Electronic Publications

[Pete]

We didn't have DA Form 5988-E when I was in the Army. Is it sort of like a computer-generated DA Form 2404, except that it also has a section for parts on order?

[Schmedlap]

We didn't have DA Form 5988-E when I was in the Army. Is it sort of like a computer-generated DA Form 2404, except that it also has a section for parts on order?

Yeah, it combines the worst of both worlds. If by "computer generated" you mean that the information is maintained on a 386sx computer with a green monitor, updated with information on 3.5" or maybe even 5 1/4" floppy disks, and then the form is spit out on a dot-matrix printer that is still using ink ribbons... then yes. It is "computer generated" but new faults are manually entered into the system. Crews hand write faults on the form, just like with a 2404. The handwriting is then manually entered into the system by clerks who may or may not know what the stuff on the form means. Then when the updated form is sent to you and it is dicked up 8 ways to Tuesday, and you point out that it is either not up-to-date or not correct, the clerks/technicians always fall back upon the fact that "this is what is in the system" as if "the system" is foolproof and not prone to the human error of the clerks who input the information into the system (even after you show them photocopies of the forms that they incorrectly recorded in "the system").