military serial numbers.
The most definitive piece of information on the military rolls is the military service number and it has links to all documentation in a military person's personnel records. Is there some logical reason that those numbers, when present, are not indexed?
Answers
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I did a quick google search asking wether military service numbers were retired after the individual leaves the army. This was my first guess at why we dont index it. This is what came up.
'Service numbers were eventually phased out completely by the social security number; the Army and Air Force converted to social security numbers on 1 July 1969, the Navy and Marine Corps on 1 January 1972, and the Coast Guard on 1 October 1974'
So since we no longer use that number system I suppose thats why we dont index it. I hope this answers your question!
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With the information we do index, these people can be found by researchers who can then see the service numbers to do with as they see fit.
Thank you for desiring to be as helpful as possible!
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We can't search on military numbers so there is little need to enter them. Once a person sees the image, they will see the numbers. The owners of the records would probably rather have the researcher forced to view the images.
I think the US DoD is using an 10 digit Military ID code again, in lieu of the SSN to protect identities.
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The fact that we cannot, at the present time, search on military service numbers should not prevent someone from writing an algorithm that will allow us to do so. Again, that number shows up on all military records and could help anyone searching for a family member's records to locate them relatively quickly if the system were developed to allow that to happen. Yes, these numbers were replaced by SSNs in the late 1960' and early 1970s which at some point in time should be a valuable search indicator as well. The fact that the service has gone back to a 10-digit service number should give us hope that we can, in the future, use those numbers to locate records of our family service members.
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I am retired military and each time I try to get services in military installations the first thing they ask for is my current service number. They use that to track my records in their systems and to determine if I am legitimate. With that number they can pull all of my medical records and track my progress in their systems. Perhaps because I am still alive someone may conjecture that it is a violation of my privacy to access my records. If that were the case the algorithm should include only those who have been diseased for a designated number of years.
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When we index we are indexing with the only goal in mind of helping the researcher find the document. It is the researchers responsibility to examine the document and decide what the next steps should be. It is really hard to not want to do more! Most of us are researchers at heart!
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When we first started indexing the United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, we did index the miliary number as part of the form. This is because the owners of the project wanted these military numbers included in the indexed project. Most but not all of the Rolls had the Military Service numbers on them.
Several "Parts" later, the owners of the project obviously changed their requirements and removed the military number from the form. I am not sure why they stopped having us index the Military numbers, but they must have their reasons.
Thankfully, when the numbers are there on the Muster Rolls and Rosters, family members will be able to see and use them if they are needed.
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