For an ordinary copy of your own DD214, start with the National Archives’ eVetRecs request and save the confirmation number; if you cannot or prefer not to use the online route, download the current SF-180 and follow its final-page branch, date, and record-type routing table. Some recent personnel records instead belong in milConnect or with a service personnel command. If you are applying for VA benefits, VA says it will request the DD214 for that application, but that does not give you a personal copy or a complete OMPF. Use VA Form 20-10206 only for a DD214 or other record VA already holds. Genuine medical emergencies and burials have separate official routes. A replacement-copy request does not correct an inaccurate record or change a discharge. Response times vary, NARA does not promise a fixed turnaround, and most basic non-archival requests by Veterans and eligible next of kin are generally free—although archival copies and some services can carry fees.
Quick answer: choose the route that matches the record and purpose
| What you need | Starting route | Key requirement | What that route does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own DD214 or separation document | NARA eVetRecs | Verify identity, identify the service period and exact document, and save the request number | That NARA holds it, that it is digitized, or that the request is complete |
| Your own broader OMPF | eVetRecs, or milConnect when the current branch/date route applies | Request the document groups you actually need | That every medical record or battle detail is inside the OMPF |
| Mail or fax instead of eVetRecs | Current SF-180 | Match branch, status/date, and record type to the code and destination on the final page; sign and date the request | That one central address or fax works for every record |
| Recent record in a service repository | milConnect/DPRIS or the service personnel command identified by current guidance | Use the applicable branch/date and repository route | Instant access or that every document has been scanned |
| DD214 needed only for a VA benefits application | The VA benefits application | Follow VA’s evidence instructions | A personal copy or complete OMPF; request those separately if needed |
| Copy of a DD214, C-file, exam, or other record VA already holds | VA Form 20-10206 or VA’s current online personal-record route | Request the specific VA-held record and follow the self or authorized-requester instructions | That VA has the original, complete, or corrected military file |
| Genuine urgent medical need or burial | NARA’s emergency process or the VA National Cemetery Scheduling Office, as applicable | Explain the urgency and provide the signature or proof required for that route | A same-day response or burial-eligibility decision |
| Deceased Veteran’s non-archival record | eVetRecs or current SF-180 route | Eligible next-of-kin relationship plus proof of death | That every relative is next of kin or that every part of the file is releasable |
| Record 62 years after separation | NARA archival request | Identify the person and record; pay an invoice when applicable | That every page is released without privacy redaction |
| Missing or fire-affected record | NARA/service custodian, then any requested reconstruction process | Provide additional service, unit, and location detail when requested | That a delayed or missing record was destroyed |
| Incorrect entry in a DD214 or service file | Service personnel command or correction board | Use the current correction instructions and evidence route | SF-180 does not correct the record |
| Character or reason for discharge is disputed | Applicable Discharge Review Board or correction board | Use current DD Form 293 or DD Form 149 rules | A copy request cannot change a discharge |
| Replacement medals | NARA’s separate medals guidance | Use the branch-specific medals destination, not an SF-180 records address by default | That a records copy orders replacement medals |
The route depends on what record you need, when and where the person served, who is requesting it, where the record is held, and whether the task is access or correction. Before submitting, reopen the current official page or form. Custodians and destinations can change.
What record do you actually need?
A DD214, or Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, documents a period of active service and separation. Older eras and components may use another separation document. A DD214 is not the complete history of a military career.
An Official Military Personnel File, or OMPF, can contain assignments, training and qualifications, awards, evaluations, administrative actions, orders, enlistment and separation material, and a DD214 when one exists. You can often request only the relevant document group instead of every available page. The current SF-180 also warns that detailed participation in battles and engagements is not necessarily contained in the OMPF.
Other records may live elsewhere:
- Service treatment records cover outpatient, dental, and similar care during service, but their custodian depends on service dates and status.
- Inpatient clinical records may be filed by the treating facility and year rather than inside the ordinary personnel file; provide the hospital or facility and treatment year when requested.
