How Do I Get Proof Of Military Service?

Military benefits are incredibly valuable. They are well deserved and hard earned. Simply veterans must show military service before they are eligible for the various benefits programs. These requirements are in place to protect those who accept earned these benefits, and prevent others from taking these limited resources from those who take earned them.

The purpose of this article is to show veterans, staff members and volunteers at veterans organizations, and others how to verify a veteran's military service to help them obtain the benefits they have earned.

How to Prove Military Service

How to Tell if Someone Served in the Military

I recently received the following question from a reader who works every bit a volunteer at a Veterans organization:

I work equally a volunteer for homeless veterans. This is a very nice apartment facility located near the VA. I take been talking to veterans almost a few particular people that were allowed to live in the community. My agreement is, to qualify for housing you must have a DD Class 214 and honorably discharged. Some felonies are waived. Yet, this individual has only a letter from a comrade. The resident discovered that the person had enlisted with false information, and didn't disclose a felony record. The service dismissed this fellow member just 2 days into bones training.

The fellow member living amid veterans explains their disability to utilise for the DD 214 because their service was equally a Reservist. I oasis't heard of this. My suspicion is the veterans living in this facility have discovered a fraudulent military person. I have farther concerns about this. The resident has appeared on television receiver documentaries and taken several donations from the public, all nether the umbrella of homeless veterans. Moreover, he is living in a federally subsidized house.

In summary, my questions are:

How tin yous find out if someone is lying about their armed forces service?
What type of record would a Reservist have?
Why wouldn't the veteran be able to obtain their service DD Form 214 or any other record?

There Are Many Means to Prove Armed forces Service

The situation higher up is tricky, and sometimes there are no clear cutting answers. But I'll do my best to respond this reader's questions and give a few more than ways veterans and others can verify military service. What follows are different official and unofficial ways to prove military service. Each authorities or veterans arrangement should have a listing of adequate forms or proof of service requirements.

1. How to Testify Military Service – Discharge Paperwork

Start off, information technology's tough to know if someone is lying. And our goal here isn't to prove someone is lying. Our goal is to help veterans prove their service. Every active duty fellow member is issued a DD Form 214 when they divide from the military (a DD Form 215 is a corrected version of a DD Class 214, and should also exist accepted as a valid record of service). These forms are supposed to exist given to the veteran when they separate, but I've heard from multiple veterans that they were not issued a DD Form 214 on the day they separated, and later on received it in the mail. And then it'southward possible these forms were mailed out shortly after the member separated.

It'southward mutual for these forms to get lost or damaged, and this is not something that many homeless veterans would have on their person at all times. Additionally, at that place are times when a service member may not have a DD Course 214, which we will cover subsequently in this article.

These instructions show how to get a replacement DD Course 214.

It may be possible for the veteran to get assist obtaining this document from someone at your arrangement, at the VA, or another veterans organization.

2. Type of Service Records for Reservists

Many Reservists are issued a DD Form 256, when they dissever from the armed services. Veterans who served in the National Guard or Air National Guard may have a class NGB Form 22, or NGB Course 22-a (corrected version). Former National Baby-sit members may as well have other forms of proof of service, such as a belch paperwork from their land. Only the NGB Form 22 is the generally accustomed form for proof of service.

three. How to Get Copies of Military Records

The National Athenaeum maintains most, simply not all, armed services records. These military records should be available through a military records request. This is the offset identify to look for armed forces service records, unless the private serve prior to WWI, or was recently separated from the military.

Most military records requests are limited to the member or next of kin. However, members of the general public can oft request proof of armed forces service through the Freedom of Information Act. This volition give the requester access to express military machine service records, but non access to the entire data file. That said, the records bachelor to the general public will include proper name, rank, branch of service, dates of service, and some more than info – certainly enough to prove military service.

Delight annotation: not all military machine records are maintained in the National Archives. Very old and very contempo records may not exist in the Archives. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of records were destroyed in the Fire of 1973 (more on both of these situations later on in the commodity).

Records That Won't Be Found in the National Archives

Non all military service records are found in the National Archives.

Extremely Old and Very Recent Records May Non Be in the Archives

Service records from those who served prior to WWI may non be plant in the National Athenaeum. Those records are on file at the National Archives and Records Administration, One-time Armed forces and Civil Records Branch (NWCTB), Washington, DC. This information is helpful for anyone doing research, genealogical studies, tracing family unit roots, or other needs.

Records for service members who recently separated or retired may not nonetheless take been transferred to the National Archives. These records are normally maintained from v-x years at the personnel or human resources division for each corresponding branch of service before existence sent for permanent storage at the National Archives:

Air Forcefulness – Air Strength Personnel Center
Army – Homo Resources Command
Marines and Navy – BUPERS
National Baby-sit Member (if never activated) – Land Aide General Function where the fellow member served

Here is a listing of records that may non be held at the National Archives, and a list of places where other records are maintained.

