How to Fill Out DA Form 1380: Fields, Points, and Submission

To fill out DA Form 1380, use the current May 2019 edition from the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil, complete the identification fields at the top, record each period of duty in Item 9 with the correct date, hours, point code, and authority from AR 140-185, and route the signed form to the custodian of your records within the required window.¹ All previous editions are obsolete. The form is the only way to capture pay or retirement points for duty that doesn’t register through unit attendance — equivalent training, rescheduled training, correspondence courses, professional conferences, medical readiness appointments, funeral honors, and similar activities. A rejected or late form means the duty doesn’t count.

Decide First: Pay or Points Only

Before you touch the form, confirm with your chain of command whether the duty was authorized for pay or for retirement points only. That single decision changes how you code Item 9 and where the form goes after signature.

Paid duty uses the code “P” in the point column. Compensation is one-thirtieth of monthly basic pay for each authorized period of inactive duty, based on rank and years of service.² Most paid inactive duty training runs in four-hour blocks, and each block earns a day of basic pay. Certain duty types, like Readiness Management Assemblies and electronic-based distributed learning periods, are capped at one day of pay regardless of hours worked.

Nonpaid duty uses the code “N” in the same column. Nonpaid forms don’t go through your unit’s pay system; they get forwarded to HRC for retirement point accreditation.¹ Getting P or N wrong is one of the fastest ways to have a form bounced back.

Walking Through the Fields

The form instructions describe Items 1 through 3, 5 through 8, and 10 through 12 as self-explanatory. These are the identification and administrative fields: soldier name, rank, unit designation, home station address, and so on. The two fields that give people trouble are Item 4 and Item 9.

Item 4: The “TO” Address

Item 4 is not your home address. It is the full designation and address of the custodian who manages your records. For soldiers assigned to a unit, that is your unit’s personnel office. For nonunit members — Individual Ready Reserve and Individual Mobilization Augmentee soldiers — the instructions direct the original and a duplicate to HRC, ATTN AHRC-PDR-TR, 1600 Spearhead Division, Fort Knox, Kentucky 40122-5402.¹ Keep one copy for yourself.

Item 9: The Duty Detail Block

Item 9 is where the substance of the form lives. At the top of the block, check the box for the type of duty performed: equivalent, appropriate, suitable, or other. You must also cite the specific documentary authority from AR 140-185, Table 2-1, that authorizes the training. If the form covers multiple periods of different duty types, leave the top checkbox blank and note the authority for each entry individually in Column d.

The four columns work together:

Column a (Date): The day, month, and year the duty was performed. Each date gets its own line.
Column b (Hours): The total hours covered. For assigned training projects, AR 140-1 governs how hours are counted.
Column c (Points): The number of retirement point credits earned, preceded by “P” for pay or “N” for points only. Apply the correct hourly rule for the duty type (see below).
Column d (Description): A brief, clear description of the duties, training, or instruction performed. If the work spanned several days, include the inclusive dates.

Item 9d at the bottom asks where the form was submitted: IPERMS, Pay Data Submitted, or Not Applicable. Check the box that matches how you’re routing it.

Getting the Points Math Right

Point rules vary by duty type, and mixing them up will get the form returned. Apply the rule that matches the activity you’re reporting:

Four-hour rule: One point for each period of at least four hours of authorized training in one day. This is the standard for most equivalent training, rescheduled training, and unit-related additional duty.¹
Eight-hour rule: For certain activities like electronic-based distributed learning, one point for up to eight hours of completed work. Applies where specifically noted in AR 140-185, Table 2-3.
Two-hour rule: Professional conferences, authorized conventions, and some staff and administrative duties performed for points only use a two-hour minimum.
Correspondence courses: One point for every three credit hours satisfactorily completed. Not based on clock hours.
Funeral honors: One point per day for at least two hours of honors service.³

A soldier cannot enter more points than the rule authorizes for that duty type in one day, no matter how many hours were actually worked. A note on medical readiness: AR 140-185 authorizes a maximum of one medical Periodic Health Assessment and one dental PHA per fiscal year, each worth up to four hours. Anything beyond that allowance requires a medical readiness justification under AR 40-501.⁴ And IRR soldiers should verify with their unit or HRC before claiming funeral honors credit, because eligibility rules have tightened.

Who Signs the Form

Item 10 identifies the “officer having knowledge of duties performed,” and Item 11 is where that officer signs. The correct signer depends on the situation:¹

Training in an attached status: the commanding officer of the unit of attachment prepares and signs.
Training with another service branch: a duly authorized official of the unit of attachment signs.
Other Reserve training: prepared as directed by the area commander.
Training projects: the chief of the proponent agency for the project signs.
Professional conferences or trade conventions: the designated military representative at the meeting signs.

A form signed by someone who lacked direct knowledge of the duty, or who wasn’t in the correct supervisory chain, will be returned. If you’re performing duty away from your home unit, get the certifying signature before you leave the duty location. Chasing it down weeks later, when memories have faded and the signer is harder to reach, is how forms die.

False information on DA Form 1380 exposes both the soldier and the certifying officer to prosecution under Article 107 of the UCMJ, covering false official statements, with punishment as a court-martial may direct.⁵

Deadlines and Submission

The form instructions require units to process DA Form 1380 for both pay and nonpaid retirement points no later than the last day of each month.¹ The Chief of Army Reserve has issued more specific guidance for certain populations: forms should be submitted within three days after the duty is performed, though AR 140-185 permits submission up to 90 days after.⁶ Waiting longer risks losing the credit entirely.

Unit-assigned soldiers turn the completed form in to the Unit Administrator or Training NCO, who enters the data into the personnel and pay systems. Nonpaid forms are forwarded separately to HRC for point accreditation.

Processing has been moving into IPPS-A (Integrated Personnel and Pay System — Army). Nonpaid DA Form 1380s are now submitted through IPPS-A using a Personnel Action Request designated as an Admin Records Update. Verify your unit’s current procedures, because the transition from legacy systems has been ongoing and timelines have varied across commands.⁷

Confirm the Credit Posted

Submission is not the end of the job. Retirement points appear on the Retirement Points Accounting Management (RPAM) statement, the official ledger for pension calculations. The Army’s own guidance acknowledges that not all data flows into RPAM automatically and that human intervention is sometimes required.⁸ Review your RPAM statement at least once a year, ideally near the end of your retirement anniversary year, and compare it to your retained copies of every DA Form 1380 you’ve submitted. That retained copy is exactly what you’ll need if a point is missing and you have to work through your personnel office or HRC’s Retirement Points Team to get it fixed.

1
U.S. Army Human Resources Command. DA Form 1380 Record of Individual Performance of Reserve Duty Training
2
U.S. Army Reserve. Army Reserve Pay
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 12732 – Entitlement to Retired Pay: Computation of Years of Service
4
U.S. Army Boards for Correction of Military Records. AR20230013608
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 907 – Art. 107. False Official Statements; False Swearing
6
Department of the Army Office of the Chief of Army Reserve. Chief of Army Reserve Policy 24-16 – DA Form 1380 Processing and Retirement Points Accreditation for Army Reserve General Officers
7
Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army. Upcoming IPPS-A Enhancements to Streamline Retirement Points Management
8
National Guard. Appendix F – Correction to Retirement Points Accounting Management Statement