- VA medical records are VA health records, not military service treatment records.
- A VA claims file, or C-file, can contain evidence VA received, decisions, correspondence, and examinations. It is not the original service repository.
- C&P examinations and education, pension, home-loan, insurance, fiduciary, and VR&E files are VA benefit records when VA holds them.
- Replacement medals use separate service destinations. NARA cautions against using ordinary SF-180 addresses as a universal medals-order route.
Ask the receiving organization what it will accept. This guide cannot promise that a downloaded copy, photocopy, “Member 4” copy, or any other version satisfies every employer, state agency, school, lender, cemetery, or benefits office.
Request online through eVetRecs
NARA’s eVetRecs is the ordinary online starting point for many Veterans and eligible next of kin seeking a DD214 or another service record. A new request currently uses ID.me to verify identity. ID.me is the sign-in and identity service; it does not decide whether the record exists or may be released.
The current help flow asks the requester to:
- choose “Make a new request” and sign in through ID.me;
- identify whether the requester is the Veteran, next of kin, or another person acting with authority;
- select the service and the record or information needed;
- provide the identifying and service details needed to locate the record;
- upload authorization or proof of death when the route calls for it;
- review and submit; and
- save the confirmation and request number.
The particular ID.me flow may ask for a live selfie. Do not assume every requester will see the same verification step. If an account or browser problem prevents use of the online route, use the current SF-180 rather than sending an SSN or DD214 through a generic support form.
An eVetRecs confirmation shows that the request entered the workflow. It does not show that the document was located, fully digitized, or approved for release. When an electronic response is available, use the official notice and secure retrieval instructions promptly. The response may contain only the material located and releasable for that request.
Use the current SF-180 for a mail or fax request
Standard Form 180 is the official paper request for military records. The current GSA form is revision 06/2026, and its face says the previous edition is unusable. Download it from the GSA form page immediately before use instead of relying on an old saved copy or a form embedded on a third-party website.
The three-page PDF has different jobs:
- the instruction sheet explains custody, access, next-of-kin, fee, and medical-record rules;
- the request page identifies the person, service, requested record, purpose, return address, relationship, signature, and date; and
- the final page matches branch + current status or separation date + personnel versus treatment record to a numbered custodian and current destination.
That final page matters. Air Force personnel and treatment records may go to different custodians; the same is true across other branches and periods. A central NPRC address copied from an older article may be wrong for a recent personnel record, current member, or service treatment record.
For an effective search, give as much applicable information as you can: the full name used during service; any current name; branch and component; dates entered and released; service number, SSN, or DoD ID where the official request asks for it; date and place of birth; last duty station; retirement status; whether a VA claim was filed; the exact record and year; purpose; current return address; requester relationship; signature; and date. For inpatient clinical records, provide the facility and year.
The form ordinarily requires a separate request for each person. A Veteran, qualifying next of kin, legal guardian, or authorized representative must sign where the release rules require it. If the Veteran is deceased, attach the proof of death and relationship required for the route.
Do not email a completed SF-180 to an address that is not expressly designated for the request. Do not assume express delivery speeds the agency’s processing. It may deliver the envelope sooner, but it does not create priority inside the records workflow.
Recent records: milConnect and service personnel commands
Some records remain with the service rather than NARA. VA’s current public guide lists these milConnect starting points:
| Branch | VA’s current wording | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Discharged after October 1, 2004 | VA says “after”; the paper SF-180 has its own on-or-after custodian row |
| Army | Discharged after October 1, 2002 | Current Army and Guard status can change the service-repository route |
| Marine Corps | Discharged after January 1, 1999 | VA also separately says Marine Corps service from 1998 to present may require the personnel command |
| Navy | Discharged after January 1, 1995 | Personnel and treatment records may have different destinations |
VA also separately directs Marine Corps service from 1998 to the present and Coast Guard service from 2008 to the present to the relevant personnel command. These lines overlap with the broader descriptions, so do not guess from the year alone. Use the current VA route, and use the current SF-180 table if you are mailing or faxing.
