Post by Carl W. on Feb 7, 2009 9:34:27 GMT -5
Using the information already on hand or the info you have found trough the fielded search on NARA’s website, you can request copies of full Army Service records. These contain detailed information about rank, promotions, unit specifics and other information.
What you need to do is fill out the so-called “Standard Form 180” or “SF-180”.
A blanco copy can be downloaded from the following link, printed, filled out and sent by mail or fax. It is in Adobe format and might take a minute or two to download.
www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf
It is mandatory to fill out at least the subject’s name and ASN. Otherwise you will probably receive a negative reply.
You can send it to the following address:
National Personnel Records Center
(Military Personnel Records)
9700 Page Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
TIP!
Don’t forget to mention to mention the Freedom of Information Act when you are requesting records of non-relatives. Otherwise your request might be denied.
ATTENTION!
On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. 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.
When sending out a request using a SF-180, you will probably receive a letter stating that the records were probably lost in the 1973 fire. One advice: don’t give up, resend your request and results might still turn up!