MILITARYCLAIMS.US · MILITARY LIFE RECORD

Military Life Record

A lifelong chronology connecting military service events to records, authorities, benefits, claims, corrections, death, and survivors.

The Military Life Record connects documentary history across service, veteran life, death, and survivors. Use these chapters as an index of records to preserve, authorities to identify, and questions to investigate.

How to Build a Life Record

Begin with an identity sheet and a dated chronology. Keep source copies separate from working notes. For each record, capture creator, date, person or unit, purpose, repository, provenance, and relationship to other documents. For each decision, retain the application, evidence submitted, notice, reasons, and subsequent review record.

Military service creates a distinct legal status with substantial obligations, restrictions, duties, and authority. Citizenship and military status are separate questions; service members may be citizens or eligible noncitizens. The effect depends on status, issue, time period, and governing rule. The framework below identifies research questions; topic-specific legal and benefit guidance must be tied to its supporting authority and effective date.

Open a Life Record Chapter

Each chapter uses a stable MLR identifier and links chronology to the evidence families and Navigation Guides that apply.

Fifteen-Chapter Registry

ID	Chapter	Records to preserve	Research question
MLR-01	Before Service	Birth/citizenship; school; recruiting; entrance examination files.	Identity and pre-service baseline.
MLR-02	Entry & Oath	Enlistment/appointment; oath; accession orders; service obligation.	Entry terms and legal status.
MLR-03	Training & Qualifications	School orders; completion certificates; qualification sheets; flight-training records.	What training and qualifications were actually completed?
MLR-04	Compensation & Financial Record	Pay statements; orders; vouchers; leave; account statements.	Which pay, allowance, leave, and financial rules applied?
MLR-05	Education	Enrollment; course records; authorizations; benefit elections; award records.	Which educational programs and effective rules apply?
MLR-06	Career, Assignments & Deployment	Assignment/promotion orders; evaluations; rosters; logs; award orders.	Connect personal service to unit, place, and event.
MLR-07	Family & Dependents	Civil records; dependency determinations; enrollment; beneficiary elections.	Dependency and family consequences.
MLR-08	Medical, Injury & Disability	Entrance examination; treatment; hospital files; incident reports; decisions.	Medical history and claim-specific evidence.
MLR-09	Vehicles, Travel & Transportation	Vehicle/insurance records; orders; dispatch log; crash report.	Determine driver, duty, ownership, purpose, place, and time before selecting a claim regime.
MLR-10	Legal, Discipline & Administrative Record	Orders; charges; investigation; decision; notice; appeal record.	Preserve the complete proceeding and dates.
MLR-11	Separation & Transition	DD-214 or period equivalent; orders; final pay; transition and benefit documents.	Actual separation date, characterization, and status.
MLR-12	Retirement	Retirement orders; points; pay calculations; elections; beneficiary records.	Retirement type, grade, and effective date.
MLR-13	Veteran Lifetime	Applications; evidence; decisions; notices; correspondence; treatment records.	Track each application, decision, and review path separately.
MLR-14	Death	Death certificate; casualty documents; unpaid pay; policies; burial records.	Identify death-related records and distinct programs.
MLR-15	Survivors	Relationship records; applications; elections; award/denial notices; appeals.	Identify claimant, program, and governing version for each benefit.

Connect a Question to the Record

Example	Start with	Then determine
Unrecorded decoration	Recommendation, citation, award order, personnel-file entry.	Whether it was approved and what correction process applies.
Medical or injury question	Treatment, incident, duty-status, and decision records.	Which issue is being decided and which dated authority governs it.
Vehicle accident	Driver, ownership, orders, purpose, time, and place.	Legal relationship and records needed before selecting a claim process.
Survivor question	Relationship, service, death, elections, notices.	Particular program, claimant, and governing version.

Keep a Question Register

Give each unresolved question a stable identifier. Link it to the records already held, the record still needed, the likely custodian, request date, and follow-up status. A missing document is a research task. A completed search should record its coverage and result rather than becoming a blanket conclusion that no record exists.