transaction Service Center (TSC) Norfolk, the Navy hub that processes separations and retirements. TSC Norfolk begins drafting the DD-214 worksheet in the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS).5MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1900-015 – Separation, Fleet Reserve, and Retirement Document Submission
Reviewers there verify your leave balances, service dates, awards, and other entries against centralized records. The review can take several weeks, especially near the end of the fiscal year. Any discrepancy sends the case back to your CPPA for correction, which is the practical reason accuracy on the questionnaire and early submission both matter.
When TSC Norfolk finishes, a draft DD-214 becomes available for you to review and sign electronically through NSIPS. The sign-off no longer runs through the older BUPERS Online Document Services system. Instructions live inside NSIPS: log in, choose Training, then Interactive Training, and open the NSIPS DD-214 Interactive User Guide under Retirements and Separations Training.10MyNavy HR. DD Form 214 Updates
Read every line. Your DD-214 is the certificate of service that unlocks VA benefits, employer verification, and state veteran benefits for the rest of your life. Check dates of service, characterization of service, awards and decorations, education, and separation code. If anything is wrong, tell your CPPA immediately so TSC Norfolk can fix it before the final version is issued on your last day of active duty. If the DD-214 isn’t finalized at least 14 calendar days before you leave on PTDY or separation leave, TSC personnel can finalize it with the signature block marked “Signature Unattainable.”5MyNavy HR. MILPERSMAN 1900-015 – Separation, Fleet Reserve, and Retirement Document Submission Submitting at the 120-day mark is how you avoid ending up in that spot.
Deadlines That Start the Day You Separate
Two post-separation clocks start running the moment you’re out, so handle them while you still have the questionnaire in front of you.
You have 120 days from your separation date to convert Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) to an individual commercial policy with no medical exam required.11U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. How to Convert Your SGLI/FSGLI/VGLI Coverage to an Individual Policy You will need your SGLI Conversion Notice and a copy of your DD-214. Miss the window and you’ll have to prove good health, which can mean higher premiums or a denial.
If you separated under honorable conditions and don’t have civilian work lined up, you may qualify for Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX). The military branches fund the program, but state workforce agencies administer it, so benefit amounts and duration follow the state where you file.12U.S. Department of Labor. Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers File with your state agency as soon as you can after discharge and bring your DD-214.