1. Purpose. This memorandum provides instructions for handling inquiries that do not show enough information for normal routing and processing.
2. Cancellation. This memorandum cancels NPRC memorandum 1865.20D.
3. Reason for cancellation. NPRC 1865.20D is canceled in order to update procedures used in handling inquiries that lack sufficient identifying information and to reflect the use of current forms.
4. Applicability. The provisions of this memorandum are applicable to personnel in the Incoming Mail Units 1 and 2 of the Military Operations Branch, Mail Section (NCPMO-M).
5. Instructions. Guidance regarding the handling of inquiries which lack sufficient identifying and/or locator data is contained in the attachment.
6. Forms. This memorandum provides for the use of the following forms:
NA Form 13012, Return Slip for VA Inquiry
NA Form 13042, Request for Information Needed to Locate Medical Records
NA Form 13043, Genealogical Statement
NA Form 13054, Request for More Information
NA Form 13055, Request for Information Needed to Reconstruct Medical Data
NA Form 13063, Inquiry-Return
NA Form 13075, Questionnaire About Military Service
NA Form 13075A, Questionnaire About Military Service (FL)
SF-180, Request Pertaining to Military Records
VA Form 3101, Request for Information (manually-generated)
VA Form 3101-4, Request for Information (computer-generated)
VA Form 3101a, Request for Information
DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty
DAVID L. PETREE
Director
1. Purpose. This memorandum transmits page changes to NPRC 1865.20E.
2. Explanation of change.
a. NA Form 13054, Request for More Information, has been revised considerably. As a result, references to that form, which is now called Return of Inquiry, have been changed throughout NPRC 1865.20E. Also, this memorandum no longer provides for the use of NA Form 13063, Inquiry-Return, since Mailroom personnel can now use the revised NA Form 13054 to transmit the SF 180, Request Pertaining to Military Records.
b. Para. 9 has been rewritten to emphasize the kinds of information needed on requests for pre-registry records, rather than just defining what the pre-registry records are.
c. Figs. 1 and 3 have been changed to remove personal identifiers and an erroneous date has been corrected in fig. 1.
d. References to VA Forms 3101, Request for Information, have been changed to eliminate the number prefixes, i.e., 07 and 70. The VA may change these prefixes from time to time, but this does not mean that there has been any change to the content of the form.
e. This memorandum no longer provides for the use of the two-sided NA Form 13075A, Questionnaire About Military Service. Only the one-sided version, NA Form 13075, is referred to. Fig. 7 has been changed to consist of only NA Form 13075, rather than NA Form 13075A with both a front and back.
3. Instructions.
a. Remove transmittal page of NPRC 1865.20E (basic) and insert revised transmittal page.
b. Remove pp.
½, 3 and 4, and 5-14, and insert revised pp.
DAVID L. PETREE
Director
1. Inquiries with insufficient identifying information. Mailroom personnel shall NOT make efforts to service an inquiry when it does not contain enough information for a routine records search. It is desirable that each inquiry contain the four basic items of identifying information, which are:
a. Complete name of subject veteran.
b. Service number (SN).
NOTE: The SN may be identical to the social security account number (SSAN) for periods of service after 1969 or 1972 (see par. 6).
c. Dates of military service.
d. Branch of service.
HOWEVER: Service number, dates, and branch are not all needed in all cases. See paragraphs 5, 6, 7, and 8 for exceptions.
NOTE: Incoming Mail Unit employees are also responsible for returning requests which lack proper signature authority. See NPRC Memorandum 1865.16, Release and access guide for military personnel and related records at NPRC.
2. Identifying information obtainable by requester. A great amount of time can be wasted trying to identify a service record when the writer did not furnish sufficient data. Mailroom personnel shall return the inquiry when it appears that either the veteran or the third party, who initiated the inquiry, DID NOT try to obtain all necessary identifying data. The writer may state "not available" or "NA" when the information is obtainable with only a little effort on the requester's part. Requests from the Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration, veterans counselors, prospective employers, probation officers, and others who have direct contact with the veteran shall always be returned if they lack sufficient identifying information. It is the requester's responsibility to furnish the data. (See fig. 4.)
3. Location of four basic items of identifying information. The most commonly used request forms that are received in the Incoming Mail Units are the: SF-180, Request Pertaining to Military Records; VA Form 3101, Request for Information, (manually-generated); and VA Form 3101-4, Request for Information, (computer-generated). Figs. 1, 2 and 3 provide samples of these request forms and illustrate the location of the four basic items of identifying information.
4. Completeness/legibility of name and attached documents. In order for mailroom personnel to consider processing an inquiry, the requester must provide a legible and complete inquiry.
a. Name used during service. If the requester fails to provide a complete or legible name, which is needed to identify the subject veteran, then mailroom personnel shall return the inquiry to the requester. (See fig. 4.)
b. Attached documents. If the requester fails to furnish legible photocopies of required documents with the inquiry, then mailroom personnel shall return the inquiry to the requester. For example, VA Form 3101-a, Request for Information, must be received in the Incoming Mail Units with an attached legible photocopy of a DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or equivalent. (See fig. 4.)
5. Correct service number (SN). Mailroom personnel should be able to identify obviously incorrect service numbers. Individuals separated after the dates shown in app. A should have been assigned a service number. Information on the makeup of service numbers for all the military branches is provided in app. B.
