National Archives Celebrates Elimination of Pandemic-Related Veterans Records Request Backlog
By Cara Moore Lebonick | National Archives News
WASHINGTON, March 6, 2024 – Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan joined staff at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) on February 27, 2024, to celebrate the elimination of the pandemic-related backlog of military personnel records requests.
Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan speaks at the National Personnel Records Center Backlog Elimination Ceremony. National Archives photo by Cara Lebonick.
Although the NPRC never fully closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, its on-site production was significantly curtailed due to quarantines and staffing limits. Staff continued to respond to emergency records requests, such as those required to support medical emergencies, funeral services, and shelter for homeless veterans. Nonetheless, a backlog of over 600,000 requests for military service records accumulated, and for the last two years, NARA has worked to clear this volume.
To eliminate this backlog, the NPRC team deployed technology improvements, added staff, expanded work hours and contract labor, and made numerous building improvements to support additional work capacity. NPRC also worked together with the Department of Veterans Affairs to expedite the digitization of NPRC holdings.
“It is crucial for veterans and their families to obtain access to healthcare, to benefits, to education, and for all the other things they have done for this country to receive what is due to them from the United States of America,” Shogan said. “These are amongst our most important requests filled by the National Archives and Records Administration. They are the heart of our mission to provide access to our nation's citizens to their records. There is no better example than providing veterans and their families with timely access to their personnel records.”
Department of Veterans Affairs St. Louis Regional Office Director Mitzi A. Marsh followed Shogan. She emphasized the importance of federal agency collaborations to make access happen for our nation’s veterans
“Thank you for your partnership,” said Marsh. “We have a wonderful partnership here in St. Louis and I'm very proud of it. I'm proud to be a part of a team.”
Shogan concluded the ceremony by unveiling a commemorative plaque with the inscription, “In recognition of NPRC’s achievement in eliminating the backlog caused by the pandemic and restoring service to pre-pandemic levels in less than 24 months.”
With the backlog cleared, NPRC is now able to respond to most routine requests for separation documents in less than a week and other types of requests within 20 days, even as it continues to receive more than 4,000 new requests each day.
To request veteran records or check the status of an existing request, please visit the Request Military Service Records page on Archives.gov.