Problem with indexing instructions for "US, Missouri, St. Louis - Military Records 1916-1939

heidiaimeeeldredge1

I noticed a potentially big problem in the indexing instructions for the following project: "US, Missouri, St. Louis - Military Records 1916-1939." In your instructions, you state that the "Military Service Branch" should be listed as the company in which the person was located, while the "Military unit" should be listed as "army, etc." However, this is incorrect. In military records, the "Military Service Branch" should be the branch of the military in which the person is enlisted: "The U.S. military has six branches of service: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Space Force. Join the Military | USAGov https://www.usa.gov › join-military" The Military Unit is the "company, infantry," etc.

this means you potentially have thousands of military records that are incorrectly indexed.

John Empoliti

Hi @heidiaimeeeldredge1

The instructions (Field Helps) are correct, but the Example is incorrect. I and others reported this error on or before April 22. And as far as I know, as of today, May 1, we have gotten no response and no correction. I just checked, and the incorrect example is still there.

Here is the Field Help for Military Unit, and below that is the Field Help for Military Service Branch and then the Example, which does not follow the Field Help instructions.

Melissa S Himes

Yes, the "reporting" started here as early as April 17th. May have been earlier on the phone lines...

These aren't searchable fields, so it probably isn't a "critical error". Field Help instructions supersede the project instructions. Thus, it would be best to index using the correct field helps.