6. Social Security Account Number (SSAN) as the identifier. The military service departments discontinued using the SN as the identifier and commenced using the SSAN as the identifier on the following dates:
NOTE: The dates are not needed if service was so recent that the records would be located in the registry files. Use of the SSAN as the service number is sufficient evidence of such recent service.
8. Branch of service. Mailroom personnel shall return an inquiry to the requester if the branch of service is not shown, unless the branch can be determined easily in other ways or is not needed. The prefix of the service number sometimes can tell what the branch is (see fig. B-2). Sometimes the envelope will have been addressed to the particular branch of service, even though there may not be any such indication in the request itself. The branch of service is not needed if the social security number is provided and was in fact used as the service number for that veteran. Mailroom personnel should assume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that if the social security number is the only one provided, then it is the proper identifier. Contrary evidence would be for the requester to have provided either dates of service prior to the conversion dates, or other clues such as reference to WWI, WWII, Korea, or some other era prior to the conversion dates.
9. Inquiries that relate to records in the pre-registry collection. The pre-registry collection consists of records of Navy and Marine Corps veterans who were discharged before 1964 (Navy officers before 1968). There are different groups of records within this collection, and various filing systems. Also, some records belonging to particular groups could instead have been reaccessioned into the registry system. A familiarity with the different filing situations and what kinds of information are needed in which cases, is necessary to make the best decisions on whether to send the request back for more information.
a. Records filed by service number. When the record is filed by service number, it is as important for the person reading the request to have that number as it is when the record is in the registry system. Pre-registry Marine Corps enlisted and officer records and Navy officer records are usually filed by service number.
b. Records filed alphabetically. Navy enlisted personnel records through 1963 and medical records for Navy and Marine Corps officers and enlisted personnel separated between 1911 and 1963 are filed alphabetically, including the middle name. Different combinations of information are needed to help determine whether to send the request to Navy Search or to send it back for more information. The service number is not absolutely necessary to find these records, but it is vital that the middle name, or at least the initial, be included (or that there be an indication on the request that there is no middle name). It is also essential that there be some way to tell one record from another if more than one person has the same name. This can be accomplished with the service number or the date of birth. The decision on whether to return the request could also be based in part on how common the name is. This is a matter of judgement, but an uncommon first name and last name combination, including the middle name, could be sufficient to justify an alphabetical search, if some other partial information is included in the request and could be compared with information in the record, such as hometown or duty assignments.
10. Forms and procedures for returning initial inquiries. When it is appropriate to return the initial inquiry to the requester, mailroom personnel shall use the forms and procedures as shown in fig. 4.
11. Previously returned inquiries that are received again which still lack identifying information. Mailroom personnel shall carefully review those inquiries that are being returned from the requester, after the initial contact with NPRC (MPR), and still lack identifying information. An incomplete item on a form is one that the requester has not attempted to answer. Any item that is answered with such words as "Don't know," "Can't remember," "Unknown," "Not available," etc., is also incomplete. However, these responses indicate that the requester cannot recall more information. If necessary, the forms shall be returned to the requester in the following manner:
a. VA Forms 3101 previously returned with NA Form 13075, Questionnaire About Military Service. Using NA Form 13012, Return Slip for VA Inquiry, return the NA Form 13075 and the inquiry as shown in fig. 5.
b. Inquiries previously returned with NA Form 13054, Return of Inquiry. Return the inquiry again, sending the same NA Form 13054 and whatever other form(s) had been attached to the initial response. Check the ninth block on the NA Form 13054 (see fig. 6), which states: "We must have the information that we previously requested before we can search for the records needed to answer your inquiry." Sign the signature block again and enter the current date alongside the previous date.
Ask for service number --
Do not ask requester for service number
if service ended before the years shown.
|
|
1. Introduction. It was not until February 28, 1918, that the first service number was issued to an enlisted man. Master Sergeant Arthur B. CREAN holds the unique distinction of receiving Army service number 1. Officers did not receive service numbers until June 1921. General Pershing, who was then Chief of Staff, received the number O-1. 2. Periods of issuance of service
numbers. Tables attached as Fig.
B-1 contain service number series broken down by issuance periods
as short as feasible. When not feasible to break down by short periods,
an effort was made to break down series into periods closely corresponding
with those covered by specific records groups, some of which were lost
in the July 1973 NPRC fire. For easy reading, numbers are entered
in the "Series" column in the conventional style with a comma between each
three digits starting from the right, however, no relationship between
this and the way numbers are encountered in correspondence and on military
records is intended. The most prevalent style in which numbers are
encountered in correspondence and records is depicted by the following:
Many groups of numbers issued out of their normal sequence may be inaccurately or incompletely accounted for in this brief table. These are numbers, for instance, which were surplus due to an over estimate of needs in the area or category for which initially set aside. In these cases, however, the tables indicate general trends. "EM" means enlisted personnel (including draftees), men as well as women. "Ofcr" means officers and includes warrant officers. 3. Service number prefixes and suffixes. The majority of prefixes and suffixes were for Air Force and Army. None are known to have been used with Coast Guard service numbers. For Marine Corps, only "O" (Officer) and "W" (Women) were used. Navy used "W." In addition, beginning in December 1965, Navy enlisted personnel received six digit numbers with a letter prefix. The first series used was "B10 00 00 thru B99 99 99." When all these were used, succeeding letters of the alphabet were assigned with the same series of numbers, however, letters which may have resulted in confusion with other letters or with other identification numbers were not used. The various prefixes and suffixes assigned are contained in Fig.B-2. |