National Archives at St. Louis

Morning Reports and Unit Rosters

MORNING REPORTS AND UNIT ROSTERS, HOLDINGS
Branch of Service Record Type Dates* Access
Army
(includes Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces)		 Morning Reports & Unit Rosters November 1, 1912 - 1959 GET RECORDS
Army Morning Reports & Unit Rosters 1960 - 1974 GET RECORDS
Air Force Morning Reports September 1947 - June 30, 1966 GET RECORDS

*Army Morning Reports and Unit Rosters, dated 1912-1959, and all Air Force Morning Reports, are archival records. These records have been accessioned into the National Archives and are open to the public. Army Morning Reports and Unit Rosters, dated 1960-1974, are non-archival. Non-archival records are maintained under the Federal Records Center program and are subject to access restrictions.

What Are Morning Reports and Unit Rosters?

The Military Service Departments created Morning Reports and Unit Rosters as part of their personnel and payroll functions. The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) uses these records to verify events or assignments which may not be documented in an individual's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). This is especially important when trying to reconstruct service information from an OMPF that has been damaged or destroyed in the 1973 Fire.

Morning Reports:
As the name implies, the Military Services created Morning Reports each morning to detail each day's personnel changes. They are an "exception based" system, only containing information on those individuals who were not "present and accounted for." Among the reasons for being listed on a Morning Report: promotion or demotion; being killed, wounded or missing in action; being assigned to a unit or leaving a unit; going to a hospital for treatment or to another activity for training.

Unit Rosters:
The Military Services created Unit Rosters monthly, quarterly or semi-annually. During certain time periods, the Services created separate rosters for officers and enlisted personnel; while at other times, consolidated rosters listed both officers and enlisted personnel. Some units created rosters only for enlisted personnel. The rosters typically listed the members of a particular unit for the last day of the month in which the roster was created.

Unfortunately, the rosters for the years 1944, 1945 and 1946 were disposed of in the 1970's. No other source for this type of information for these years exists at this Center. You may wish to contact an "Alumni Organization" in order to obtain information concerning members of specific units. Please see our Other Helpful Sites page.

Note: Neither morning reports nor unit rosters contain historical information concerning battles or engagements. Records that contain this type of information may be available at one of the following:

National Archives at St. Louis >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272

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