How to Check a Veteran's Military Records

Have you ever wondered what your Dad did in the Army, or whether that loudmouth neighbor really was a Navy Seal during the Gulf War? Did you know you can often find out in about 10 days, with not much effort?

The government makes certain portions of a veteran's military records available to the general public through the Freedom of Information Act. Typically, a simple written request will get you information such as rank, length of service, assignments and training. Slightly more information is open to the next-of-kin of deceased vets.

Here's how to get military records.

The National Personnel Records Center

The military records of veterans are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration and mostly stored at the records center in St. Louis, Mo. The center has about 70 million records for vets from all branches of service, from the early 20^th century through the late '90s and early '00s.

A fire in 1973 destroyed the records of about 16 to 18 million Army and Air Force personnel, but some of the basic information in those files have been reconstructed.

The NPRC does not have records for active duty personnel, or those on active or inactive reserve status. The center also does not have records for vets discharged or retired from the service after certain years. Those are 1995 for the Navy, 1999 for the Marine Corps, 2003 for the Army and 2005 for the Air Force.

(Getting records for those vets is a little more complicated, and I will get into that further down.)

According to NPRC, the center receives about 4,000 records requests each day, with about 45,000 requests currently pending. However, the staff responds to requests for discharge papers (called a DD-214) in about 10 days 92 percent of the time, NPRC claims.

Making a request for military records

Federal privacy laws require that every request for military records be made in writing and signed by the vet or the person making the request. You can download a Standard Form 180 from the NPRC Web site, or just write a letter.