Military Record Changes

A picture of a DD Form 214 form on a wooden table.

DD Form 214, Discharge Papers and Separation Documents

Read what a DD 214 is and when you might need it.
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A picture of a DD Form 214 form on a wooden table.

Military Character of Discharge

This article explains the different types of Character of Discharge and what they can mean to you.
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Discharge Upgrade?

Question:

If an Airman failed tech school and received an uncharacterized discharge because they separated under 180 days, can they apply to have the discharge upgraded to an honorable one and if so how can one go about doing it?

 

Jim's Reply:

You'll need to get in touch with these folks The Veterans Consortium.  If you'll go ahead and click that link you'll find all the intel you'll need to get in touch with them. Their experts will evaluate what you've got and help you as you go along. Good luck!

 

Ships Logs?

Question:

Why is the ship's deck log not available during parts of our WESTPAC Cruise in 1963? I want to know specifically where my ship (USS Los Angeles CA-135) was. I would love to see the ship-deck logs for the entirety of summer '61 through the return to San Diego following that deployment. How can I get that information? I tried looking it up at sites online that have links to ship's deck-logs, but both of those periods of time were ostensibly missing. Can you help me in any way to locate that information? 

 

Jim's Reply:

The best I can tell you is that deck logs are here: https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online. Unfortunately, the National Archives are closed due to the pandemic so your search will be delayed even further.