Military History - It Begins Before Basic Training
Part of the selection process for the U.S. military includes a background check. Just like private sector businesses the armed forces will want to verify information you have given them as well as obtain additional information that is necessary in placing people within the armed forces. Everything that is collected during the background check will become part of your military personnel record should you become a part of the military.
The military uses the military history records for a variety of reasons. The main purpose for keeping these records is to track the service of an individual throughout their military career. It’s a way to quickly pull information on any given U.S. military personnel that is no longer active in the military whether it be because they have passed away, were discharged or have retired.For family members of military personnel the military history records serves other purposes. These records can help locate family members who are currently in the military to help them keep in touch when a family member is on active duty. Though military records don’t contain biographical or genealogical information they can still aid families when they are doing their own family tree research to prove a family member was in the military if and when they passed away during military service and more.
What you kind expect to find on a military history record is the individual’s name and unit information which is used to locate the individual within the records system. The additional information will consist of specific dates such as when their service began and ended as well as under what circumstances the person left the military. Other more detailed information can also be found including pay and pension, deployment, any disciplinary actions that were taken, honors and medals that were earned and more.
Military history records are permanent records. It also should be understood that there are numerous types of military records for specific areas of military service such as medical records and individual records for wars fought by the U.S. Some records have been lost over the years but there are military personnel records on file that date back as far as 1885. However, there are other military records that are even older dating back to 1775 when the U.S. was laying down its governmental foundation.
Military personnel records are physically located in St. Louise, Missouri where the National Personnel Records Center is based. The Center is in charge of maintaining all of the records and allowing access to them. Currently there are over 56 million records on file at the NPRC. Because they are considered government property there are strict regulations on who can get access to certain military records.
Typically only the veteran themselves, the next of kin to a deceased veteran and some government agencies are allowed to see a complete military personnel records. However, the Freedom of Information act has made it possible for anyone to request a copy of a person’s military personnel record, though they will only get a portion of the record.
The National Personnel Records Center gets thousands of requests a day so it can take some time between filing a request and actually seeing a record. Those who would like to order a copy of a military personnel record can do so either online or by filling out a NATF Form 86. Contact information for the
NPRC has been provided below.
NPRC website - http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/index.html
National Personnel Records Center
9700 Page Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri