Status of ARBA Application

December 28, 2020

ARBA, the Army Review Boards Agency, manages both the Army Discharge Review Board and the Board of Corrections of Military Records for the Army. Current and former Soldiers apply to these two boards using a DD Form 293 or DD Form 149; click either link for more information about what each Board is authorized to do.

Once an application is mailed to ARBA, it takes several months for the Board to acknowledge receipt and assign a docket number. An applicant should be provided a letter that this has occurred; however, he/she should not expect that to occur until several months after mailing the application. For example, during times of COVID, it has been taking ARBA 7-8 months to acknowledge receipt of an application and assignment of a docket number.

All applications are decided in the order that they are received; there is no way to circumvent this. An application's docket number determines when it will be decided. Essentially, the Board meets continually, decides an application, and then moves on to the next docket number.

Once an application is decided, the applicant will be mailed the decision, with justification for it.

Any current or former Soldier wanting to check on the status of an ARBA application can email army.arbainquiry@mail.mil. Inquiries sent to this address are usually returned rather quickly.

This Article was written by Attorney Matthew Barry.

The Law Office of Matthew Barry represents clients worldwide. He has offices on the East Coast, West Coast, and in the Central U.S.