A Military Personnel File, officially known as an OMPF, is a document containing an individual's military service history.
Locating and Requesting Military Health Records: A Comprehensive Guide
The Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) is an essential administrative record that contains information about a subject's service history. While the OMPF includes a wealth of details about a former member's military career, it is important to note that health records are a separate but crucial component of this record.
In the past, the Department of the Navy retired health records separately from the OMPF until the late 1980s. However, in the late 1980s, the Department of the Navy began retiring health records with the OMPF, similar to the Army and Air Force. Today, the Navy's health records are maintained at the BUMED Navy Medicine Records Activity, while the Air Force's health records are kept at the AF STR Processing Center, and the Coast Guard's health records for Reservists with 90 days active duty for training are maintained at the USCG HSWL SC Medical Administration.
The Coast Guard started retiring its health records to the VA in 1998, and the Air Force and Navy followed suit in 1994. The Army started retiring most of its former members' health records to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 1992. All military service departments except the Coast Guard have stopped transferring their personnel records to NPRC.
To locate and request the health record portion of an OMPF, you should request your military medical or dental records, often included in the OMPF's Service Treatment Records (STRs), through the National Archives - St. Louis or the relevant military medical facility. Veterans may request these records through the National Archives website specific to St. Louis, where military personnel files, including health records, are stored.
Alternatively, if you are a veteran and seeking records from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), this is considered a Privacy Act request and requires your original signature and Social Security number. Submit this request to the VA Claims Intake Center.
If you are currently serving or linked to a specific military branch system, check online systems like the Navy’s BOL (Business Online) website, which provides access to the OMPF, but typically not the full health records themselves. Health records are often managed separately.
Military medical treatment facilities (MTFs) use electronic systems (e.g., MHS GENESIS) and generally do not provide hand-carried copies of hard copy medical records due to federal regulations.
In summary, to specifically obtain the health record portion of your OMPF, the main recommended route is to submit a request to the National Archives, St. Louis, or the VA if applicable, with your identifying information. This will allow you to access your Service Treatment Records and other medical documents within your OMPF.
Contact details for National Archives St. Louis or VA Claims Intake Center can be found on their respective official websites for submitting requests.
- The health records within an Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) are maintained separately, and to access these specific records, requests should be submitted to the National Archives, St. Louis or the relevant military medical facility.
- For veterans seeking health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a Privacy Act request is necessary, which requires your original signature and Social Security number and should be submitted to the VA Claims Intake Center.
