Reporting For Duty Letter Form: Fill & Download for Free

The letter was received from US Army in 2005 when my age was 62. Yes, I responded: Went to Fort Jackson for refresher combat training and was readying for assignment to the Afghan ministry of defense. Retired from Army Reserve at mandatory age 60 and in good health. During the two years before being “drafted” as a recalled retiree my health declined to diabetes and deafness. Complied with the “letter … of … call to service” but shortly before deployment to the combat zone was declared a medical reject and was sent home. But, yes, I did get the letter and, yes, I did report for duty.

In 1975 I was assigned to the 1/19th Infantry Battalion, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, HI. Although I was an Infantryman (11B MOS) I was detached from my line unit to Battalion HQ as I had another Secondary MOS in Administration (71L).Under Army Regulations, when someone left for a Leave it was necessary to sign out on the approved Leave form prior to departure. On weekends or other after duty times the forms were sent to the Battalion HQ where the NCO assigned as Charge-of-Quarters managed the sign-out process.One young Private reported to HQ to sign out but the CQ did not find his approved leave in the file. This was not entirely unusual and, as the CQ knew that a leave had been approved by the young man’s Unit Commander, he let him go saying they’d take care of the paperwork when he returned from leave. Tragically he died in an accident while on leave.As one of my regular tasks at Battalion included preparing the Duty Status Report, and as it was especially necessary in this case before the soldier’s family was notified of the death - and before they received Death Benefits - I noted his status as “Present for Duty to Approved Leave to Deceased” and sent this to the soldier’s Company Commander for his signature. While waiting for the form to be signed and returned I also began preparations for the letter that was going to be signed by the Battalion Commander and sent to his family.Instead of signing the form the Company Commander came to Battalion and informed me that this man did not have an approved leave because he did not sign out as required. He further told me that though the man had requested the leave he, as the CO, never approved it. Accordingly, he instructed me to change my status report to “Present for Duty to AWOL to Deceased” which would have resulted in the soldier’s family receiving nothing and being informed that their son was in violation of Army Regulations at the time of his death. I was totally shocked as I knew this was untrue, and I informed the Captain of that fact and that I refused to change my Report.In anger, the Captain ordered me to accompany him to the Battalion Commander’s office to answer for my “insubordination” and face whatever penalty the Colonel deemed appropriate. I did so and explained to the Colonel what had actually happened, that the man’s First Sergeant would verify that the Leave had in fact been approved by the Captain, and that the man’s name was still on the Company HQ’s Duty Status Board noting that he was on Leave, something the 1SG would not had done unless he had personally seen the approved form. The Colonel seemed to side with me and I was dismissed to continue preparing my report and the notification letter. At the same time the 1SG looked into the Company Commander’s waste basket - and found the leave form, signed by him, and then crumpled up and thrown out. He brought the form to Battalion and gave this to the Colonel. While he and I waited outside the office we could hear the Colonel speaking to the Captain in anger but, after a while, he came out of his office, looked at us, and then stated that while the form had in fact been approved the young man still violated regulations by leaving without signing out as required. I was then ordered - again - to change my report noting that this Private died while AWOL.Now I was the angry one and, although just a Junior NCO (3-striper at the time), I gave the Colonel a “one finger salute” and went back to my office and slammed the door, ignoring the Colonel’s order to stop.When the Colonel - and most of his Battalion Officers - came into my office I was ready for them, although I thought I could still end up in Leavenworth. Before the Colonel could say a word I laid out on my desk a stack of Leave Forms that, since I was responsible for Duty Status Reports, had been sent to me for filing. As I went through them I sorted out a number that had not been “properly” handled.“This form is for the Commander of Company C. He is currently on Leave but has not signed out as required by Regulations. I will prepare the AWOL Report on him, Sir. This one is for the First Sergeant of the Combat Support Company. He is currently on leave also but has not signed out. I will report him as AWOL, Sir, as required.” Altogether I found perhaps a dozen others that were technically AWOL to include one of the Colonel’s Staff Officers.The Colonel looked at me, realized how serious I was, and then turned to his officers and said, “How did you people let me get into this mess?” He then turned to me and said, “Sergeant Keith, prepare your report and the letter, noting that this young man was on approved leave at the time of his death.” I responded by saying, “Yes, Sir. Already done.” He then ordered the Captain to return to his office with him where, I expect, the Captain was reamed a new one.A few months later the Colonel - a Lieutenant Colonel actually - was promoted to Full Colonel and reassigned to Division HQ. When I had occasion to go to Division HQ I tried to avoid running into him as I still thought I was on the sh-t list with him but one day I did run into him and he told me to come into his office and close the door. This is what he said: “Sergeant Keith, although you might have handled that situation better, you were right and I was wrong. I apologize.”My respect for this man has never left me to this day.

I read the answer of Sadhana Dinesh Rao and was fascinated with her collection.Her answer motivates me to post this rather sentimental answer.I have with me what none of my siblings, children, or nephews, nieces, grand nephews, nieces, or uncles or aunts or any blood relation has.And those are some rare pictures of my family before independence.Here are some specimens.My grandfather, who would be around 125 years old if he had been alive today and who used to sign with his initials as CGS was the first person in my family, who learned English during the days of the British Raj. Before him my ancestors knew only Tamil and Malayalam and could chant shlokas in Sanskrit. Without any encouragement or support from any senior elder in the family it was an achievement for him to have learned English, done his BA and BEd ( I think the B.Ed was called LT those days, meaning Licenciate in Teaching) and become a teacher and retire as the Head Master of the school in our native village (Chittur, Thekkegraamam, Palakkad District, Kerala)Here is a sample of his hand writing. I am reproducing a letter he wrote in 1948 to his eldest son (my Dad) complaining how his other two younger sons, did not bother to write to him and worrying about arranging the marriage of his second son and the efforts he was making in that direction, his sadness at the financial profligacy of his youngest son (my uncle). My Dad was already married off at 18 to my mom who was not yet 14!This is a four page letter and I am reproducing a scanned image. I have erased only some names to respect family privacy and avoid embarrassing my relatives who share the same close blood relationship with my grandfather.Further below I have also posted a rare family picture of my Dad during the nineteen forties when he had joined the Air Force (under the control of the British those days) and his relieving certificate issued by the Cochin State Police where he was working for a while. Our family lived in Cochin state which was later merged with India after independence when my dad left the air force and joined a private company in Mumbai as a sales executive. I have attached another picture of how he used to look as an executive. These pictures are among my most cherished from our family album.A relieving letter that was necessary for my dad to report for duty in the Airforce which he had joined.My Dad, in 1943 when he had joined the airforce(My Dad, some time in the early sixties, when I was a schoolboy)Thanks for this opportunity to relive the history of my family.—