You cannot build a claim file out of records you do not have. The good news: you have a right to all of them, most are free, and the routes are well established. Here is exactly where each one comes from, so you can gather the set before you need it rather than the week it is due.
Your DD-214 and personnel file
Your DD-214 and Official Military Personnel File come from the National Archives, specifically the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. There are two ways to ask:
- Online through eVetRecs,the Archives' request system at vetrecs.archives.gov. You verify your identity through ID.me. This is the route most veterans should use.
- By mail or fax using Standard Form SF-180. The traditional paper alternative if you cannot or would rather not use the online system.
Cost: free for veterans separated less than 62 years ago. Records older than that are considered archival and are open to the public, with copy fees that currently run roughly $25 to $70 depending on the size of the file.
Who can request: the veteran, and next of kin, meaning a surviving spouse, parent, child, or sibling.
Recently separated service members can also reach records through milConnect, the Department of Defense's own self-service portal. Note the distinction: milConnect is DoD, eVetRecs is the National Archives. They are different systems holding records at different stages of their life.
How long it takes
Set your expectations honestly. The records center receives roughly 4,000 to 5,000 requests per day, and it asks that you wait 90 days before following up on a request.
This is the single best argument for requesting your records now, while nothing is urgent. A request you make today is a file you have in hand later; a request you make the week a VA letter arrives with a deadline is a problem.
If your records burned in 1973
On July 12, 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center burned out of control for 22 hours and took nearly four and a half days to fully extinguish. Roughly 16 to 18 million Official Military Personnel Files were destroyed. There were no duplicate copies and no microfilm backups.
Whether you are affected depends on branch and discharge date:
| Branch | Discharge dates affected | Estimated loss |
|---|---|---|
| Army | November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960 | About 80% |
| Air Force | September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964, names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E. | About 75% |
If that is you, or a parent or grandparent whose records you are chasing, it is not a dead end. The records center reconstructs service information from alternate sources, including VA claims files, state records, pay vouchers and payroll records, Selective Service registration records, medical records from military hospitals, and unit organizational files.
Practically, that means a reconstruction request takes longer and benefits enormously from anything you can supply: unit designations, dates and places of service, names of hospitals where you were treated, and any paperwork still in the family's possession. A service officer has done this many times and is worth involving.
Your service treatment records
Service treatment records are your medical records from active duty: sick call visits, injuries, hearing tests, deployment health assessments, and your separation physical. For a disability claim these matter enormously, because service connection turns on what happened while you served.
Where they live depends on when you separated. For recent separations they are generally held by or transferred to the VA, and the VA will pull them as part of the claim. For older service, they come through the same National Archives request as your personnel file.
Whichever route applies, ask for the complete medical record, not a summary. Summaries drop exactly the routine sick-call entries that establish that something started in service.
Your VA medical records
If you are enrolled in VA health care and registered as a patient at a VA facility, you can get your own records online through My HealtheVet on VA.gov. Sign in and you can find, review, print, and download parts of your VA medical record, including lab and test results, vaccine and allergy records, and care summaries.
Build a habit: download a fresh copy once or twice a year and file it. It costs ten minutes and it means your personal copy is never badly out of date. If something you need is not available online, the medical records office at your VA facility can help with the rest.
Your private medical records
Civilian doctors, urgent care, imaging centers, physical therapy, and mental health providers all hold records that can matter. Federal law gives you the right to copies of your own records from any provider, and a reasonable copying fee is sometimes allowed.
You have two routes, and they are not mutually exclusive:
- Get them yourself. Call each office, ask for the medical records or health information department, and request everything they have on you, with dates. You end up holding the records, which means you can see what is in them and file your own copy.
- Have the VA request them. Submit VA Form 21-4142, the Authorization to Disclose Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which lets the VA go get records from private doctors and hospitals directly. Its companion, VA Form 21-4142a, is a general release covering provider names, addresses, and treatment dates.
Either way, the VA needs to know the provider names and the approximate treatment dates. That list is worth writing down for yourself regardless, because you are the only person who knows everywhere you have been treated.
Four habits that save you later
- Start before you need it. Ninety days is the follow-up window on a records request, not the total wait. Request early.
- Ask for everything, once. Requesting the complete record up front beats going back three times for the pages you missed.
- Keep the original, share copies. Whatever arrives, protect it and hand out duplicates only.
- File it the day it arrives, with a dated name, in the right folder, using the system in how to organize your VA claim documents.
Where MusterVault helps
As each record comes in, MusterVault holds it encrypted on your own computer, sorted by category, and searchable by the text inside scanned pages, so the file you spent months gathering never becomes a pile again. Free, offline, no account.