National Archives says it fixed pandemic-era backlog of veteran records requests

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When veterans apply for benefits through the VA, they often need to provide proof of their military service to get approved.

Those records are held by the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO, which holds more than two million cubic feet of records documenting U.S. military service, according to the National Archives.

But during the pandemic, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) significantly cut down on on-site work because of COVID-19 restrictions.

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“As a result, NARA accumulated a large backlog of requests,” said NPRC Director Scott Levins to a House subcommittee in June of 2023.

The backlog reached more than 600,000 records requests.

Now, this week the agency said it has cleared the backlog after adding more staff and new technology, among other changes.

“Clearing the backlog of record requests at the National Personnel Records Center has been my top priority and I am proud that we’ve gotten this done,” said Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan in a statement released by the National Archives.

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The fix stems from a 2022 bipartisan law that required the agency to come up with a plan to fix the backlog.

The bipartisan “Access for Veterans to Records Act” required the Office of the Archivist to implement a comprehensive plan that reduced the backlog and improved efficiency.

“They put their lives on the line in defense of our country. For them to have to wait months to get their service records and in the meantime be denied their benefits is wrong. That’s why we wrote the bill,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) told our Washington News Bureau.

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Ossoff led the measure with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).

“The backlog is clear today, but this problem could reemerge. So, we included in the law a requirement that they continuously report to Congress on whether there is a backlog and their efforts to clear it,” said Ossoff. “We have to stay on this.”

“While the NPRC’s backlog was unacceptable, I am pleased it has been remediated so veterans can acquire their records in a timely manner,” said Rounds. “I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make certain our veterans have access to the services and benefits they have earned.”

With the backlog cleared, NPRC said it’s now able to respond to most routine records requests in less than a week, with other requests responded to in about 20 days.

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