Military Medical Records: Requests, Custody, and Access

This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by reading it. Laws, regulations, official guidance, and related information vary by jurisdiction, change frequently, and may have changed or become outdated since publication. Always verify current information with authoritative sources and consult a qualified professional about your specific circumstances. The author and publisher assume no liability for actions taken based on this information.

Contents

Separate the service health record from the personnel file
For recent military care, check MHS GENESIS and the facility
Use branch and separation dates for older service records
Make a separate, specific request for hospital records
Find military and civilian immunization records separately
Request VA treatment records from VA
Personal access does not mean unrestricted family access
Distinguish access deadlines from archival search times
If the response says records are missing
Sources

Key Facts

Find the custodian: Current military care, former-service health records, inpatient records, VA care, and civilian care can require different requests.
Portal limits: MHS GENESIS can provide electronic health information, but a portal download is not necessarily the complete record.
Hospital searches: Archived clinical records often need the treating facility, year, patient identifiers, and treatment type.
Immunizations: Request civilian vaccination records from the provider or pharmacy; military vaccinations may be available through MHS GENESIS.
Access limits: A request for your own record and a request for someone else’s record follow different authorization rules.

Start by identifying the particular military medical record you need. The right route depends on the type of care, the treatment dates, the service branch and separation date, and the agency or facility holding the file.

A missing portal entry or an incomplete personnel-file response is a reason to check another record category, rather than assume the medical history was destroyed.

Separate the service health record from the personnel file

NARA describes the Official Military Personnel File, or OMPF, as an administrative record of military service. Service health records cover outpatient, dental, and mental-health treatment, entrance and separation physicals, and routine care when the patient was not hospitalized.

Inpatient clinical records are usually filed separately from the ordinary health record and retired by the treating facility. VA treatment records are not included in that service health record.

If you need proof of separation or discharge characterization, the military discharge guide addresses a different record task.

For recent military care, check MHS GENESIS and the facility

TRICARE directs people receiving care at military hospitals and clinics to their electronic health record in MHS GENESIS. The portal can provide information such as laboratory results, allergies, medications, problem lists, and office visits.

TRICARE says service treatment records were digitized after retirement or separation after January 1, 2014, and may be available in the portal if they do not contain sensitive information. For a complete copy, its instructions identify SF 180 sent to the organization listed on the form, or an in-person request at the last military hospital or clinic.

Do not rely on an old instruction that assumes every military health platform still uses the same login. TRICARE’s August 2026 guidance describes myAuth replacing DS Logon platform by platform, with DS Logon continuing where the transition has not yet occurred. The platform’s sign-in instructions tell you which account is required.

Use branch and separation dates for older service records

The services changed where they sent former members’ health records at different times, so NPRC is not the destination for every veteran’s file. For Army separations from October 16, 1992, through December 31, 2013, NARA’s current table lists the VA Records Management Center. For Army separations on or after January 1, 2014, it lists the AMEDD Record Processing Center.

For Coast Guard active-duty separations and reservists with 90 days of active-duty training, the table changes destinations on October 1, 2014. Check the applicable branch, component, and date row before sending a request.

NARA offers eVetRecs for eligible veterans and next of kin, with signed mail or fax requests as alternatives. Its current online process requires ID.me identity verification for new requests and retrieval of electronic responses. Use the destination specified by eVetRecs or the current SF 180 instructions rather than assume every request belongs at the same address.

The locating information includes the name used in service, service number, Social Security number, branch, service dates, and date and place of birth as requested. State the particular medical records you need instead of requesting only a discharge document.

Make a separate, specific request for hospital records

For clinical and treatment-record searches, NARA asks for the last hospitalizing or treating facility’s name and location, the year, and the treatment category. It also asks for the patient’s treatment-era name, Social Security number, and status at treatment, such as veteran, retiree, or military dependent. For a dependent’s record, include the military sponsor’s name and the requested sponsor identifiers.

NARA recommends NA Form 13042, Request for Information Needed to Locate Medical Records, but says the form is not mandatory. The clinical-record request must be signed and dated within the last year. Some restricted records require a specific authorization, and NARA may send NA Form 13036 for that purpose.

For a hospital stay, identify the illness, injury, or treatment and the year as precisely as the available records allow. That gives the records staff a different search path from a general personnel-file request.

Find military and civilian immunization records separately

For vaccinations at a military hospital or clinic, TRICARE’s instructions are to sign in to MHS GENESIS, select Health Records, choose the records, and view or print them. If they are unavailable online, TRICARE directs the requester to the archived-health-record route. For a civilian vaccination, including one overseas, request the record from the provider or pharmacy that administered it.

TRICARE also identifies state health departments and participating immunization information systems as possible sources. Availability there does not establish that every military or overseas vaccination was reported to that system.

Request VA treatment records from VA

VA provides a complete-copy request route through the treating VA facility’s medical records or Release of Information office. Its current instructions allow an online secure message to a care team at the treating facility with “Release of Information” in its name. The mail, fax, or in-person route uses VA Form 10-5345a, Individuals’ Request for a Copy of Their Own Health Information. VA asks an in-person requester to bring a valid photo ID.

VA compensation, pension, and benefits records instead go through a personal-records request to the Veterans Benefits Administration. Keep the medical chart request separate from a benefits-file request.

Personal access does not mean unrestricted family access

The Privacy Act generally restricts agency disclosure of records in a covered system without the subject’s written request or consent, while allowing specified statutory exceptions. Under HIPAA, an individual generally has a right to inspect and obtain protected health information in a covered entity’s designated record set. That right has exceptions, including separately defined psychotherapy notes and information compiled for litigation or proceedings.

A personal representative’s access depends on legal authority and the scope of the representation. Parental access to a minor’s records can differ for care the minor may consent to independently, and applicable state or other law still matters.

For its clinical-record process, NARA recognizes specified next of kin of a deceased veteran and requires proof of death. An authorized third-party request needs a signed, dated authorization identifying what may be released; NARA says that authorization is valid for one year.

Check the custodian’s own authorization instructions rather than treat being a spouse, parent, or lawyer as unlimited permission.

Distinguish access deadlines from archival search times

For an individual access request governed by HIPAA’s access rule, the covered entity generally must act within 30 days. One extension of no more than 30 additional days is allowed if the required written explanation and completion date are provided within the original period.

NARA separately says archival request times depend on complexity, record availability, and workload. Do not treat the HIPAA timetable as a promise that every historical NPRC search will finish within that period.

NARA’s 62-year public-access description concerns military personnel records measured from separation, not a blanket rule that every medical chart becomes public at that age. Basic nonarchival information for veterans, eligible next of kin, and authorized representatives is generally free, while archival copying and some services can carry fees.

If the response says records are missing

The 1973 NPRC fire destroyed many Army and Air Force personnel files from specified service periods, but it did not destroy every military record. NARA uses auxiliary sources, including some VA claims files, pay records, hospital records, and organizational records, to reconstruct basic information.

A reconstruction search is not a guarantee that a complete lost chart can be recreated. Keep the response, check whether the search covered inpatient and outpatient records separately, and supply any additional treatment dates or facility details you can verify. Send personal identifiers and medical details only through the official request channel specified by the custodian.