Your military personnel records are some of the most important evidence in a VA disability claim. These include your service treatment records, your DD-214, and your official military personnel file (OMPF). VA has a legal duty to request these records from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and other federal repositories before making a decision on your claim. When you file a claim, VA should automatically request your service records if they are not already in your claims file. If VA has previously obtained your records for an earlier claim, they should already be in your file. However, it is worth checking to make sure nothing is missing, especially if you served during a period when records were stored at the NPRC facility that experienced the 1973 fire. That fire destroyed millions of Army and Air Force records. If your records were affected, VA must make extra efforts to help you, including accepting alternative forms of evidence like buddy statements, unit histories, and personal documents. You can also request your own records through the NPRC or by submitting SF-180 forms. Having copies of your own records is always a good idea because it allows you to verify what VA has in your file and identify any gaps early in the process.
Note: This article references sections of the VA's M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual. The VA periodically reorganizes the M21-1 and section numbers may have changed since this article was written. For the most current section references, visit the VA's public M21-1 Web Automated Reference Material System (WARMS).