Download the form
DA Form 5501 handles one job: body fat content worksheet (female). The official title is BODY FAT CONTENT WORKSHEET (FEMALE). Download it below, fill it in, sign it, send it where your directive says. The edition on this page is May 2013, status not stated, running 1 page(s) with about 123 fields to complete.
Authority sits in two places. DCS, G-1 owns the form, AR 600-9 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.
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.
No charge, no account, no email address. The file is the published document, distributed unaltered.
What the form asks for
- Abdomen_1st
- Abdomen_2nd
- Abdomen_3rd
- Abdomen_Average
- Age
- ApprovedBy
- Approved_By_Date
- Circumference_Value
- ContentArea1
- Height
- Height2
- Hips_1st
- Hips_2nd
- Hips_3rd
- Hips_Average
- Hips_Circumference
- L10
- L11
- L12
- L13
- L14
- L15
- L16
- L21
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.
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.
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 AR 600-9 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.
Look for associated forms by series and number. In the DA series, documents sharing a proponent or a governing directive tend to travel together, and anything referenced on the page normally submits alongside. Collect continuations, covers and transmittals in advance of sending.
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 DCS, G-1 or the administrative office servicing your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5501?
- BODY FAT CONTENT WORKSHEET (FEMALE)
- Which edition is current?
- May 2013
- Who is responsible for this form?
- DCS, G-1
- In which formats can it be downloaded?