DA Form 638, Recommendation for Award, is a United States Army form used for recommending a soldier for most awards, except for wartime awards, awards for valor, and awards for heroism. The form is used for reviewing individual nominations for decorations or awards, to record decisions made on those applications, and to maintain individual award case files.
The latest edition of the form - sometimes incorrectly referred to as DD Form 638 - was released by the U.S. Department of the Army (DA) on April 1, 2021, with all previous editions being obsolete. An up-to-date fillable DA Form 638 is available for download below or can be obtained through the chain of command.
DA Form 638 instructions are as follows:
When proposing citations for DA Form 638 you should remember that the citations will be transferred by the Commander's staff to the Army Commendation Medal Certificate. This certificate has an inherent historical value and the citation block should be prepared with care. The policy does not prohibit the use of acronyms and abbreviations but recommends limiting them to the most commonly known. The descriptive narrative should be concise and brief and not distract the reader from the main points.
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