Freeze template titles - enter text in text boxes?

This is a request from one of our users.

She would like to create a document where you would have, for example:


Name:
Rank:
Serial Number:

And where the user filling in the information could not modify those entries
(not sure why they would - but this is the user that is making the request)
and enter information without "disrupting" the formatting of the rest of the
document.

So, if you had a long name, it would not, in the example above, push Rank
half way across the page on the next line.

She mentioned she was able to do this before (apparently in Word) using some
sort of text box. I imagine that if you did have a real long name (and I'm
just using that as an example) you'd have to abbreviate it or something be
cause those letters have to go somewhere. - text box or not.

Could anyone steer me in the right direction here?