Military Records, federal and Utah service

Military Service and Pension Records
Information may be available from either UTAH or FEDERAL sources.
Please read the entire contents of this page to determine which sources may have what you are looking for.

UTAH Military Service and Pension Records

Utah State Archives Research Center (http://archives.utah.gov/referenc/!referen.htm) holds a number of military records, including territorial militia records, extensive records of the National Guard and Spanish American War and Philippine Insurrection service, and also copies of federal discharges for World Wars I and II. (See links below for complete list of records)

You can search the holdings in two ways. One lists them by the "War or Conflict" and the other lists them by the "agency" that created them. The "agency" listing has many interesting topics that do not stand out in the "War or Conflict" list, so it may be worth checking both.

In either listing you can click on the blue record number for a detailed description. Some are paper records, some are microfilm. They are available for use in Salt Lake City, UT at the Utah State Archives. Contact information is listed on their site.

FEDERAL Military Service and Pension Records

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository for records of military personnel who have been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard.

Paper copies of Federal military service and pension records held can be ordered by mail from the facility which holds the records:

The National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.
The National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO
Sample military service records have been digitized and are available through the NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL) (See the National Archives page for details)

For the latest information on FEDERAL records click here to go to the National Archives Web site.
FEDERAL Military Service Records in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.
To order military service records use NATF Form 86.
To order military pension records, use NATF Form 85.

Branch of Service	Dates
Volunteers	Military service performed by persons serving during an emergency and whose service was considered to be in the Federal interest: 1775-1902
Regular Army	Enlisted personnel: 1789 - October 31, 1912 Officers: 1789 - June 30, 1917
Navy	Enlisted personnel: 1798 - 1885 Officers: 1798 - 1902
Marine Corps	Enlisted personnel: 1789 - 1904 Some officers: 1789 - 1895
Coast Guard	Persons who served in predecessor agencies to the U.S. Coast Guard; i.e., the Revenue Cutter Service (Revenue Marine), the Life-Saving Service, and the Lighthouse Service: 1791-1919
Confederate States	Persons who rendered military service for the Confederate States government in its armed forces: 1861 - 1865
Veterans Records	Claims files for pensions based on Federal military service, 1775-1916 Bounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on wartime service, 1775-1855

For more information about these records and instructions for ordering them, see the information about military records on NARA's Genealogy page

Later FEDERAL Military Service Records are located in the

National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri
To order use Standard Form 180.
Access to [later] Military Service Records is limited. See: Services for Veterans, Next-of-Kin, or the Veteran's Representative on NARA's National Personnel Records Center web site.
Note: Many records were destroyed by fire in the St. Louis Center in 1973.

To report errors or make suggestions for improvement click here to contact us by E-mail.

Return to Main Page