Who can get veterans records?

Veteran military records are managed by the Military Personnel Records office at The National Personnel Records Center.Veterans records are public and can be requested by their owner, a relative of the owner or authorized representative as well as by anyone else who is interested. Immediate family members of deceased veterans are granted full access to the veteran records while third parties may be able to view only partial information.

Veteran service records usually contain the name of the person, their rank, the dates of the service and the service number. Any awards, medals or other decorations received during the military service are also part of the data contained in these public records.

How to obtain a record from the veterans records archives?

Veterans records archives under the jurisdiction of the Military Personnel Records (MPR) managed millions of veterans military service records. Depending on their type, some records date back to the early years of the 1800s. If you need to get a copy of a war veterans records, you need to file a request in writing. This is done with a standard form 180 that can be submitted directly at the MPR or posted.

The form should be completed as accurately as possible otherwise the search may take a lot of time. You will be asked for the name of the person, their service number, when and where they enlisted and separated, if the person has been deceased you will need to write the date of death and so on. You should also state why you are requesting the record.