NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
National Personnel Records Center
St. Louis, Missouri 63132-5100
NPRC 1865.80C
July 21, 1991


SUBJECT: Requests for photographs

1. Purpose. This memorandum transmits instructions for processing requests for photographs relating to military subjects.

2. Cancellation. NPRC 1865.80B is canceled.

3. Reason for revision. This memorandum is revised to update instructions for processing requests for photographs.

4. Applicability. The provisions of this memorandum are applicable to employees of the correspondence sections of the military reference branches, Records Reconstruction Branch, and the Reference Service Support Branch.

5. Instructions. The instructions for processing requests for photographs are contained in the Attachment.

6. Forms. This memorandum provides for the use of the following forms:

NA Form 13018, Reply to Inquiry (NCP)
NA Form 13044, Reply Concerning Military Records
NA Form 13045, Informal Information Reply
NA Form 13104, Multiple Purpose Correspondence Form
 

DAVID L. PETREE
Director

REQUESTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

1. Types of requests. Requests are received from various sources for individual photographs of service personnel, organizational groups, ships or vessels, aircraft, cemeteries and grave sites, etc. The majority of such requests are for the photographs of individual service personnel.

2. Availability of individual photographs. Individual photographs were not required of all persons who served in the Armed Forces. They are normally found in the records of regular commissioned personnel of all branches of service, and the records of Marine Corps personnel. They are found in some of the Coast Guard and Navy enlisted records, but are seldom, if ever, found in the Army and Air Force enlisted records.

3. Replying to requests for photographs of individuals.

     a. Requests from veteran or next of kin.

(1) Photograph available. Furnish the photograph if it is available in the record. Prepare transmittal form in duplicate using NA Form 13018, Reply to Inquiry (NCP). State on the form, "The enclosed photograph is furnished in response to your request." File copy of NA Form 13018 in the record.

NOTE: If more than one is available, furnish the best or most recent photograph.

(2) Photograph not available.

     (a) Non-fire-related record. If the photograph is not available, and service relates to a non-fire-related record, then return the inquiry to the requester using NA Form 13018. Prepare form in duplicate and state, "The requested photograph is not in the records on file here." Using the instructions and addresses provided in par. 4 refer the requester to the appropriate source. File copy of NA Form 13018 in the record.

     (b) Fire-related record. If the photograph is not available and service relates to a fire-related record, then return the inquiry using NA Form13045, Informal Information Reply. Prepare form in duplicate, checking fire paragraph. Using the instructions and addresses provided in par. 4 refer the requester to the appropriate source. File copy of NA Form 13045 in the record.

     b. Requests from the general public.
(1) More than one copy of photo available. If there is more than one copy of the requested photograph available in the record, then furnish the requester the duplicate copy. Delete any non-releasable personal data, such as the social security number, recorded on the photograph. Transmit the reply as described in subpar. 3a(1).

(2) Only one copy of photo available. DO NOT furnish the last copy of a photograph to the general public. The last copy of a photograph can only be sent to the veteran or next of kin, if veteran is deceased. However, a photocopy of the photo may be sent in lieu of the actual photograph. Transmit photocopy using NA Form 13044, Reply Concerning Military Records (see fig. 1). NCPMR-A/B/C transmit reply using NA Form 13045 and the pattern paragraph as shown in fig. 1. Prepare form in duplicate and file copy of response in the record.

(3) Photograph not available. If the requested photograph is not a matter of record, prepare a reply in accordance with subpar. 3a(2).

     c. Requests from military installations. On occasion NPRC receives requests for photographs from military installations. These requests are normally for the purpose of establishing a memorial or preparing a military historical project and can involve requests for photographs of more than one individual. In response to these requests the photograph(s) shall be loaned to the military installation. On the reverse side of each photograph the technician shall write the subject individual's name, service number/social security number, and registry file index number. Transmit the photo(s) by preparing NA Form 13104, Multiple Purpose Correspondence Form, in duplicate. In the remarks section state that the photo(s) should be returned to NPRC. For example state, "Upon completion of your project please return the attached photograph(s) to the address checked below, and to the attention of the Branch ." File copy of response in record.

4. Sources of photographs. If the request is for a photograph of an individual that is not on file in the military record, or if the request is for photographs relating to any other military subject, then use the addresses provided below to refer the requester to the appropriate source. Transmit the reply in accordance with subpar. 3a(2).

     a. Department of Defense. The DoD Still Media Records Center maintains the official photographic records of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps from 1982 to the present:

Department of Defense
Still Media Records Center
Code SSRC
Washington, DC 20374-1681
     b. National Archives. Photographic records predating DoD's collections, exclusive of the Air Force, have been transferred to the National Archives for permanent retention. Refer the requester to:
National Archives and Records Administration
Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS)
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD  20740-6001
     c. Air Force. For photographic records of the Air Force which predate DoD's collection refer the requester to:
National Air and Space Museum
Records Management Division
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
     d. Coast Guard.
(1) For photographic records of the Coast Guard dating from 1960 to the present refer the requester to:
Commandant
U.S. Coast Guard (G-BPA)
2100 2nd St., SW
Washington, DC 20593
(2) For photographic records of the Coast Guard predating 1960 refer the requester to the address shown in subpar. 4b, above.
     e. National cemeteries, grave sites, and memorials. Photographs of national cemeteries, grave sites, and memorials, including name inscriptions on a memorial wall for missing personnel, are in the custody of the following:
(1) Burial in a national cemetery in a foreign country:
The American Battle Monuments Commission
Courthouse Plaza II, Suite 500
2300 Clarenden Boulevard
Arlington, VA  22201
(2) Burial in Arlington National Cemetery or the Soldiers Home:
Superintendent
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, VA 22211
(3) Burial in a national cemetery in the continental United States, including the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Honolulu:
Veterans Administration
National Cemetery System (41A)
810 Vermont Ave., NW