Armed services Records Destroyed in the National Athenaeum Fire of 1973

In that location was a major fire at the Archives in 1973 that permanently destroyed armed forces records for hundreds of thousands of veterans. Most of the affected records were limited to Army and Air Strength records.

Affected Regular army Records:

Personnel discharged Nov i, 1912 to January one, 1960
Estimated loss: 80% of records

Afflicted Air Force Records:

Personnel discharged September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964
(with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.)
Estimated loss: 75% of records

Many of the service records were too severely damaged. So it'due south possible the veterans' records may no longer exist in their entirety. Everything after those dates should still exist in the National Archives, unless they are still being maintained past the respective branch of service. Here is more data well-nigh the National Athenaeum Fire:

National Archives Fire Page.
Recovery efforts to reconstruct damaged records.

How to Prove Armed forces Service if Your Records Were Destroyed in the National Archives Burn down of 1973

It tin be very difficult to prove military machine service if your records were destroyed in the National Archives Fire of 1973. But information technology may not be impossible. Some people may be able to prove their military service from payroll or tax records, copies of old armed forces service documents, orders, copies of armed services awards or decorations, photos in compatible, written statements from those they served with, newspaper clippings, sometime military machine records from their previous base, unit, or other organization, erstwhile country records if they served in the National Guard, or through other means.

Non all of these methods would employ to everyone, and not all of them are easy or possible to obtain. I don't have further tips for proving your military machine service if your records were damaged or destroyed. I suggest contacting the National Archives to come across if they have other methods or ideas that may prove fruitful to your crusade.

Additional Ways to Evidence Military Service

The DD Class 214, 215, 256, NGB Form 22 and similar forms are official proof of service documents. These are the forms usually required for applying for veterans benefits through the Department of Veterans Diplomacy and other official benefits. For case, you cannot apply for the GI Bill, VA Loan Certificate of Eligibility, VA health intendance, veterans burial benefits, or other major military veterans benefits without one of these forms.

Simply veterans shouldn't have to whip out one of these official forms someday they are asked to bear witness military machine service. There are other ways veterans can prove they served, and in many cases, a less formal method should be sufficient.

Here are a few mutual methods veterans can use to verify military service:

Military ID Card (agile duty, National Baby-sit, Reserves, IRR, or retiree). Fix upward an engagement to supplant your armed services ID card at a RAPIDS ID location.
VA Issued ID Card for Health Care
Veterans ID Carte (starting Nov. 2017)
Veterans Designation on Drivers License or State Veterans ID Carte du jour (well-nigh all states now offer this)
Veterans Grouping Membership Card (VFW, American Legion, DAV, etc.)

All of the above require official forms in order to be issued the ID card, with the exception of the Veterans Group Membership cards. Some of these organizations practice require official proof of service, such every bit a DD Form 214 or similar class. But not all of these groups do.

Whether or non an agency should accept i of the above forms of ID should be made on a case past case situation. For instance, official VA benefits require a DD Class 214 or equivalent. There usually aren't exceptions to this rule. This also applies to many official state or federal veterans benefits. But the above methods should be sufficient to prove military service for less formal occasions, such as a war machine discount, social club membership, etc.

Protecting Information on In Armed services Records

We've covered a lot of basis hither. Now it'due south important to protect our veterans. Military records often include sensitive personal information. For example, the DD Form 214 lists the veteran'south Engagement of Birth, SSN, and other information that can exist used for identity theft or other reasons. Veterans and others should take swell care safeguarding this information. This is especially of import for organizations that continue copies of veterans records for administrative needs.

Delight brand sure these forms are maintained nether lock and central, encrypting it when stored digitally, or redacting some data not necessary for your specific organizational needs.

Ryan Guina is The Military Wallet's founder. He is a writer, small-scale business owner, and entrepreneur. He served over six years on active duty in the USAF and is a current fellow member of the Illinois Air National Guard.

Ryan started The War machine Wallet in 2007 after separating from active duty military service and has been writing nearly financial, minor business organization, and military benefits topics since then. He also writes most personal finance and investing at Cash Money Life.

Ryan uses Personal Capital to track and manage his finances. Personal Upper-case letter is a free software program that allows him to track his cyberspace worth, balance his investment portfolio, track his income and expenses, and much more. Y'all can open up a gratuitous Personal Majuscule account here.

Featured In: Ryan'due south writing has been featured in the following publications: Forbes, Military.com, US News & World Report, Yahoo Finance, Reserve & National Baby-sit Magazine (print and online editions), Military Influencer Magazine, Cash Money Life, The Military Guide, USAA, Go Cyberbanking Rates, and many other publications.