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DA Form 5841 — POWER OF ATTORNEY

powers of attorney

A newer edition of this form has been issued (07/01/2020). Download the current edition.

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Use DA Form 5841 when you need to powers of attorney. Full title: POWER OF ATTORNEY. Everything you need is on this page — the file, the entry rules, the routing. Edition 07/01/2020, status ACTIVE, 3 page(s), roughly 104 fields. Note the supersession: a later edition exists, and this one applies only to records already completed on it.

Authority sits in two places. G-1 owns the form, AR 600-20 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, XFDL, 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.

Save the download and open it in a dedicated reader. That single step prevents the common failure: an in-browser viewer accepts your typing and discards it at tab close. Confirm with one field and one save cycle before committing the whole form. The xfdl copy needs the IBM Lotus Forms Viewer. That format runs in Army systems and nothing else reads it.

Free, unregistered, unmodified. What arrives is what the publisher released.

What the form asks for

  • APPEARED
  • APPOINT
  • COUNTY
  • COUNTYOF
  • ContentArea1
  • DAY
  • EXPIRES
  • GRANTOR
  • GUARD1
  • GUARD2
  • IN_A
  • IN_B
  • L38
  • L57
  • L58
  • L59
  • L60
  • L61
  • L62
  • L63
  • L64
  • L65
  • L66
  • L67

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.

Move between fields with tab; the build-time order follows the page and misses nothing. Click check boxes and option buttons, and expect an exclusive group to release the old choice when you set a new one. The trap is field width. Single-line fields do not wrap, so an overlong entry displays complete on screen and prints cut at the margin — put it in remarks or on a continuation instead. Mark inapplicable fields rather than leaving them blank, since an empty box carries no information about whether the question was read.

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.

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 600-20 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.

Check the edition date before reusing a saved copy. Revisions come from the proponent without notice to you, and the printed date is the only version marker on the page. Already-submitted records under a superseded edition stand as filed; the change does not run backwards.

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-1 or your servicing administrative office.

Questions and answers

What is DA Form 5841?
POWER OF ATTORNEY
Which edition is current?
07/01/2020
Who is responsible for this form?
G-1
In which formats can it be downloaded?
PDF, XFDL, PDF

Publisher notes

  1. 14-REQUIRES PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT (AR 340-21)

Other forms in the series