When did DD-214 member 2 or 4 take effect?

Dear Mr. Washington,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub.

The Report of Separation has been issued by the service branches since the 1940s, but they went by different abbreviations, such as WD AGO (War Department, Adjutant General’s Office) and NAVPERS (Navy Personnel). The DD Form 214 was adopted on January 1, 1950 and the Department of Defense issued multiple copies of each form, establishing the Member-1, Service-2, Veterans Affairs-3, and Member-4 forms we use currently. The DD Form 214 layout has gone through multiple revisions and the current version was adopted in July 1979. Both the Service-2 and Member-4 DD Form 214 display the long form, undeleted report of separation that includes character of service, type of discharge, reenlistment eligibility code, and narrative reason for separation.

We hope this information is helpful.