# Any public accessible record of military members?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-public-accessible-record-of-military-members/573269>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 2, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-public-accessible-record-of-military-members/573269 "2011-03-02T21:49:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-public-accessible-record-of-military-members/573269/1 "2011-03-02T21:49:46Z")

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Is there any publicly accessible record that would allow one to confirm whether a person is currently or has served in the U.S. armed forces?

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-public-accessible-record-of-military-members/573269/2 "2011-03-02T23:20:36Z")

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No.

Unless the person was especially good (and got medals, etc.) or especially bad (and got court-martialed).

The official DD-214 form is only available to the servicemember, or their next-of-kin.

Many units (especially Navy) have websites now, with listings of all the people who served on that boat. But nothing official about these, and accuracy varies.