III.ii.2.B.1.b. Obtaining STRs for Members of the Reserve or National Guard | | Follow the steps in the table below to obtain STRs for members of the Reserve or National Guard.| Step | Action |
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| 1 | Determine if the Veteran currently has a service obligation as outlined in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.2.b.| If a service obligation ... | Then ... |
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| does not exist | - determine the custodian of the records according to the migration of STRs after service ends as outlined in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.3.e
- request STRs from the appropriate custodian, and
- go to Step 3.
| | exists | go to the next step. |
| | 2 | Determine if a complete separation from active duty service occurred prior to Reserve or National Guard service.| If a complete separation from active duty service ... | Then ... |
|---|
occurred prior to- September 1, 2014 for Coast Guard, or
- January 1, 2014, for all other branches of service
| - determine the custodian of the records according to the migration of STRs after service ends as outlined in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.3.e, and
- request STRs from the appropriate custodian.
| - occurred after
- September 1, 2014 for Coast Guard, or
- January 1, 2014, for all other branches of service, or
- did not occur before Reserve or National Guard service began
| VBMS will automatically generate a request for STRs from HAIMS when the Veteran’s claim is established. After the 45-day suspense period for the HAIMS request expires, go to the next step. |
| | 3 | Were all the required Reserve or National Guard STRs obtained after completing the necessary development actions? - If yes, no further action in this table is necessary.
- If no, go to the next step.
| | 4 | Determine if the required Reserve or National Guard STRs are certified and available in the Joint Longitudinal Viewer (JLV).Notes: - JLV provides access to electronic Department of War (DOW) health records, including STRs that have been scanned into HAIMS.
- Certified STRs refers to STRs with certifications of completeness described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.3.a and b.
- Veterans receiving post-service treatment as a dependent or retiree will appear in JLV but should not be mistaken for STRs.
- Other than the specific case stated below, data should not be changed in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) systems to generate a request to HAIMS when the Veteran’s service periods ended prior to January 1, 2014, for Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and prior to September 1, 2014, for Coast Guard.
| If the records are ... | Then ... |
|---|
| available and are certified complete | - enter a new period of service into VBMS as a period of active duty with the release from active duty (RAD) as today’s date, but do not mark the service as verified
- return to the OBTAIN STR tab in the DEVELOPMENT PLAN section of VBMS
- request the STRs from HAIMS by clicking the REQUEST STR AGAIN button, and
- update VBMS to remove the period of service that was just entered.
Note: The added period of service must be removed immediately after successfully submitting the request to HAIMS. | | not available or have not been certified complete | go directly to the next step. |
| 5 | The Centralized Support Division (CSD) must contact the branch of service’s single point of entry (SPoE) to obtain the STRs. Initiate and track the process by- submitting a National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) request to address code 07 using request code
- RV1 for a Reserve member, or
- NG1 for a National Guard member
- completing the information requested in the request pop-up dialogue box, and
- adding the appropriate tracked item for requesting service records from the Reserve/National Guard.
Important: The request must contain details of the Reserve or National Guard service obligation. Note: Submission of a request under this step is required regardless of the duration of time since separation from the Reserve/National Guard if the member never served on active duty. | | 6 | Review the status of the RV1/NG1 request if the STRs have not been received after the expiration of the suspense period.If the internal response message has been pending for ... | Then ... |
|---|
| less than 30 days | extend the suspense of the STR request tracked item to the date on which the internal response message would be 30 days old. | | 30 days or more | - add a HAIMS STR follow-up request tracked item, and
- set the RV1/NG1 tracked item to the suspense date that matches the HAIMS STR follow-up request.
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| | 7 | After the expiration of the suspense period, follow the instructions in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.D.2.b, to follow up on HAIMS STR requests and complete any additional support action(s) that may be necessary to obtain the STRs. | Important: When a Veteran indicates private medical treatment for a condition related to Reserve or National Guard duty during, or in close proximity to, the time frame in which the duty was conducted, obtain the records as described in M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 1.A for consideration in deciding the claim.References: For more information on- requesting records through STR Assist, see the VBMS Core User Guide
- automated STR requests at claims establishment, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.B.1.a
- records previously stored at the Records Management Center (RMC), see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.5.a
- extraction, scanning, and uploading of STRs previously stored in RMC file banks, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.A.5.d
- obtaining STRs from HAIMS, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.B.1.c-h
- creating tracked items, see the VBMS Core User Guide
- the appropriate tracked item for requesting STRs from the Reserve/National Guard or following up on HAIMS STR requests, see M21-4, Appendix D
- following up on HAIMS STR requests for Reserve/National Guard STRs, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.D.2.b, and
- obtaining records from JLV, see the JLV User Guide.
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