Inside milConnect, DPRIS sends the OMPF document request to the service repository the requester selects. The repository processes it and, when available, returns scanned documents through DPRIS. That is a request-and-response system, not an instant vault containing every file. The portal tells users to retrieve a completed electronic response within its stated window; save the documents securely when they become available.
Can VA give you a copy it already holds?
Sometimes. VA’s current Form 20-10206, Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act Request, can request records in VA’s possession. Its current served PDF is revision August 2023 and lists DD Form 214, OMPF, service or military treatment records, C-file, disability examinations, pension documents, and other benefit-program records.
This route is useful when you need:
- the DD214 VA received in a claim;
- a copy of your C-file or a C&P examination;
- a service record or treatment record already inside VA’s file; or
- a VA-held education, VR&E, pension, fiduciary, home-loan, insurance, or other listed benefit record.
It does not establish that VA has the complete OMPF, the original repository copy, or the current corrected military record. If the actual service file matters, you may still need NARA, milConnect, or the service custodian.
The online and paper instructions differ for a request about yourself and a request about someone else. The Privacy Act self-request route applies to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident seeking their own records; a request about another person needs the applicable consent, third-party authority, or FOIA process. Use VA’s current form page because a revision, address, or online route may change.
Information to gather before you start
Gather only what the official route asks for, then transmit it only through that verified route:
- full name used during service and current name if different;
- branch, component, and all relevant periods of service;
- date of entry and separation;
- service number, SSN, or DoD ID when the official form requires it;
- date and place of birth;
- last duty station, unit, rank, place of entry, or place of discharge when relevant;
- exact document or document group needed and the purpose;
- treatment facility and year for inpatient clinical records;
- current secure mailing or electronic-response details;
- requester relationship and authorization;
- signature and date; and
- proof of death and relationship when the deceased-Veteran route requires them.
If the file may be fire-affected or otherwise difficult to locate, NARA may ask for more unit, organization, assignment, location, entry, and discharge detail. Give the agency what it asks for; do not send that information to WVCOFCSRA.
How long can a request take, and when should you check status?
There is no fixed NARA turnaround to publish. Current operating guidance says time varies with request complexity, record availability, and workload. A request requiring reconstruction can take longer. An online confirmation is not completion, and expedited shipping does not accelerate records processing.
Save the confirmation or request number and use the official NARA status route for an existing request. NARA’s current guidance says do not send a follow-up before 90 days have elapsed, because a follow-up can add delay. That instruction does not mean NARA promises completion within 90 days.
Avoid filing immediate duplicate requests for the same record. If the circumstances become a genuine medical or funeral emergency, use the special route and identify the existing request where the official process permits it rather than assuming another ordinary request will move faster.
Emergency, burial, and natural-disaster requests
| Situation | Official route | Proof or detail | Do not assume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine medical or other emergency using eVetRecs | Select “Emergency Request” and explain the need | Provide the urgency and supporting details the official workflow requests | Selection guarantees same-day or next-day action |
| Genuine emergency using SF-180 | Explain it in Purpose and fax the signed request to NARA’s emergency team at 314-801-0764; questions: 314-801-0800 | Applicable authorization, signature, and proof | This fax is the universal records-request fax |
| Interment in a VA national cemetery | Call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 800-535-1117 | Provide the information staff requests; VA says it will work with NARA when discharge papers are unavailable | Schedule contact itself proves burial eligibility |
| Funeral or burial outside a VA national cemetery | Eligible next of kin may use NARA’s emergency SF-180 route | Signed request and proof of death | The national-cemetery office handles every cemetery |
| Natural-disaster replacement | Use NARA’s current natural-disaster instructions | Identify the disaster-related replacement need | An ordinary request should be labeled an emergency |
| Job, mortgage, school, ID, state-benefit, or routine VA deadline | Ordinary eVetRecs, SF-180, service, or VA-held-record route | Submit early and keep confirmation | Every important deadline meets NARA’s emergency standard |
Requesting records for a deceased Veteran
NARA’s current non-archival rules give an eligible next of kin a broader request route than the general public. For this purpose, the official list is the unremarried surviving spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, sister, or brother. A cousin, grandchild, niece, nephew, or other relative is not automatically within that list.
