A Word of Caution: Hiring a Military Researcher

We don’t know what we don’t know.

Over the last few months, I’ve had many people contact me to ask questions or hire me to do military research projects after they hired another firm. Why? Because the other firms gave them records without understanding what the client needed. Gave no explanation through a research report to explain what was discovered and what was not. Never gave the option for customized research. Never offered to pull all available records.

And, in one recent case, the research firm copied hundreds of pages of Morning Reports that were for the wrong unit and never once checked to make sure the veteran was ever listed in the reports. On top of that, her veteran died while in service but the research firm didn’t give her the IDPF (death file) because she didn’t pay for that “Package” of research. So she was left with hundreds of pages of paper she had no idea what they meant, what to do with, and no answers about the death of her veteran. I was amazed at what she gave me to review before our consultation. My team is working with her and she is now getting answers.

How does this happen?

Because many research firms have a form for you to fill out asking what you need. They give you a package price for whatever they think is going to fill your need. Then they take your money and give you records that may not be helpful at all and probably don’t answer your questions. Additionally, many of them quit researching if it gets too difficult to find the records.

This is not how I work with clients.

A Bit of Archives History

Researching WWI, WWII, Korea or Vietnam veterans has been difficult and complex since the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) Fire of 1973. You may know that the archives told us 80% of the Army and Army Air Force/Air Force service files burned. So you can go to the NARA website, download Form 180 and request a records search but you are likely to only get a Final Payroll document back if the file is gone, which doesn’t help you at all with research. Yet NARA has never give more explicit instructions on how to actually do the research and what you really need to have done – the archivists will not do for you.

What options do you have to learn about your veteran’s history if you don’t know how to do the military research, even if you are a seasoned genealogist? Well, you can hire a researcher, but be aware there are questions you need to ask before investing your money with one.

Questions to Ask

1. What are the questions I have about my veteran’s service? What questions do I have because of things I’ve heard whispered in the family or through family stories?
2. Do I know what records I need to be able to reconstruct military service if the file burned? For many people, even seasoned genealogists tell me – they have no idea how to do military research beyond sending in Form 180. They don’t know that having a unit at some point in time can make or break a project sometimes. They don’t know what records can be helpful in doing a project. Even seasoned genealogists can’t know every record that exists whether military or genealogical, no matter how many years they study. There are always new records to discover.
3. Do I know what information I need to obtain military records? Where can I find out?
4. Will a firm that only asks me to fill out a form without talking to me know what records I need to answer my question?
5. Is the firm going to only scan a time period of records like Morning Reports for the months of June, July and August 1944 without ever checking to see if my guy is listed? Is any customization available or can I only get weeks or months worth of reports? I recently had a client come to me that hired a firm that uses forms and has this approach to research. She gave me 369 pages of Morning Reports that she received and was completely overwhelmed and had no idea what to do with it all. She didn’t even really know what it all meant or if her veteran was listed anywhere. When she asked me for a consultation I looked through all of those 369 pages, which covered about a year of service in one unit. Her veteran appeared 3 times. Had he been transferred out of that unit after the first 10 pages, the other 359 would have been completely worthless and a waste of her money. Thankfully he was in the unit and but the clerk who created the reports gave almost no daily information so much of the paperwork was useless considering the amount she paid to have research done.
6. What happens if they can’t find a unit and the record burned? Do I lose my money?
7. Will I get a detailed explanation via email or a research report to know what records were searched? Why a dead end was hit? Or what all these records mean?
8. Can I ask the research firm questions about the records after I receive them? If not, where can I go to find answers?

It’s important to realize that even if you have a full service file for your Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine service member of even a Civilian Army Transport Service Employee or other federal employee, you are still reconstructing service history. Why? Because a file has clues but never the entire story of your veteran. It’s also never given to you in a format that’s easy to understand as you read through it. You still have to create the timeline, understand the lingo and abbreviations, and piece the history together.

Which Type of Researcher Do I Hire?

The best advice I can give you is to do your homework and ask yourself what you really need and what your knowledge level is as far as military records are concerned.

Are you knowledgeable and know what records you need? Or do you need just a time period of certain reports? If you are knowledgeable and only want a certain time period of reports copied, hiring a firm with a form on their page to just scan records may be fine for your needs.

If you do not need customized research to receive answers about your veteran, hiring a firm with a form to fill out may be what you need.

Read research testimonials.

If you are not sure what you need and require an explanation about the records you receive, hiring someone like me is a better option. Why? I customize every project and get to know the client and their needs. My business model is not how much money can I make today by just copying records for people. I also have the gift of healing and many clients come to me because they want more than paper records. They want answers, closure, and peace, especially if their relationship with their veteran was rough or non-existent for whatever reason. Schedule a free consult today.

1. I give every potential client a free consultation via phone or Zoom to listen to their stories, ask them questions and listen to their response, and find out what they really want out of the research.
2. I take time before the consult to dig a little so I make sure I have enough information to start a project, especially if the record may have burned. This means time emailing the client asking more questions, asking if they have certain records, etc. This is helpful to them because often they have the information, but didn’t realize it.
3. Every client I work with receives information along the research process. They receive a research report with source citations along with all the records I obtain from NPRC or NARA and many other sources. The research report has the information presented in a way that is very easy to understand by the client. They can clearly retrace the footsteps of their veteran through the timeline I provide. They also get narrative sections which explain discrepancies or sometimes what couldn’t be found or shocking things discovered that the client didn’t mention (or maybe didn’t know).
4. I created a two-part research strategy over 10 years ago to research any veteran even if the service file burned. My projects are done in two parts so clients receive the reconstructed history and then the narrative to understand the context of their experience. By the end of a project, the client receives at least two reports.
5. For clients who wish to have a book written after research, I can also easily move from research into writing for them. For others, I often serve as a developmental editor. The transition is smooth.

The most important thing when hiring a research is asking yourself what you really know and what answers you want to find. Then find a firm that will help you accomplish your goals.

Would you like to discuss what’s possible to tell your veteran’s story and help you find answers and closure? Schedule a free consult today.

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