Locations of Service Branch Records
Location of Military Service Records, Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) and Health and Medical Records
Military Personnel Records:
Most veteran's records are stored at the National Archives and Records Administration's National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR). This includes records of veterans who are completely discharged (with no remaining reserve commitment), or who are retired or have died. Starting in 1995, the service departments gradually began retaining their personnel records in electronic format and all but the Coast Guard now have stopped transferring them to NPRC-MPR. NPRC-MPR does not have records of members who are still in the active or inactive reserves or in the National Guard. The locations of most personnel records are listed by service branch.
Older military personnel records (generally prior to WWI, depending on the service branch) are on file at the National Archives and Records Administration, Old Military and Civil Records Branch (NWCTB), Washington, DC 20408. See How to obtain copies of Older Military Records for more information.
Approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files pertaining to certain Army and Air Force service members were destroyed in a disastrous fire at NPRC (MPR) in 1973. Alternate record sources are used to reconstruct basic service information destroyed in the fire.
Military Health & Medical Records:
Locations of Service Health Records
The health records were formerly retired to NPRC-MPR with the personnel record portion when a member was released, discharged, or retired from active duty. That practice has been discontinued. Starting in 1992, most service branches now retire health records to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (See the individual service branch links for specific dates).
After this change, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Records Management Center , St. Louis, MO, maintains the active duty health records or manages their whereabouts when on loan within the VA. Call the VA toll free number at 1-800-827-1000 to identify the current location of specific health records and to find out how to obtain releasable documents or information.