Attach proof of death, such as a death certificate, funeral-home letter, published obituary or another document accepted by the current instructions. Proof of relationship or authority may also be required. Next-of-kin status does not guarantee unrestricted access to every page; release rules still depend on the record and requester.
An authorized representative should provide the Veteran’s or eligible next of kin’s signed authorization in the manner the route requires. Never upload death records, signatures, or military documents to this website.
The rolling 62-year archival rule and current fees
The rule is a formula, not a permanent calendar year:
Archival/public-access threshold = 62 years after separation from military service.
Before that point, the personnel file remains a Federal, non-archival record with Privacy Act and FOIA access limits. The Veteran and authorized requester can generally obtain more than an unrelated member of the public. At 62 years after separation, legal custody transfers to NARA’s archival program and the public may order copies, although FOIA privacy protection can still restrict some third-party information.
As checked September 11, 2026, NARA lists these archival copying fees:
- $25 for a routine OMPF of five pages or fewer;
- $70 for a routine OMPF of six pages or more; and
- $0.80 per page, with a $20 minimum, for a Person of Exceptional Prominence file.
These are not prices for every DD214 request. NARA generally provides a basic non-archival request without charge to the Veteran, eligible next of kin, or authorized representative, though certain services can have a fee. If a fee applies, the official custodian can invoice the requester.
Fire-affected or missing records
The 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center affected defined groups of Army and Air Force personnel files. It did not destroy every military record, and a delayed or unsuccessful search does not prove a file burned.
NARA may reconstruct service from alternate sources and may ask for additional unit, assignment, location, entry, discharge, or treatment details. That can extend the process. For the affected populations, alternate evidence, and the separate VA claims-development duty, use our guide to the VA claims process after the 1973 records fire.
VA or NARA may send NA Form 13075 to gather reconstruction details. It is not the ordinary replacement-DD214 form and should not be completed merely because a record request is slow. Our NA Form 13075 explainer shows what to check if an agency actually sends it.
Missing copy, wrong entry, correction, or discharge review?
| Problem | Correct lane | Key boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Your accurate DD214 is missing | eVetRecs, current SF-180, milConnect, or service custodian | Request access to the existing record |
| VA’s file contains the wrong or old copy | Request the VA-held record and address the original custodian’s record separately | Changing VA’s copy does not necessarily change the service master record |
| Simple factual entry is wrong in a non-archival record | Current service personnel-command correction route | NARA says it no longer creates DD Form 215 |
| Broader error or injustice | Applicable Board for Correction of Military or Naval Records, generally using current DD Form 149 | Current form states three years from discovery, with a Board interest-of-justice exception; relief is not guaranteed |
| Character or reason for discharge within 15 years | Applicable Discharge Review Board, generally using current DD Form 293 | The form has limits, including for a general court-martial discharge |
| Discharge older than 15 years | Applicable correction board using DD Form 149 | Not the DD Form 293 lane |
| Error in an archival record | Service review board identified by NARA’s current correction guidance | NARA preserves the archival record; it does not make the correction itself |
NARA says it no longer creates DD Form 215 because current DoD guidance requires electronic creation and transmission of corrections. That does not mean errors cannot be corrected; it means the service’s current process or review board is the route.
