We get this all the time. There are eight (8) original DD214s. Member 1 (the short or deleted form) and Member 4 (the long or undeleted form) are offered to the service member at separation. Generally, once they are issued, they are gone forever. If the service member requires another copy, then he/she can acquire a copy of only one of the other remaining originals, usually a copy of the original maintained by the service branch itself, usually a copy of Service 2, Service 7 or Service 8. Rarely will the service branch keep a Member 4 or Member 1 copy, since they have their own copies. If it’s there, that’s the copy we’ll provide. All of the eight original DD214s are identical, except for Member 1 – the “short” or “deleted” form. The remaining seven long forms includes another 1.5 inches at the bottom which provides information concerning the service member’s characterization of service, narrative reason for separation, legal reference (authority) for separation, separation and re-entry codes. The short form does NOT contain this important information – hence employers want the long form (which are all identical original DD214s EXCEPT for Member 1). For more detailed information on DD214 issuance, the DoD and Army Regs can be found at http://dd214.us The eight copies are distributed as follows: Copy 1 – Service Member Copy 2 – Service Personnel File Copy 3 – United States Department of Veterans Affairs Copy 4 – Member (if initialed in Block 30) Copy 5 – United States Department of Labor Copy 6 – State Director of Veteran Affairs Copy 7 & 8 – Distributed in accordance with Military Service Dept directions Anyone who has worked with DD214 for any appreciable amount of time knows this. If a member loses his Member 4 for whatever reason, or never received it in the first place, what is he to do? Well, he comes to us and we get him a certified copy of one of the other remaining originals. These copies have the full legal force and effect as the original Member 4.