Building a family tree is now a major pastime for many people, but you can sometimes run into problems when finding insufficient information about certain ancestors' lives. Searching through public records can be one effective method of filling in the blanks, but even then you may only find out the details of a person's birth and death, with no knowledge of how they spent all the time in-between.
If you happen to know or believe that the person you're looking for served in the military at some point in their lives, then you may be in luck - as military organisations tend to keep very precise and accurate records of everyone who has served with them. Even if you don't know whether or not your relatives served in the military, searching through these records could reveal some familiar names and cast people in a whole new light.
If you discover that one of your ancestors was a veteran, military records could reveal a lot more about them than other types of records. Compiled service records, for example, can include everything from an individual's dates of service to their rank, unit and medical history, as well as additional biographical information that could lead you to other branches of your family tree.
As with all genealogy research, the more you know about the people you're investigating, the better. If you know something more than just the person's name, you could narrow down your search considerably - such as the years in which they served and the branch they served in. If they signed up during war time, or were conscripted, you may also find that their records are less detailed than those of regular volunteers. There are also likely to be more records if they were officers, as opposed to enlisted men.
You can search through military records online by joining a dedicated genealogy site that includes these among their resources. The best genealogy sites are those that offer access to a wide range of source material and databases covering many different areas, in which military records can play a core role.
The advantages of being able to search through military records doesn't end at genealogy though, as there can be valid personal reasons for wishing to access them too. If you are applying for a position within the military, or for a government job that prefers candidates with previous military experience, obtaining your own military records could help you prove your value.
Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
