DA 4856 Form - How to Download and Edit DA 4856 Counseling Form

Part 1: General Introduction

DA Form 4856 is a Development Counseling Form used by the US Department of the Army.

This form is used to document counseling sessions between counselors/leaders and their subordinates/soldiers in the Army and required for any counseling sessions given to military personnel although the information included in the form is not disclosed publicly.

Information need to be filled in this DA Form 4856:

• Counseled patient’s personal information: name, rank and organization.
• Counselor’s own information: name and title.
• Information about this counseling session: purpose for counseling, what was discussed, a plan of action for the person receiving counseling services, the summary including the key points of the session and the counselor’s responsibilities.
• Signature in this form after confirmed assessment of the plan of action by both the counseled and the counselor.

When it is completed, it is included to a soldier’s personal file and kept on record over a period of the counseled soldier’s service. Of course, both parties would keep a signed copy of DA Form 4856.