Memorandum for Record (MFR)
An AR 25-50 memorandum for record that documents a decision, an agreement, a phone call, or an event, with the authority and basis written in.
What this worksheet covers
Name, rank, and unit prefill from your service profile.
Form details
- Unit / organization (letterhead)
- Address (street, city, state, ZIP)
- Office symbol (and ARIMS record number)
Your office symbol, with the ARIMS record number in parentheses one space after it when your office uses one (AR 25-50, para 2-4a(2)).
- Date
- Memorandum for
Type RECORD. An MFR has no addressee.
- Subject
Ten words or fewer, no abbreviations if you can avoid them.
- Paragraph 1 — Purpose
One sentence on why this MFR exists.
- Paragraph 2 — Facts and authority
Who, what, when, where, and the authority or basis for the action. Use subparagraphs (a., b., c.) for a sequence of events.
- Paragraph 3 — Decision, agreement, or result
- Last paragraph — Point of contact
- Signature block — name (ALL CAPS)
Name in capital letters on the first line (AR 25-50, para 6-4c).
- Signature block — rank and branch
- Signature block — title
- Enclosures
One enclosure: "Encl". More than one: "Encls", numbered in the order the text mentions them.
- Copies furnished
How to fill out the Memorandum (AR 25-50)
AR 25-50 says to use an MFR to show the authority or basis for an action taken, and to document informal meetings or phone calls where official business was done. It has no addressee to act on it; it exists so the file can explain itself later. When: Right after the conversation, decision, inventory, or event while the details are fresh: a verbal approval, an agreement with another office, a sensitive-items discrepancy, a missed appointment, a counseling a member refused to sign.
Step by step
- Fill the letterhead, your office symbol (with the ARIMS record number if your office uses it), and the date.
- Type "RECORD" on the MEMORANDUM FOR line, so it reads MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD.
- Write a subject in ten words or fewer.
- Paragraph 1: the purpose. Paragraph 2: the facts (who, what, when, where), with the authority for the action. Paragraph 3: the decision, agreement, or result. Last paragraph: point of contact.
- Sign it with a three-line signature block and list enclosures if any.
What a strong one looks like
- Include the authority (regulation, order, or the name and title of the person who approved it) so a reviewer can see why the action was allowed.
- Write times and dates exactly and name people by rank, name, and position.
- Air Force and Space Force memos (DAFH 33-337) add a FROM: line; Navy and Marine Corps use the SECNAV M-5216.5 "Memorandum for the Record" format.
Common mistakes
- Writing it days later from memory.
- Opinions or conclusions without the facts behind them.
- Leaving out who approved the action and on what authority.