AF FM 56

The AF Form 56 honestly caused me some headaches.  In hindsight I should not have stressed as much as I did.  I mentioned earlier, that I was paranoid about attention to detail so I seriously ended up checking, rechecking, and checking again!  The crazy part is I found something wrong EVERY TIME I checked it.

So how do you get the AF FM 56:

I got mine from AF Portals Pubs and Forms.  If I could do it again, I would simply download it from the AD SharePoint listed under enlistment tools.

Page 1:

Section 1:

1. Name- DO NOT caps lock and spell Last, First Middle Initial

2. Current Address NO FLOATERS!  Meaning ensure the text rest as close to the bottom as possible.

3. Home Address-Ensure this matches your official records (vRED, RRU, etc...)

4. Legal State of residence:  Ensure this is accurate.  If you changed your state of residence for tax purposes make sure you type the correct one!  Also a common trend I saw with non-selects was a missing zip code!

5. Personal Data:  Self explanatory; HOWEVER, ensure you insert dates as noted on the form.  "enter dates in YEAR, MONTH, DAY sequence (i.e 19950715)

6.  Active Duty Applicants: self explanatory, but follow date sequence and NO FLOATERS on address.

Home E-Mail address:  Please get rid of your high school "cool guy/gal" e-mail.  You're trying to impress the board so ensure it is a professional address.  First Name. Last Name @gmail.com/@yahoo.com is always appropriate.

7C.  Please ensure that you properly spell the AFSC you are requesting.  DO NOT insert the codes.

7D.  You MUST select YES and ensure all other blocks are marked appropriately.

7B, 8, 9 ARE LEFT BLANK per BOT GUIDE.

Page 2

10. Check the appropriate block for PPL and CPL....I typed N/A in other advance aeronautical ratings...I am not that COOL,

11A Mark appropriately

11B BLANK for me

11C relates to 11A and 11B so I checked NO

12.  Mark approrpriately

13. Yes

As mentioned in earlier post, I have two AFSCs 3PO71 and 8T000 so I listed them both.

14. Mark Appropriately

15.  Be totally honest in this block.  I honestly marked no here.  I did not even have a single traffic ticket.  I know it is hard to believe and I figured the board would find this hard to believe as well.  I ordered a completed driving record history from my local DMV in case I got the call to prove I had none....I never got the call.

I recommend ordering a driving history from your DMV if you can't recall your tickets/dates and fees.  They want you to be completely honest here so ensure you provide them the most accurate information possible.

All other blocks were checked NO

Page 3

* This is another common error I found on non-selects application.  Block 19 of AF FM 56 should only have ONE ENTRY for Air Force employment.  BOT GUIDE A8.1.3.1 LAST SENTENCE*

I typed in my most recent position with accurate dates.  REASON TERMINATED should state Still on Active Duty.  I recommend matching this to your Career Data Brief.

20.  Education Experience:

I typed in my undergraduate degree.  I wasn't cool enough to have honors and scholarships so all other blocks had N/A

21.  READ EACH STATEMENT and INITIAL or WRITE N/A.  Each applicant will be different, but I initialed:

A
B N/A
C
D
D1 N/A
D2 N/A
D3 N/A
E
F BLANK
F1
F2
G
H NA
I NA

Page 4.

Ready each statement carefully and mark appropriately.  All were NA for me!

22.  The personal statement was quite the challenge.  EVERYONE stressed over this statement and so should you because this is the time to explain the WHY behind your application.  I will do a separate post on this later.

22A I initialed
22B N/A
Date appropriately to sequence, type your name (Last, First, Middle Initial) DON'T FORGET TO SIGN!

Page 5

24. Computing Data:

 I have two CCAFs and one undergraduate degree.  My block 24 looked like this:

Community College of the Air Force A.S
Community College of the Air Force A.S
Awesome Sauce University B.A

Per the BOT Guide I DID NOT compute the GPA!  A8.1.4.1 states to leave all other blocks blank so I did.  DO NOT INSERT N/A

25.  The education office had no business assisting anyone during my application.  They did not want to review any information prior to submitting to the board.   A.8.1.4.2 states the Supervisor, First Sergeant, or Commander could sign this portion.  I wrote in the date in accordance to the sequence, typed my supervisors name to include is GRADE, not RANK and had him sign,

26-28.  Mark appropriately and have your unit commander INITIAL.  *My commanders initials looked like signatures so I had her do it again by initialing in letters; not script*

I also wrote Not Applicable in block B Assignment Limitations..not NA

Remember it is your application, be as picky as you need to be!

Page 6:

The Interview and the Comments and Recommendations deserve its own post.  I will be sure to post my two cents on this page of the FM 56 soon!


Page 7:

I simply left this page blank as I did not require it.