DD Form 149 and DD Form 293 are not interchangeable. The current DD Form 149, February 2025, is the correction-board application for an alleged error or injustice. Its instructions describe a three-year period after discovery and allow a board to excuse late filing in the interest of justice. The current DD Form 293, February 2025, is for review of the character or reason for a discharge within the Discharge Review Board’s 15-year window. After that window, its instructions direct the applicant to DD Form 149. This section identifies the lanes; it does not recommend a legal theory or predict a board decision.
If your immediate need is proof for a Veteran ID card or health identification card, first confirm which credential you are seeking and what proof that program accepts. A card application and a military-record correction are separate processes. The September 8 executive action on records, claims, and jobs is also an implementation tracker, not a replacement-copy route.
Do you need to pay a private company?
Most Veterans and eligible next of kin can submit a basic non-archival request directly through the official routes without paying a private retrieval company. A private researcher may charge for convenience, archival research, or other work, and a fee alone does not prove fraud. NARA’s own archival copying fees are also separate from a private company’s price.
Before sharing an SSN, date of birth, signature, proof of death, or DD214:
- navigate independently to the official
.govor.milpage; - compare the domain and destination with the current form;
- understand what service is being sold and what the government already provides;
- avoid claims of an “instant” official DD214 when availability has not been checked; and
- do not use an unfamiliar site merely because its logo looks official.
WVCOFCSRA does not endorse a private retrieval company. If a message, form, or website looks like VA or another agency but you are unsure, use our guide to VA phishing, deepfakes, and fake websites before responding.
Protect the personal information in a DD214 request
A DD214 and the request used to obtain it can contain an SSN, service number, DoD ID, date and place of birth, address, signature, discharge information, and other sensitive details.
- Reach the agency from a trusted bookmark or independently typed official address.
- Verify the mail, fax, or portal destination against the current official form.
- Never send an SSN through WVCOFCSRA’s contact form or another generic contact form.
- Do not upload a DD214 to an unfamiliar website.
- Redact information only when the receiving organization allows it; a universal redaction rule can make an official request unusable.
- Keep confirmations, downloaded records, and mailed copies in secure storage.
- If a third party needs a record, confirm the minimum acceptable version and delivery method.
Final request checklist
- Identify the exact record: DD214, another separation document, selected OMPF records, full OMPF, treatment record, VA-held record, or replacement medals.
- Identify the likely original custodian using current branch, component, status, separation date, and record type.
- Choose eVetRecs, milConnect/service repository, current SF-180, or VA Form 20-10206 for the right reason.
- Download the current form immediately before use.
- For SF-180, check the final-page routing code and destination.
- Use the name held during service and provide all relevant service periods.
- Provide service, SSN, or DoD identifiers only where the verified official route asks for them.
- Sign and date the request where required.
- Attach authorization, proof of relationship, and proof of death where required.
- Save the confirmation and request number securely.
- Do not send an immediate duplicate request or interpret 90 days as a completion promise.
- Use an emergency route only for a genuine emergency or the specified burial situation.
- Keep a replacement-copy request separate from correction and discharge review.
- Keep a VA-held copy request separate from the original military repository.
- Do not assume a private service is necessary.
- Send sensitive information only through a verified official channel.
This checklist does not replace the current official instructions. Read the route and form again immediately before submitting.
Bottom line
Start with the record and the custodian, not with a generic address. For an ordinary DD214 copy, eVetRecs is usually the first route; current SF-180 revision 06/2026 is the mail/fax fallback, and its final-page table controls the destination. Recent records may belong in milConnect or with a service personnel command. VA Form 20-10206 is for a record VA already holds. Genuine emergencies, VA national cemetery burials, public archival requests, fire reconstruction, corrections, and discharge reviews each have separate rules. Save the request number, protect the personal data, do not promise yourself a fixed turnaround, and recheck the official route before submitting.
About this update: The CSRA Women Veterans Resource Guide is an independent informational publisher, not the Department of Veterans Affairs or another government agency. This article does not determine eligibility or replace instructions from the responsible official source.
Questions or corrections? Contact us.
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