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DD Form 2511 is a Department of Defense form, not a service form: DD Form 2511, NACDF Imagery Research Request, February 1988., used to Imagery Research Request, NACF. The DD prefix is the operative fact. It means one blank serves every military department — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard under Defense jurisdiction — plus the defense agencies and combatant commands. No branch variant exists.
not stated is the prescribing publication and not stated the office responsible for the document. Deadlines belong to local implementing guidance, not to either of those, so a submission date is a question for the receiving office.
Current edition is not stated, carried as not stated. Check that against any copy you already hold before doing anything else — Department-level revisions land everywhere simultaneously, so a stale file is stale across the whole Department.
The set is PDF. Size: 1 pages, about 24 fields.
All formats are free. One operational note: save the file locally and open it in a desktop reader. Browser-embedded viewers drop field properties and lose typed data without warning.
What the form asks for
- 1. Requester's control number.
- 2. a. Requester name.
- b. Telephone number.
- 3. Date submitted (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- c. Organization.
- 4. Program.
- 5. Date required (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- Service requirements. 6. File. a. Press space bar to mark X if AMPHI (aerial).
- b. X if ground/handheld.
- c. X if ACF (SAO).
- 7. Service. a. X if computer listing.
- b. X if graphic plots.
- c. X if research and selection.
- Computer search parameters. 8. Country.
- 9. Classification. X first box if all, second box if TSCW, third box if secret, or fourth box if unclassified.
- 10. Date range. a. From (day, month, year).
- b. To (day, month, year).
- 11. Mission, project or series.
- 12. Percent cloud free.
- 13. Subject description/coordinates. a. X if polygon.
- b. X if circle = -NM radius.
- c. X if point.
- 13. Subject description.
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
Start by matching the printed date to not stated. Old blanks accumulate in shared folders for years. Because the Department reissues to all services in one action, nobody is still accepting the previous layout by local custom.
Work the printed sequence: header, body, signature block. The order is functional rather than decorative, since entries below frequently key to identifying data above them.
Nothing stays blank. N/A on an inapplicable item, because an empty box is indistinguishable from a skipped question and the form returns for it. Dates follow the format printed beside the field, not local habit — a joint form is read by clerks in several services with different date conventions, and ambiguity is expensive.
The Privacy Act Statement precedes the personal data fields for a reason. It gives the collection authority, the principal purpose, the routine uses and whether disclosure is voluntary or mandatory. Read it while the disclosure decision is still yours to make.
Sign last, in ink or with a credentialed digital signature. A typed name in a signature field certifies nothing. CAC-based signing is the usual electronic method where the receiving system supports it. Date the block immediately — unsigned and undated certifications account for a large share of returns.
Review for the usual: old edition, blank required fields, illegibility on reproduction, date format, signature and date. Unclear entries — read the form face, then not stated; the directive prevails.
Submit to the office named in not stated or in local instruction; retain a duplicate before it leaves. Joint routing often sends a DD form across organizational boundaries, and tracing one afterward is not a same-day matter.
A number is a complete address in the DD series. Because the sequence is Department-level and not duplicated per service, there is nothing further to specify.
Do not read across from a service number. DA numbering is Army-specific under an Army proponent; DD numbering is Department-wide under not stated or an equivalent Department office. The sequences are unrelated, so identical digits in each identify two different documents. Read the prefix, not the digits.
Revision follows directive changes, changed data requirements and amended notice language, unannounced. Verify not stated each time rather than trusting a saved copy — the cost of the check is seconds.
Limits of this page: it distributes a published Department of Defense document and describes it. No legal advice, no procedural ruling, no statement about whether any submission will be accepted. Applicability, eligibility and procedure belong to not stated, to a servicing personnel office, or to the office named in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 2511?
- DD Form 2511, NACDF Imagery Research Request, February 1988.
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?