Home arrow Newsletter arrow News from IAJGS arrow US Military Morning Reports--Genealogical Value on Military Service
US Military Morning Reports--Genealogical Value on Military Service Print E-mail
2010-06-03

The US Army, Air Corps and Air Force produced a Morning Report (MR) every
morning of the year for every basic unit of the service, by the unit clerk,
detailing personnel changes for the day. These reports can be of
genealogical value for those researching their ancestors' military records.
A person must have the specific time frame and unit of service when
requesting the morning reports.  They were NOT destroyed the during the fire
in 1973 Fire at the National Personnel Records Center [NPRC] (St. Louis,
MO). I first learned about them from Steve Luxenberg when he discussed how
he tried to obtain his father's WWII Morning Report when researching his
book, Annie's Ghosts. He was required to go through the  Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) process- which as it turns out was not necessary.
 
Recently, I asked about how to best obtain the reports from US Archivist
Ferriero-the NPRC is under his jurisdiction- and the FOIA process. It turns
out that FOIA is not required for reports that are 62 years and older.  NARA
staff replied that:
 
"Unit records (morning reports (MRs)  & rosters) are available for public
viewing if they are 62 years old or older. They mature on a monthly basis
because the MR's for each unit is on it's own reel of microfilm which was
compiled monthly. For example, MR's for April 15, 1948, would not be
archival public records until May 1, 2010, when the entire month of April is
62 years old."
 
"A researcher may view these MR's by contacting the archival records
specialists to schedule an appointment  (e-mail address in included in
Microfilm Unit Records Onsite Review document listed below). Archival unit
records do not require special permission from the Army/Air Force's FOIA
office.
 
"Unit records that are not yet archival (not yet 62 years old), do require
permission from the Army's FOIA office. After permission is obtained,
the researcher will need to contact, the Organizational Records Section,...
to schedule an appointment. (Contact information is contained in referred
documents below).
 
Documents that will be helpful in your request are located on the IAJGS
website at: http://www.iajgs.org/pramc/legislation.html

1.. Microfilm Unit Records Onsite Review information sheet.  The National Personnel
Record Center provides this information sheet to persons interested in researching
unit records (morning reports and rosters).
2."Arch Brochure updates" which provides an overview of the most recent archival accessions
available at NPRC.
3.. "ARR brochure (14 May 2010)" which has the basic information for
on site review of archival personnel records older than 62 years.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Director-at-large
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee