Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A
Guide to Locating Sources
Julissa Gomez-Granger
Information Research Specialist
Anne Leland
Information Research Specialist
December 16, 2009June 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS21282
CRS Report for Congress
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Summary
This guide provides information on locating military unit histories and individual service records
of discharged, retired, and deceased military personnel. It includes contact information for
military history centers, websites for additional sources of research, and a bibliography of other
publications.
This report will be updated as needed.
Congressional Research Service
Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Contents
Personnel Files of Discharged, Deceased, or Retired Veterans .....................................................1
Military Service and Pension Records at the National Archives .............................................1
Finding Unit Histories.................................................................................................................1
Additional Sources for Research .................................................................................................3
Select Bibliography.....................................................................................................................3
Tables
Table 1. Military History Centers and Museums ..........................................................................2
Appendixes
Appendix. Standard Form 180.....................................................................................................5
Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................8
Congressional Research Service
Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Personnel Files of Discharged, Deceased,
or Retired
Veterans
Military Service and Pension Records at the National Archives
The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), Military Personnel Records, holds most military
personnel, health, and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans of all services from
World War I to the present. Personnel records may be requested online at
http://www.archives.gov/veterans or by completing the Standard Form 180 (see Appendix) and
sending it to the correct address listed on the back of the form.
Note that in 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC destroyed approximately 16 million to 18 million
Army and Air Force official military personnel files. In such cases where files were lost, NPRC
uses alternate sources of information to respond to requests.
More information about obtaining military personnel files can be found on the NPRC website,
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/, or by contacting the center at
National Personnel Records Center
Military Personnel Records
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
Tel: (314) 801-0816 congressional line
Tel: (314) 801-0800 public line
E-mail: MPR.center@nara.gov
Older military personnel records (generally prior to World War I, depending on the service
branch), are located at
National Archives and Records Administration
Old Military and Civil Records Branch (NWCTB-Military)
Washington, DC 20408
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html
Finding Unit Histories
Unit records are preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For
unit records of World War I contact the Archives I Textual Reference Branch of NARA,
Washington, DC 20408; telephone (202)-501-5430. For unit records of World War II, Korean, and
Vietnam Conflicts contact the Archives II Textual Reference Branch at NARA, 8601 Adelphi
Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001; telephone (301) 713-7250866) 272-6272.
NPRC has morning reports for the Army (from November 1, 1912 to 1974) and the Air Force
(from September 1947 to June 30, 1966). In addition, NPRC has Army unit rosters from 1912 to
1974, with certain exceptions. For more information on unit rosters and morning reports, see the
NPRC website at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/morning-reports-and-unitrosters.html.
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Certain published unit histories can be found in the collections of the Library of Congress or
military history centers of each branch (see Table 1).
Table 1. Military History Centers and Museums
Center or Museum
Telephone Number
Air Force
U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency
600 Chennault Circle
Building 1405
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6424
http://www.afhra.af.mil/index.asp
(334) 404-2264953-2395
Air Force Historical Studies Office
AF/HOH
Research and Analysis Division
3 Brookley Avenue, Box 94
Bolling AFB, DC 20032-5000
E-mail: afhso.research@pentagon.af.mil
http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil
(202) 953-2395404-2264
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
1100 Spaatz Street
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
(937) 255-3286
Army
U.S. Army Center of Military History
Collins Hall
103 Third Avenue
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Washington, DC 20319-5058
E-mail: CMHAnswers@conus.army.mil
http://www.history.army.mil/
(202) 685-4042
U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center
950 Soldiers Drive
Carlisle, PA 17013-5021
E-mail: carl_usamhi@conus.army.mil (research inquiries)
http://usahec.org
(717) 245-3949
Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office (CG-09224)
U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
2100 Second Street, SW
Washington, DC 20593-0001
http://www.uscg.mil/history/
(202) 372-4651
Coast Guard Museum
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
15 Mohegan Avenue
New London, CT 06320-85114195
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg092/museum/
(860) 444-8511
Marine Corps
Marine Corps History Division
3078 Upshur Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134
http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Home_Page.htm
Congressional Research Service
(703) 432-4874
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Center or Museum
Telephone Number
Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
3800 Fettler Park Drive
Suite 104
Dumfries, VA 22025
E-mail: info@marineheritage.org
http://www.marineheritage.org/
(800) 397-7585
(703) 640-7965
Merchant Marine
American Merchant Marine Museum
300 Steamboat Road
Kings Point, NY 11024
http://www.usmma.edu/about/Museum/default.htm
(516) 773-5515
Navy
Naval Historical CenterHistory & Heritage Command
805 Kidder Breese Street, SE
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5060
http://www.history.navy.mil
(202) 433-41322210 main
(202) 433-4132 library
Source: Table compiled by the Congressional Researh Service.
Additional Sources for Research
•
Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress
The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of
American war veterans at .
http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
•
Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration
The Nationwide Gravesite Locator is a searchable database ofNationwide Gravesite Locator
The database contains burial locations of
veterans at and their family members.
http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1.
•
American Battle Monuments Commission
The website contains databases of the names of thoseveterans interred or memorialized at
the overseas
American military cemeteries and memorials.
http://www.abmc.gov
•
Philippine Army and Guerilla Records at the National Archives
The collection includes records of the Philippine Commonwealth Army of the
United States Armed Forces Far East (USAFFE), including recognized Philippine
Guerrilla forces (not the Army of the United States or Philippine Scouts) during
World War II.
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/philippine-armyrecords.html#reasons
Select Bibliography
Beers, Henry Putney. The Confederacy: A Guide to the Archives of the Government of the
Confederate States of America. Washington: National Archives and Records Administration,
1998.
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Center of Military History. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War.
Washington: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1988. 3 v.
Controvich, James T. United States Army Unit and Organizational Histories: A Bibliography.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
——United States Air Force and Its Antecedents: Published and Printed Unit Histories, a
Bibliography. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004.
Dinackus, Thomas D. Order of Battle: Allied Ground Forces of Operation Desert Storm. Central
Point, OR: Hellgate Press, 2000.
Dornbusch, C. E. Military Bibliography of the Civil War. New York: New York Public Library,
1971.
Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. New York: T. Yoseloff, 1959.
Stanton, Shelby L. World War II Order of Battle, U.S. Army (Ground Force Units).
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2006
——Vietnam Order of Battle. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003.
U.S. Department of the Army. Office of Military History. Order of Battle of the United States
Army Ground Forces in World War II, Pacific Theater of Operations: Administrative and
Logistical Commands, Armies, Corps, and Divisions. Washington: Department of the Army,
1959.
U.S. Naval War Records Office. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War
of the Rebellion. Harrisburg, PA: National Historical Society, 1987. 30 v.
U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the
Union and Confederate Armies. Washington: GPO, 1880-1901. 70 v.
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Appendix. Standard Form 180
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
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Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources
Author Contact Information
Julissa Gomez-Granger
Information Research Specialist
jgomezgranger@crs.loc.gov, 7-8981
Congressional Research Service
Anne Leland
Information Research Specialist
aleland@crs.loc.gov, 7-4704
8