By Larry Dandridge
The short answer to this question is to contact the National Archives or National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and request a copy. For veterans and their family members, it is a good idea to have a local Veterans Service Officer (VSO) help you request copies of the records that you need.
Take the following six steps to understand how to order copies of your military service records.
STEP 1. Read the information at the VA’s Request Your Military Service Records webpage – https://bit.ly/41ydmaU
STEP 2. Watch the VA SITREP YouTube video titled, How to Get a DD-214 and Replacing Lost or Damaged Military Records, Military Funeral, the SITREP, which is found at https://bit.ly/3ortGeK.
STEP 3. Watch the VA SITREP YouTube video titled, National Personnel Records Center, How to Get Military Records, the SITREP, which is found at https://bit.ly/3MPlYEq.
STEP 4. Read the VA NEWS article titled, Accessing Veterans’ records from the National Archives or National Personnel Records Center (Everything you need to know about accessing Veterans’ records from the National Archives or NPRC), dated May 9, 2023, by Theresa Fitzgerald, NPRC Employee, which is found at https://bit.ly/3OyXtN7.
STEP 5. Go online to the NATIONAL ARCHIVES website https://www.archives.gov, click on Veterans’ Service Records, and follow the instructions on how to request military records and learn about other services for yourself or a family member.
STEP 6. Ask your local VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer (VSO) for help requesting your records. You can request military service records online, by mail, by FAX, by letter, by visiting NPRC in person, or by contacting a state or county veterans’ agency (VSO).
The above-referenced SITREP YOU TUBE videos, news article, and national archives website should answer all your questions about requesting your or a family member’s military service records.
The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)
According to the above SITREPs and the Director of NPRC, NPRC is an office of the National Archives. NPRC is located in St. Louis in multiple buildings. One building is located underground in Illinois. NPRC is where the U.S. government stores all of the military and civilian personnel records of the federal government. NPRC records start around the Spanish American War (1898) and go through the late 1990s and early 2000s, which is when the US military departments each started converting military personnel records to digital records.
The parent organization of NPRC is the National Archives. The National Archives has offices all across the USA, but they centralize management of military personnel records in Saint Louis, MO under the NPRC.
NPRC has two buildings in St. Louis. One building contains primarily military personnel records and the other building contains primarily civilian (civil service) records. The military records building is in North St. Louis County, Mo. The military records center is made up of 15 different and independently built warehouse spaces of 20,000 to 40,000 square feet. The NPRC military records building holds 56 million paper and microfilm military service records.
The US military departments began transitioning to digital (electronic — no paper or microfilm) records in the late 1990s and all military personnel records were digitized by the early 2,000s. Modern veterans’ (those who served after the early 2,000s) military personnel records are digitized and maintained by the military departments’ personnel commands.
NPRC staff can reference and access military service department veterans’ personnel records systems to provide records to veterans who write, visit, or contact NPRC. Records that predate 2,000 depending on the branch of service, are still maintained in analog (paper and microfiche) formats at NPRC. The VA is trying to digitize the records of every living veteran.
How to get your military records?
NPRC does not take phone requests, because you have to sign under penalty of perjury that you are eligible to request records and you are who you say you are when you submit your request. The easiest way for most veterans and family members to request veterans’ service records (DD 214 and other records) is to go to www.archives.gov, click on the section for military service records, and then click on the application eVetRecs, which enables you to submit your request electronically.
You can also sign your request electronically using eVetRecs. After submitting your request, you will receive a Service Request Number. Safeguard that number and use it to check later on the status of your request.
How long will it take to get your records?
That will depend on what you are requesting (just your DD-214, all of your records, etc.). The bad news is COVID caused a huge backlog of requests for records. A year ago, or so the backlog reached 600,000 requests, whereas the historical (before COVID) backlog had been running at about 56,000 requests (about 2.5 weeks of backlog).
The good news is NPRC has reduced the backlog by 30% and are working all requests for DD-214s first because NPRC knows that most requests for DD214 are mostly connected with veterans’ applications for VA benefits. So, if you need a DD-214 for a home loan or service-connected disability compensation application, or another benefit, you will get your DD-214 quickly. However, if you want a copy of your grandfather’s WWII records, you will have to wait a while.
The VA has now eliminated 60% of the DD-214 backlog and that makes up about 60% of NPRC’s work. Currently, NPRC receives about 26,000 to 27,000 requests for records each week. NPRC is now able to service DD-214 requests in less than 10 days, with the average service taking just six days.
So, if you ask for your DD-214 you can expect to get it quickly. If you ask for a complete copy of your record or other things, it will take a lot longer. NPRC is aggressively hiring new staff and hiring contract labor to support them. NPRC expects to eliminate the backlog and restore service to 90 percent of its customers in 20 days or less by the end of 2023.
Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, disabled veteran, ex-Enlisted Infantryman, ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and retired Lt. Colonel. He is a past Veterans Service Officer, a Patient Adviser at the RHJ VA Hospital, the Fisher House Charleston Good Will Ambassador, and the VP for Veteran Affairs for the local Army Association Chapter. Larry is the author of the award-winning book Blades of Thunder and a contributing free-lance writer with the Island News. Contact him at LDandridge@earthlink.net or 843-276-7164.
