The Privacy Act of 1974 also provides for the release of information with the written consent (signature) of the individual to whom the records pertain. The Privacy Act does not apply to the records of deceased individuals; however, Department of Defense instructions indicate that in such cases we must have the written consent of the next of kin (NOK). For purpose of release, the next of kin is defined as any of the following: unremarried widow or widower, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister.

• File an e-request for military records (click here)


OR:

• Obtain a copy of Form SF 180
• Complete the form with the fullest amount of info you know about the military service of the veteran
• Where to mail your completed SF 180: CLICK HERE

TO REQUEST MILITARY MEDICAL RECORDS
YOU NEED TO

• 1. obtain a copy of Form SF 180

• 2. complete the form with the fullest amount of info you know about the military service of the veteran

• 3. Where to mail your completed SF 180: CLICK HERE
• 4. Only a veteran who has filed a VA claim would have medical records at a VA Regional Office or the VA Records management center here in St. Louis, MO. VA medical records are kept at 1 of 58 regional VA centers around the country or at the national Veterans Administration Records Management Center in St. Louis, (314) 263-2800.

• 5. Consult you local telephone directory for the address of your nearest VA office, or phone toll-free, 1-800-827-1000.

  HOW TO OBTAIN FORM SF 180

  National Archives and Records Administration (.PDF) Or, Click here to Download the Microsoft Word copy Or, Click here to Download the local PDF copy Or, Click here to Pick-Up SF-180 at any VA facility Or, Apply on line: (This is available ONLY to veterans, spouses of veterans, brother or sisters of veterans, or children of veterans. The OnLine application CANNOT be used by grandchildren, nieces, nephews or non-relatives.) On Line SF-180 Or, Fax on Demand: Call the Fax-on-Demand System at (301) 837-0990 from a fax machine, using the handset. Follow the voice instructions, and request document number 2255. There is no charge for this service except for any long distance telephone charges you may incur. (Fax On Demand website info) 1-301-837-0990

  

  The 1973 Fire at the Natl Personnel Records Center (MPR)

  On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC(MPR) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record collections are described below.

  Branch	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.

  

  NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER
  MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS
  9700 Page Avenue
  St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
  

  
  

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  CHECKING THE STATUS OF A CURRENT REQUEST/QUESTION

  If you have already sent in a SF 180 or some other type of written request seeking information from us, and you are checking on the status of that request, you should call our Customer Service Center at: (314) 801-0800.

  Note: The peak calling times are weekdays between 10:00 a.m. CST and 3:00 p.m. CST. Staff is available to take your call as early as 7:00 a.m. and as late as 5:00 p.m. CST.

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  LOCATION AND FACILITY INFORMATION

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  HOURS OF OPERATION

  Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:45p.m.
  Closed weekends and Federal holidays
  
  

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  LOCATION

  The Military Personnel Records (MPR) facility of the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) is located in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, MO, about 10 miles west-northwest of the Gateway Arch.
  
  

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  DIRECTIONS

  From Interstate 170 take Page Avenue west for a mile, and turn left into the Federal Records Center (FRC) complex at the Spencer Avenue traffic light. From Interstate 270 take Page Avenue east for four miles and turn right at the Spencer Avenue traffic light. The Guard at the gate will provide further information about parking and building entry. Our research room is located at the east end of Building 100.

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  FACILITY INFORMATION

  The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR), shares the FRC complex with the U.S. Army, which administers its reserve components from this site. MPR offices and records storage areas are all located in the larger of the two main buildings, a 5-story structure which opened in 1955 and covers nearly 5 acres. The Army occupies part of this building and all of the adjacent office building, which opened in 1990.
  
  

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  STAFF CONTACTS/CUSTOMER SERVICE LINES:

  (314) 801-0800

  Note: Peak calling times are weekdays between 10:00 am CST and 3:00 pm CST. Staff is available to take your call as early as 7:30 am and as late as 5:00 pm cst.

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  INTERNET E-MAIL ACCESS
  
  NOTE: The E-Mail address below may only be used to contact the Military Personnel Records facility to obtain information regarding the proper method of submitting written requests for information contained in military personnel records. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and Department of Defense directives require a written request, signed and dated, to access information from military personnel records.

  No requests for military personnel records or information from them will be accepted at the E-Mail address below.

