Military records are often kept for those individuals who serve in the military in some form. The United States military has been keeping these types of detailed records since the early founding of the country. Some of the oldest records date back, well through history, even through to the Revolutionary War. As one can imagine, the amount of information and the availability of the oldest records is a bit more difficult to obtain than today’s records. Some of this information is available to the public but in other instances, the information is maintained as private. This is especially true of those who are alive and still in active duty.

Military records document a person’s movements through the military. These records are kept for all levels of the military. They contain information about the person to identify him or her and even some of the older ones contain photographs. The records provide information about when the person enrolled, where he or she trained, where he or she was stationed and any ranking changes over the career. These records also provide a great deal of information about the actions of the individual when there is something to report, such as any acts of bravery or any falls from grace. This information is on file with the branch of the Armed Forces that the individual worked in and are kept in the archives of those agencies once the individual retires.

Military records are not always available to the public. If they are, they will include information about the person and his or her family to some extent. This information may include the person’s age, address, family name (especially a next of kin) as well as information about the body type, health concerns and other details describing the individual. All of this information is meant to be used by the military for identification of the individual and to track his or her performance throughout their career.

For those who are looking for older military records, there are numerous databases available to search. These records, especially the very old ones, are on file in the archives and can provide some insight and information into the types of combat the individual was involved in. The information from older records is astonishing in that it provides information about every detail of military life including the clothing and supplies issued to the individual at the time of his or her enrollment to the details about the fights he or she was a part of. Even very old records can provide details about family and friends.

In situations where an individual is seeking information about a family member from military records, conducting a search online through a database is often best. There are some databases set up for various wars or types of service. Having information about the age of the individual or his or her time spent in the war will help to narrow down information. Military records are considered accurate since they are kept on file with the government.