Download the form
DA Form 5203 exists to dodic master/lot locator record — that is the short version. Title of record: DODIC MASTER/LOT LOCATOR RECORD. The page covers the download, the entries and the disposition, nothing else. Current here: edition 05/01/1983, status ACTIVE, 2 page(s), near 200 fields.
Authority sits in two places. G-4 owns the form, PAM 710-2-2 says when it is raised and where it goes. Routine cases need neither read in full — the page itself carries the sequence. The entries are completed by their subject or by unit administrative staff working from what that person supplies.
Pick by how you will enter data: PDF, XFDL on offer. Typing means fillable pdf, where the boxes accept keystrokes and hold them on save. Handwriting means printable pdf, a flat page image sent straight to a printer. Neither version changes what appears on the page.
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. Xfdl means IBM Lotus Forms. The Lotus Forms Viewer opens it; pdf readers and word processors do not.
No charge, no account, no email address. The file is the published document, distributed unaltered.
What the form asks for
- BA12
- BA12_1
- BA12_2
- BA12_3
- BA12_4
- BA13
- BA13_1
- BA13_2
- BA13_3
- BA13_4
- BA14
- BA14_1
- BA14_2
- BA14_3
- BA14_4
- BA15
- BA15_1
- BA15_2
- BA15_3
- BA15_4
- BALA1
- BALA10
- BALA10_1
- BALA10_2
Header first, always. Name as your official records spell it, identification number, unit, date of preparation — these four index the finished record, and an error in them hides the document from anyone searching for it later. The substantive blocks can wait thirty seconds.
Tabbing beats clicking for coverage. The order was set at build time and tracks the page layout, so following it leaves no gaps. Boxes and buttons are clicked; where options are exclusive, one selection cancels another by design. Watch field width on long entries: one-line fields have no wrap, and what runs past the edge disappears in print though the screen still shows it. Move that text to remarks or a continuation. Never leave an inapplicable field empty — enter the nil mark, because a reviewer cannot distinguish a skipped question from a considered answer.
The signature closes the form and nothing precedes it. Draft status holds until it is applied, by hand or by an accepted electronic method. Countersignatures go in printed order, each dated at signing. Then one final read from the top, looking for the four recurring defects: empty mandatory fields, swapped digits in identification numbers, day-month inversion in dates, and residue from a reused file that goes forward as though intended.
Read the Privacy Act statement at the point it appears. Authority, purpose, routine uses, mandatory or voluntary — four facts, and they govern what you are about to enter. A completed copy holds personal data and takes the handling rules that attach to it.
The prescribing directive names the destination; office custom does not. Depending on the case that means a specific office, the unit administrative channel, or the personal record. Keep a copy first, because the original does not come back. Retention runs on the applicable records schedule.
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.
These are reproductions of published Department of the Army documents, offered for download. The site is independent, connected to nothing official, and issues no forms of its own. Nothing here is legal advice and no statement is made about acceptance by any office. Questions about an entry, a requirement or eligibility go to G-4 or your servicing administrative office.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5203?
- DODIC MASTER/LOT LOCATOR RECORD
- Which edition is current?
- 05/01/1983
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-4
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF
Publisher notes
- 42-ITEM ONLY PRODUCED IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA,