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You will follow the procedures on this page and in DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5025.01, "DoD Issuances Program," to process all DoD issuances, whether you are creating a new issuance, reissuing an existing one, or changing or cancelling an issuance. More detailed processing procedures are available in Processing DoD Issuances. Training on processing issuances is offered bimonthly; for schedules and registration, click here.
Issuance Submissions
Issuances and their supporting material must be submitted electronically by your focal point to the Directives Division for review through the DoD Issuances Portal (DoD PKI certificate required).
What You'll Do
- Charter Template (for Organizational and Management Policy Directorate, OPIO/DA&M use only)
Resources You'll Need
Related Training / Additional Info
Documents You'll Use
-- Action Officer Timeline Tool (right click to download Microsoft Excel document)
-- The next stage, legal objection review, is optional for non-CFR issuances. If you are requesting a legal objection review from the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), go to Stage 2C. If not, go to Stage 2D.
This stage is optional if your issuance doesn’t require publication of a rule in the Code of Federal Regulations.
-- Follow your Component's internal guidelines to get the DD Form 106 signed in accordance with the List of Signature Authorities and Authorized Component Coordinators
--Send your issuance, signed DD Form 106, and a blank DD Form 818 through your focal point to the Portal. (Be sure to complete the subject and header info in the DD Form 818.)
--Your compliance analyst will review the materials submitted before they are released for formal coordination to be sure there are no outstanding concerns
--We’ll release the action on the portal to the coordinators for the formal coordination. The portal will send you an email notifying you that coordination has begun and of the Suspense data. The email will include a copy of the latest version of the Issuance package. Be sure to use that version moving forward.
--You’ll be notified by email each time a coordinator posts its response to the portal
-- Your signed DD Form 106
-- A clean copy (i.e., no track changes or comments) of your issuance
-- DD Form 818 (Coordinating Component response form)
-- Offices with Access to DoD Issuances Portal
-- Send the presignature package to your focal point for posting to either the classified or unclassified DoD Issuances Portal.
For Deputy Secretary Approval (e.g., DoD directives):
In accordance with Paragraph 2.2.d(1) of DoDI 5025.01 and the processes on this Website, you will:
-- Post the MS Word electronic files of the issuance, DD Form 818-1, and list of coordinating officials and a scanned PDF of the approval package to the Portal. Be sure that the PDF contains all material mentioned in the signed action memo as an attachment and that the attachments are complete and in the correct order.
Directives Division will:
For Issuances Approved by Your OSD Component Head:
For Issuances Approved by the Deputy Secretary:
For All Issuances
-- The approving authority may send the hard copy package directly to us. If they return it to you, scan it to a PDF and send it to your focal point to post to the Portal. We no longer need a hard copy if the PDF is legible and complete.
Additional Info
-- Unclassified issuances and classified issuances whose distribution is restricted will be published on the classified DoD Directives Website.
-- Issuances whose distribution is controlled will be returned to the OSD Component; a placeholder on the DoD Directives Website will direct requests to the Component.
Types of Changes
A change amends no more than 25% of an existing DoD issuance and has the full authority of the issuance. A changed issuance keeps its original publication date and signature. The two types of changes to DoD issuances are:
Administrative. Changes only nonsubstantive portions of an issuance such as titles and dates of references and organizational names and symbols.
Substantive. Changes an essential section of an issuance such as purpose, applicability, policy, responsibilities, procedures, information requirements, and releasability.
-- Contact us for the official MS Word version of the issuance (Federal employees/focal points only). If the issuance is still in the pre-2015 version, do not convert it to our current template.
For Administrative Changes:
-- Coordinate your changes internally within your OSD Component (Stage 1B).-- Send your issuance and draft Action Memo to your focal point for posting to the classified or unclassified DoD Issuances Portal. You will not formally coordinate your issuance.-- We'll assign your issuance to a compliance analyst and inform you by email of the suspense date.-- Your compliance analyst will review your package to make sure it is complete and conforms to DoD issuance standards (equivalent to Stage 4A).
For Substantive Changes:
An issuance will be cancelled when the owning OSD Component determines that it has served the purpose for which it was intended; is no longer needed; and is not appropriate for incorporation into a new, revised, or existing issuance.
Review Section 7: Special Procedures for Cancellations in Processing DoD Issuances.
- If you want to handle the cancellation yourself, follow the guidance in Paragraph 7.2.a.
- If you want the Directives Division to cancel the issuance for you, follow the guidance in Paragraph 7.2.b.
For Precoordination Review:
-- DD Form 106
-- PDF version of your issuance
After Formal Coordination (if processing the cancellation yourself):
-- Cancellation Action Memo
-- DD Form 818-1 (do not include if you do not receive any comments)
-- List of Coordinating Officials
-- Any Component coordinations not provided on the Portal
-- Processing DoD Issuances