Military Records
- Application for Correction of Military Record (PDF)The secretary of a military department, acting through a board for correction of military records, has authority to change any military record when necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice. A correction board may consider applications for correction of a military record, including a review of a discharge issued by courts martial. Application is made with DD Form 149, available at VA offices, from veterans organizations or from the Internet.
- Apply for a Discharge UpgradeAnswer a series of questions to get customized step-by-step instructions on how to apply for a discharge upgrade or correction. If your application goes through and your discharge is upgraded, you’ll be eligible for the VA benefits you earned during your period of service.
- Get Veteran ID CardsThere are many types of identification cards you can use to show you’re a Veteran. You only need to have one of them for this purpose. Learn about the different types of VA ID cards and other Veteran ID options.
- milConnectCreate an account and sign in to request your military service records. You can request your DD214, DD215, Report of Separation, other release papers, orders and endorsements, performance reports, awards and decorations, qualifications and licenses, and security clearance.
- Veteran's Service Records - Request Your Military Service RecordsRequest your DD 214/Separation Documents, Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), Replacement Medals, or Medical Records. You can also use this page to request Burial and Emergency Requests.
Historic Military Records
- Arkansas Digital ArchivesSearch a variety of Arkansas records including Confederate records and WWI discharge records.
- Army Registers, 1798-1969Registers of officers who served in the U.S. Army, 1798-1969 (scattered dates).
- Korean War CasualtiesThe information on each casualty may include name, service prefix and number, grade, branch, place and date of casualty, state and county of residence, type of casualty, casualty group, place and date of disposition, year of birth (for deceased casualties only), military occupational specialty, unit number, race, and disposition of evacuations. There are 27,727 records for Army personnel who died, including personnel who died while POW or MIA. The remaining 82,248 records are for nonfatal Army casualties.
- National Archives - Online Military RecordsA collection of military records covering WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Conflict. The best known of the electronic records, the Combat Area Casualties File from the Vietnamese Conflict, was one of the primary sources used to determine the names of casualties for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- Navy Muster Rolls, 1949-1971These records include detailed muster rolls listing personnel assigned to ships, stations, and activities for the U.S. Navy, 1949-1971, as well as reports of changes for sailors transferred to other ships or locations, and those discharged, deserted, hospitalized, missing, or dead. In between each quarter's muster rolls are personnel diaries, which record significant status changes. They are organized by location and then by year.
- Soldiers and Sailors DatabaseThe Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.
- U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865Large collection of over 2 million pages. Must create a free account to access the database.
- U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918Over 600,000 pages of military records. Must create a free account to access the database.
- U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865Large collection of nearly 2 million pages. Must create a free account to access the database.
- Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death FileBeneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS), a Veterans Benefits Administration database, that provides information on deceased individuals including name, birth and death dates, branch of service, and enlistment and release dates.
Records Loss
On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record collections are described below.
| Personnel and Period Affected |
Estimated Loss |
|---|---|
| Army: Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960 | 80% |
| Air Force: Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) |
75% |
No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. Nevertheless, NPRC uses many alternate sources in its efforts to reconstruct basic service information to respond to requests. See Other Methods to Obtain Military Service Records, Access to Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) - for the General Public, and Auxiliary and Organizational Records, Holdings.
