DA Form 1256 Incentive Award Nomination and Approval

Notification Icon This version of the form is not currently in use and is provided for reference only. Download this version of DA Form 1256 for the current year.

DA Form 1256 Incentive Award Nomination and Approval

What Is DA Form 1256?

DA Form 1256, Incentive Awards Nomination and Approval, is a form issued by the U.S. Department of the Army (DA) and used for accepting submissions for participation in the Total Army Awards Program. The Total Army Awards Program encourages mission accomplishments by rewarding the excellent performance of both military and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces and motivating them to further improve both their performance and overall service.

The version released on November 1, 2009, is valid and in use today. An up-to-date DA 1256 fillable form is available for digital filing and download below or can be obtained through the Army Publishing Directorate (APD) website. Filing and procedural information about the DA 1256 can be found in the DA Pamphlet 672-20, Incentive Awards Handbook

DA Form 5167, Incentive Awards Nomination And Approval - Nonappropriated Funds, is a related form released by the DA for similar purposes.

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DA Form 1256 Instructions

All award nominations must be submitted on DA Form 1256. When the award is approved, the original form - either a hard copy or a printed and signed digitally-generated version of the form - will be stored in the employee's Official Personnel Folder (OPF).

  1. Part I consists of three blocks and is completed by the operating officer.
    • The operating officer provides the service member's or employee's name, organization, present position, title, grade, and salary in the first block (Boxes 1 through 3). If the nominated employee held another position during the period of nomination, their position is recorded in Box 4;
    • The second block of Part I identifies the type of the recommended award. Awards are can be either honorary or monetary;
    • The third block contains personal identifying information about the official making the nomination.
  2. Part II is completed only if the award is forwarded to the Department of the Army Headquarters (HQDA). If the nomination is not EEO-compliant, the operating officer has to provide an explanation on a separate page.
  3. The local incentive awards committee fills out Part III of DD Form 1256.
  4. The appropriate approving authority or authorities fill out Part IV. Part IV contains five columns: the action level, the status of the application as prescribed by each of the action levels - either approval or disapproval (with the indicated sum of the monetary award), an additional cash award (with the sum indicated), and the signature, title, and date of each approving or disapproving official on every action level.

Download DA Form 1256 Incentive Award Nomination and Approval

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  • DA Form 1256 Incentive Award Nomination and Approval, Page 1
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