Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)
General. Copies of documents contained in the official military personnel or health records, or information extracted from these files, will be provided to government agencies (Federal, state, and local) in accordance with the routine use policies published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Upon request, entire folders are returned to authorized users in the service departments that created them and to certain Federal agencies designated as routine users. Consult the routine use statements for additional information regarding the release of service information and access to military records.
Requesting access to eMilRecs to order military personnel and/or health records electronically. Registered users within the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and certain Federal agencies (designated as routine users) may request the receipt of entire record folders for official purposes through eMilRecs, an on-line request system. eMilRecs is not available to the general public. All authorized Service Department and Federal Agency users seeking to access eMilRecs for record inquiry/ordering purposes related to their official duties must submit an eMilRecs OMPF User Account Request Form.
Preparing Written Requests for Information from Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) and Active Duty Health Records. The routine use statements for the military services' systems of records published in the Federal Register list those Federal, state, and local government agencies which are considered routine users of the records. These agencies have full access to record information in the same manner as the veteran. Many agencies use their own forms for requesting military service information. In the absence of an agency form, the Standard Form (SF) 180, Request Pertaining to Military Records, is recommended. Please follow the instructions and provide as much information as possible.
"NARA ensures, for the Citizen and the Public Servant, for the President and the Congress and the Courts, ready access to essential evidence."