Download the form
DA Form 5-129 handles one job: gage observation - precipitation-stream. The official title is GAGE OBSERVATION - PRECIPITATION-STREAM. Download it below, fill it in, sign it, send it where your directive says. The edition on this page is 10/01/1956, status ACTIVE, running 1 page(s) with about 185 fields to complete.
USACE is the proponent, TB 5-550-3 the prescribing authority. Read the directive only if something about your situation departs from the standard case. Otherwise the form is filled by the individual it describes, or by the records clerk keeping the file, and reviewed through the printed signature blocks.
The formats are PDF, and the choice comes down to keyboard or pen. Fillable pdf for typing — live fields, tab order, saved entries. Printable pdf for handwriting — same page, no interactive objects, print it blank. Content is identical; only entry method differs.
A standalone reader is the safe choice for fillable work. Browser viewers vary in whether entered data survives the session, and there is no warning when it does not; a one-field save test settles it in seconds.
Nothing is charged and no sign-up applies. Files are served as published, without changes to the page image.
What the form asks for
- AMT_1
- AMT_2
- AMT_3
- AMT_4
- AMT_5
- AMT_6
- AMT_7
- AMT_8
- CHNG_RATE
- COND_GAGE
- ContentArea1
- DTANDTM
- FELL_1
- FELL_2
- FROM_1
- FROM_2
- FROM_3
- FROM_4
- FROM_5
- FROM_6
- FROM_7
- FROM_8
- GRD_1
- GRD_2
The heading entries carry more weight than the body. Name spelled as in official records, identification number, organisation, date prepared. Retrieval runs on those values, so a transposed digit or a casual spelling costs someone a file search. Fill them before anything else.
Tab through the fields rather than clicking. The tab order was fixed when the form was built and generally follows the page, which catches boxes a mouse skips past. Check boxes and option buttons take a click, and an exclusive group clears the previous selection when you make a new one. Single-line fields do not wrap — text past the field width prints truncated while still showing in full on screen, which is why the loss is discovered after printing. Overflow goes to remarks or a continuation sheet. A field that does not apply gets the mark meaning none; blank space reads as an omission.
Signature comes after every other entry — ink or an approved electronic means, and without it the document is a draft. Where reviewing, approving or witnessing signatures are called for, take them in printed block order, each dated on the day applied. Before release, one pass from the top. The defects worth hunting are always the same four: mandatory fields left empty, identification digits transposed, dates with day and month reversed, and stale data surviving in a copy reused in place of a blank form.
Privacy Act statement first, personal entries second. The notice covers who is authorised to collect, why, who else routinely sees it, and whether you must answer. After completion the file carries personal data and is stored and sent under the corresponding safeguards.
Routing follows TB 5-550-3 and nothing else — a named office, the unit administrative channel, or the individual's file, according to why the form was raised. Copy it before it leaves. Retention is fixed by the records schedule for the series, which local practice does not shorten or extend.
Related forms are found by series and number. DA series documents under the same proponent or the same prescribing directive are commonly required as a set, and any form named on the face of this one goes forward with it. Assemble continuations, covers and transmittals before submitting, not after the query comes back.
A stored file goes stale silently. The proponent revises, a new edition date is published, and your copy says nothing about it — so compare the printed date against the edition in force before typing into it again. Completed submissions on an earlier edition are not reopened.
The files are copies of published Department of the Army forms. This site has no official connection, no authority to issue anything, and no basis for saying whether an office will accept a given submission. None of the text is legal advice. Real questions — entry, requirement, eligibility — belong with USACE or the administrative office servicing your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5-129?
- GAGE OBSERVATION - PRECIPITATION-STREAM
- Which edition is current?
- 10/01/1956
- Who is responsible for this form?
- USACE
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, PDF
Publisher notes
- 42-ITEM ONLY PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA,