National Archives at St. Louis

Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF),
Federal (non-archival) Holdings

What is an OMPF?

What is the difference between Federal and Archival Records?

OMPF, Federal (non-archival) Holdings

Branch of Service Official Military Personnel Files, Non-Archival Holdings* Access -
for Veterans and Next-of-Kin		 Access -
for General Public
Air Force Officers and Enlisted with discharge dates 1951 to September 30, 2004 Veterans and Next-of-Kin

 NOT the Veteran or Next-of-Kin?
Army Officers and Enlisted with discharge dates 1951 to September 30, 2002 Veterans and Next-of-Kin

 NOT the Veteran or Next-of-Kin?
Navy Officers and Enlisted with discharge dates 1951 to December 31, 1994 Veterans and Next-of-Kin

 NOT the Veteran or Next-of-Kin?
Marine Corps Officers and Enlisted with discharge dates 1951 to December 31, 1998 Veterans and Next-of-Kin

 NOT the Veteran or Next-of-Kin?
Coast Guard Officers and Enlisted with discharge dates 1951 to present Veterans and Next-of-Kin

 NOT the Veteran or Next-of-Kin?

* Records are accessioned into the National Archives, and become archival, 62 years after the service member's separation from the military. This is a rolling date; hence, the current year, 2013, minus 62 years is 1951. Records with a discharge date of 1951 or after are non-archival and are maintained under the Federal Records Center program. Non-archival records are subject to access restrictions. Records with a discharge date of 1951 or prior are archival and are open to the public. Click OMPF, Archival Holdings to access these records.

For OMPFs with separation dates after the years listed in the above, click Location of Military Service Records, Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) and Health and Medical Records.

Please Note: On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the NPRC destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The records affected:

Branch Personnel and Period Affected Estimated Loss
Army Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960 80%
Air Force Personnel discharged September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964
(with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.) 		75%

See 1973 Fire for more information on the records affected and the alternate sources used to reconstruct basic service information.

Older military personnel records, generally prior to WWI depending on the service branch (see Records Location Table), are on file at the National Archives and Records Administration, Old Military and Civil Records Branch (NWCTB), Washington, DC 20408. See Requesting Copies of Older Military Service Records for more information.

Active Military, Inactive Reserves or National Guard personnel records are not maintained by the NPRC. Click Location of Military Service Records, Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) and Health and Medical Records for additional information.

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