Many veterans, as they left the service, never received a copy of their military service records, including treatment records. To learn more about how these records may impact your disability benefits, see our Veterans’ Disability practice area for information on VA claims and how we can help. These documents are very important, as they can reveal medical treatment for in-service conditions or disabilities. They often times serve as the smoking gun for winning a service-connected benefit.
Most veterans can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and other military and medical records by requesting them from the U.S. National Archives. Requests can be made online (Important Note: Users are required to verify their identity through the third party service, ID.me when submitting new requests and retrieving electronic responses.) or via mail or fax by downloading the SF-180 PDF form and submitting it.