  Internet Email:mpr.center@nara.gov
  Or center@stlouis.nara.gov
  

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  Go to the MPR Introduction Page
  Go to the NPRC Home Page

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  National Archives and Records Administration
  URL: http://www.nara.gov/nara/frc/mprinfo.html
  

  Military Medal And Award Displays
  

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  WHERE TO MAIL YOUR COMPLETED SF-180
  PR = Personnel Record File; HR = Health Record File

  AIR FORCE: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Discharged, deceased, or retired before 5/1/1994	14	14
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 5/1/1994 -to- 9/30/2004	14	11
  Discharged, deceased, or retired on or after 10/1/2004	1	11
  Active (including National Guard on active duty in the Air Force), TDRL, or general officers retired with pay	1
  Reserve, retired reserve in nonpay status, current National Guard officers not on active duty in the Air Force, or National Guard released from active duty in the Air Force	2
  Current National Guard enlisted not on active duty in the Air Force	13

  COAST GUARD: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Discharge , deceased, or retired before 1/1/1898	6
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 1/1/1898 -to- 3/31/1998	14	14
  Discharged, deceased, or retired on or after 4/1/1998	14	11
  Active, reserve, or TDRL	3

  MARINE CORPS: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Discharged, deceased, or retired before 1/1/1905	6
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 1/1/1905 -to- 4/30/1994	14	14
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 5/1/1994 -to- 12/31/1998	14	11
  Discharged, deceased, or retired on or after 1/1/1999	4	11
  Individual Ready Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve	5
  Active, Selected Marine Corps Reserve, TDRL	4
  Discharged, deceased, or retired before 11/1/1912 (enlisted) or before 7/1/1917 (officer)	6

  ARMY: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 11/1/1912 -to- 10/15/1992 (enlisted) or 7/1/1917 -to- 10/15/1992 (officer)	14	14
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 10/16/1992 -to- 9/30/2002	14	11
  Discharged, deceased, or retired on or after 10/1/2002	7	11
  Reserve; or active duty records of current National Guard members who performed service in the U.S. Army before 7/1/1972	7
  Active enlisted (including National Guard on active duty in the U.S. Army) or TDRL enlisted	9
  Active officers (including National Guard on active duty in the U.S. Army) or TDRL officers	8
  Current National Guard enlisted not on active duty in Army (including records of Army active duty performed after 6/30/1972)	13
  Current National Guard officers not on active duty in Army (including records of Army active duty performed after 6/30/1972)	12

  NAVY: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Discharged, deceased, or retired before 1/1/1886 (enlisted) or before 1/1/1903 (officer)	6
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 1/1/1886 -to- 1/30/1994 (enlisted) or 1/1/1903 -to- 1/30/1994 (officer)	14	14
  Discharged, deceased, or retired 1/31/1994 -to- 12/31/1994	14	11
  Discharged, deceased, or retired on or after 1/1/1995	10	11
  Active, reserve, or TDRL	10

  PHS: Current Status of Service Member or Veteran	PR	HR
  Public Health Service - Commissioned Corps officers only	15

  1. Air Force Personnel Center
  HQ AFPC/DPSRP
  550 C Street West, Suite 19
  Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4721

  2. Air Reserve Personnel Center
  /DSMR HQ ARPC/DPSSA/B
  6760 E. Irvington Place, Suite 4600
  Denver, CO 80280-4600

  3. Commander, CGPC-adm-3 USCG
  Personnel Command
  4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1100
  Arlington, VA 22203-1804

  4. Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps
  Personnel Management Support Branch
  (MMSB-10)
  2008 Elliot Road
  Quantico, VA 22134-5030

  5. Marine Corps Reserve Support Command
  (Code MMI)
  15303 Andrews Road
  Kansas City, MO 64147-1207

  6. National Archives & Records Administration
  Old Military and Civil Records
  (NWCTB-Military)
  Textual Services Division
  700 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
  Washington, DC 20408-0001

  7. U.S. Army Human Resources Command
  ATTN: AHRC-PAV-V 1
  Reserve Way St.
  Louis, MO 63132-5200

  8. U.S. Army Human Resources Command
  ATTN: AHRC-MSR 200
  Stovall Street
  Alexandria, VA 22332-0444

  9. Commander USAEREC
  ATTN: PCRE-F
  8899 E. 56th St.
  Indianapolis, IN 46249-5301

  10. Navy Personnel Command (PERS-313C1)
  5720 Integrity Drive
  Millington, TN 38055-3130

  11. Department of Veterans Affairs
  Records Management Center
  P.O. Box 5020
  St. Louis, MO 63115-5020

  12. Army National Guard Readiness Center
  NGB-ARP
  111 S. George Mason Dr.
  Arlington, VA 22204-1382

  13. The Adjutant General (of the appropriate state, DC, or Puerto Rico)

  14. National Personnel Records Center
  (Military Personnel Records)
  9700 Page Ave.
  St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
  FAX: 1-314-801-9195

  15. Division of Commissioned Corps
  Officer Support
  ATTN: Records Officer
  1101 Wooton Parkway, Plaza Level, Suite 100
  Rockville, MD 20852

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  Morning Reports and Unit Rosters

  Morning reports and unit rosters are created by military organizations as part of their personnel and payroll functions. These records are used by the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to verify events or assignments which may not be documented in an individual's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This is especially important when trying to reconstruct service information when the OMPF has been damaged or destroyed in the 1973 fire. A brief explanation of both types of records and the date span of our collections is listed below.

