Veterans Struggle to Get Copies of Needed Service Records Due to Pandemic

“Many members of our workforce are veterans themselves, and they truly understand the importance of our work and have been frustrated with the toll the pandemic has taken on our ability to serve veterans,” NPRC director Scott Levins told AARP. “We know we are failing and we know the situation is untenable, and we are eager to fix it.”

Next steps

The VA announced on April 1 that it would assist in vaccinating National Archives and Records Administration staff who assist in processing VA claims. Meanwhile, the NPRC is in the process of using funds it received from Congress to hire more than 100 new staff members and increase the number of contractors who support its operations.

“Our plan to eliminate the backlog involves leveraging technology to become more efficient,” Levins said. “We want to provide service that exceeds our pre-pandemic level and to otherwise be prepared for any future situations that could impact our ability to provide veterans and their families with timely service.”

The NPRC began processing nonemergency requests for records that are available electronically and that staff working from home can fulfill — about 10 percent of requests overall. However, an email address must be provided so the corresponding documents can be delivered securely. Requests that go to on-site staff and are then sent via the U.S. mail take much longer, Levins said.

Once operations return to a normal level and emergency requests are fulfilled, the center will focus on queries for report of separation documents (DD Form 214), because those are usually related to benefits and can be completed quickly. Later, submissions for genealogical, ancestry and medal replacement cases will be completed in the order they were received.

“NPRC never shut down due to the pandemic,” said Levins. “Recognizing the importance of the work for which we are responsible, we have always maintained an on-site presence to continue servicing our most urgent requests, even when state and local governments had movement control orders in place.”

Safeguarding the future

The center has implemented an upgrade to its online tool, eVetRecs, which allows requests to be submitted electronically, removing the need for a physical signature and allowing individuals to check on the status of their query as it’s processed. Furthermore, the agency is developing a way to digitize certain documents in its record storage areas as they are being retrieved.

“If a person is only looking for one document and it’s easily identifiable, we can send people out into the warehouses to pull the records with imaging devices, and they can image it right on the spot,” Levins said.

Looking ahead, the VA has received funding to digitize all the records from World War II onward, but administrative and legal challenges must first be met.

“When we achieve this, we will become more efficient than we were before the pandemic or at any other time,” he said.