  MORNING REPORTS are created each morning, as the name implies. They are an "exception based" system, only containing information on those individuals who are not "Present and Accounted for". Among the reasons for being listed on a morning report are:

• Promotion or demotion
• Being killed, wounded or missing in action
• Being assigned to a unit, or leaving a unit
• Going to a hospital for treatment, or to another activity for training

In order to verify that a particular action occurred, we must be provided with the exact unit of assignment ("Company A, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment"), a description of the action ("I was wounded and sent to a hospital") and an approximate date ("June, 1944"). Without this type of information, we may be unable to perform a search.

Our collection of morning reports covers the following:
ARMY: November 1, 1912 to 1974
AIR FORCE: September 1947 to June 30, 1966

UNIT ROSTERS are created monthly, quarterly or semi-annually. During certain time periods, separate rosters were created for officers and enlisted personnel. At other times, consolidated rosters listed both officers and enlisted personnel. Some units created rosters only for enlisted personnel. The rosters typically list the members of a particular unit for the last day of the month in which the roster was created.

NPRC stores unit rosters for the Army only, for the same years as the morning reports, 1912 to 1974. (This includes rosters of units of the Army Air Forces prior to September 1947; however, no Air Force unit rosters are available after that date.) Unfortunately, the rosters for the years 1944, 1945 and 1946 were destroyed in the 1970's; no other source for this type of information for these years exists at this center. You may wish to contact an "Alumni Organization" in order to obtain information concerning members of specific units. Please see our Other Helpful Sites page.

NOTE: Neither morning reports nor unit rosters contain historical information concerning battles or engagements. Records that contain this type of information may be available at one of the following:

U.S. Army Center of Military History
103 3rd Avenue
Fort Lesley J. McNair, DC 20319-5058

U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency
600 Chenault Circle
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6424

National Archives and Records Administration
Modern Military Records - NWCTM
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001

SUBMITTING REQUESTS FOR MORNING REPORTS OR ROSTERS

Requests must be in writing and sent to the following address:

National Personnel Records Center
Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100

You may use a Standard Form 180, Request Pertaining to Military Records, or, write a letter to the center.

Specify the information needed and the purpose of the request. In order to conduct a search of morning reports and unit rosters we need as much of the following information as possible: units or outfits; complete organizational designation (company or battery, battalion, and regiment; squadron, group, and wing, etc.); geographical location (camp, base, and country).

Searching morning reports and rosters can be quite time consuming. Please limit your request to a specific event or personnel action. We are not staffed or budgeted to perform searches of organizational records for research or reunion purposes as our main responsibility is to respond to requests from or on behalf of veterans who are seeking benefits due them under various veterans laws.

SEARCH FEES: Depending on the number of searches required there may be a fee assessed. If that is the case, payment is required before the searches are undertaken. Fees are assessed for our time spent locating the records (at the rate of $13.25 per hour) and for any copies that are made (first 6 pages, $3.50; each additional page, $0.10), with a minimum charge of $8.30. A deposit of $8.30 is required before we begin the search.You will be billed for any additional costs. All remittances should be made payable to the National Personnel Records Center.

REVIEW OF RECORDS BY YOURSELF OR A DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE: It is also possible for our staff to make the records available to you or your designated representative for review of the morning reports/rosters at our Center. If that is not possible, you may wish to contact the history department of one of the local universities for graduate students who may be available to conduct this research. Telephone numbers are listed below:

• Lindenwood University -- 314-916-7413
• Maryville University of St. Louis -- 314-529-9454
• St. Louis University -- 314-977-2910
• Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville) -- 618-650-2414
• University of MO - St. Louis -- 314-516-5681

If you or your designated representative decide to review the records, please notify us in advance of your visit so we can make the necessary arrangements. You will need to speak to the Customer Service Representative at 314-801-0800 to arrange for an appointment to visit our Research Room.

OBTAINING RELEASE AUTHORIZATION FROM SERVICE BRANCH: If you wish to review these records in person, you will first need to write to one of the following offices to obtain the required authorization for access to the records:

Department of the Army
Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Office
7701 Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA 22315-3860

Department of the Air Force
Secretary of the Air Force (AAIA)
Washington, DC 20330-1000

"NARA ensures, for the Citizen and the Public Servant, for the President and the Congress and the Courts, ready access to essential evidence."

Counter established 05 November 2008