1. Purpose. This memorandum issues and transmits revised information and instructions on the referral and routing of inquiries and related records between work elements of NPRC (MPR) and other offices.

2. Cancellation. This memorandum cancels NPRC Memorandum 1865.6D.

3. Reason for cancellation. NPRC 1865.6D is canceled in order to update procedures used in referring and routing inquires and to reflect current NPRC organizational elements and routing symbols. In addition, changes have been made to update the routing symbols and addresses of records custodians outside of NPRC.

4. Applicability. The provisions of this memorandum are applicable to personnel in the reference branches, Records Reconstruction Branch, and the Mail and Data Input Section, Military Operations Branch.

5. Instructions. Instructions for referral and routing of inquiries are contained in the attachment.

6. Forms. This memorandum provides for the use of the following forms:

NA Form 13008, Loan or Transfer of Records
NA Form 13017, Reply to Medical Records/X-Ray Requests
NA Form 13044, Reply Concerning Military Records
NA Form 13045, Informal Information Reply
NA Form 13051, Transmittal
NA Form 13053, National Personnel Records Center Acknowledgement/Referral
NA Form 13060, Referral
NA Form 13098, NPRC Routing Slip
NA Form 13104, Multiple Purpose Correspondence Form
DD Form 149, Application for Correction of Military or Naval Record
DD Form 293, Application for the Review of Discharge or Dismissal from
      the Armed Forces of the United States
VA Form 3101, Request for Information
 

DAVID L. PETREE
Director

1. General information. The referral of work results when an inquiry is received in an incorrect NPRC action element or is misdirected to NPRC.

     a. Definition. A misdirected inquiry is defined as an inquiry received by NPRC that pertains to a record or group of records that are not in the custody of NPRC (MPR); or an inquiry that contains questions pertaining to or requires explanation of policies, programs, functions, or responsibilities of other agencies or offices of the Government.

     b. Recurring types of misdirected inquiries. App. A lists the most recurring types of misdirected inquiries which should normally be referred without action to the proper office. Disposition codes are provided for requests involving certain types of records, and these relate to the address list of custodians in app. B. App. C lists the routing symbols for ARPERCEN. Guidelines for referring misdirected inquiries not provided for in this memorandum can be obtained from the "Directory of Military Personnel and Related Records." Doubtful cases should be coordinated with supervisor.

     c. Borderline cases.

(1) Custodian of record reports negative. DO NOT consider a request misdirected if it is forwarded to NPRC and contains a reported negative by the proper custodian of records. More than likely this type is being sent here for a last resort search. Route these, without search, to the correspondence section supervisor having the most nearly related responsibility. If this cannot be ascertained, return the inquiry for more information.

(2) Additional identifying information. DO NOT forward to another office any inquiry which is on the borderline between a misdirected case and a case which should be returned to requester for more identifying information. Return these for more information.

     a. Mailroom.

(1) Process misdirected and other inquiries requiring referral action without search action. See also latest revision of NPRC 1865.109, Processing inquiries with negative computer probes.

(2) Recommend additional categories of inquiries which may be referred without action.

(3) Identify sources which repeatedly missend inquiries.

(1) Process misdirected and other inquiries requiring referral action which get into the searching and/or correspondence workload, such as those which cannot be recognized as being misdirected or requiring referral action until records are reviewed.

(2) Keep the referral of inquiries between work elements of NPRC to an absolute minimum consistent with the responsibilities of each element.

(3) Recommend additional categories of inquiries which may be referred without action.

(4) Identify sources which repeatedly missend inquiries.

     a. Specific source. When volume of missent inquiries from a specific source is high.

     b. Branch offices. When total volume of missent inquiries from various branch offices of an agency is high even though not every branch errs. Examples are Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Offices and Social Security Administration (SSA) District offices. Central offices, such as those of the VA and SSA, upon request, disseminate proper addressee information to all of their branch offices, thus reducing future errors by all of them.

     c. Urgent inquiries. Importance or urgency of the type of inquiry being missent. Corrective action should be considered even if volume from a source is small, if the types of inquiries are very urgent or important.

4. Restricting referral of inquiries within and between work elements of NPRC. The referral of inquiries within and between work elements of NPRC for completion requires close supervision to see that it is held to a minimum. This should be accomplished in the following manner:

     a. Inquiries referred to a higher grade level within the same section. Supervisors and lead archives technicians are responsible for conducting periodic spot checks of inquiries to preclude unjustified "unloading" of problem inquiries. When an inquiry is referred solely because of level of difficulty, it should be made certain that the level of difficulty reflected is consistent with NPRC 1840.8, National Personnel Records Center (Page) Mail Routing Guide, or other NPRC instructions. Supervisory review of all referrals of this type may be required at the discretion of the branch chief.

     b. Inquiries referred to another section/branch. The supervisors and lead archives technicians in the work element initiating the referral are responsible for conducting periodic spot checks to ensure the necessity for these actions. Supervisory review of all referrals of this type may be required at the discretion of the branch chief.

5. Referral notices. A referral notice is normally sent when an inquiry is forwarded outside NPRC by reference branch or NRPMR personnel for direct reply. Referral notices are also sent by NRPMO-M personnel when appropriate as outlined in subpar. 6b.

     a. Responsibility. The need to send a referral notice may occur at any stage during processing and is the responsibility of the organizational element having possession of the case at that time.

     b. Forms used. NA Form 13053, National Personnel Records Center Acknowledge- ment/Referral, is appropriate to notify requester of a referral action for most cases. The proper response form may also be used as the referral notice; e.g., NA Form 13060, Referral, or NA Form 13017, Reply to Medical Records/X-Ray Requests. In some instances, a copy of the transmittal form may be used as the referral notice. See subpar. 6b(2).

     c. Identifying data. Sufficient identifying data to permit the requester to refer to his/her initial inquiry should appear on any referral notice; e.g., name, service number, social security account number (SSAN), and VA claim number. EXCEPTIONS: DO NOT show the SSAN on NA Form 13053. In addition, DO NOT show the SSAN on any other referral notices if the requester is someone other than the subject of record and the individual was unable to furnish the information on the request.

6. Processing by mailroom personnel.

     a. Forwarding. Mailroom personnel are responsible for forwarding all inquiries which have been determined as misdirected, except for first priority requests; e.g., Congressionals, VIP requests. Route these to the Priority Control Desk for further disposition.

     b. Referral notice required. Although most misdirected requests are forwarded, ONLY in the following situations do mailroom personnel send a referral notice to the requester:

(1) Requests from VA. Use the third copy of computer-generated VA Form 3101, Request for Information, or photocopy of form, if needed, as the referral. On the copy use the VA referral stamp which reads: "RECORD NOT ON FILE AT NPRC (CODE 13) - YOUR INQUIRY HAS BEEN REFERRED TO VA ADDRESS CODE _____." Place stamp in the lower right hand section of VA Form 3101. Write in VA address code which corresponds to the office having custody of the record. (See Appendix B.) Affix branch chief stamp, initial and date the form and forward to appropriate VARO.

(2) Requests from SSA. Prepare NA Form 13051, Transmittal, to refer requests to the appropriate office. Send a copy of the transmittal to the office that originated the request as the referral notice.

(3) Requests forwarded to ARPERCEN. Send a referral notice for all inquiries forwarded to ARPERCEN.

(4) Requests involving matters of probation, parole, and penal or mental institutions. If the inquiry is referred to another activity, the requester must be notified.

(5) Requests involving health records retired to VA, Records Management Center (RMC). The service departments began to send health records to the VA, RMC, for persons released, retired, or discharged on or after the following dates: Army - October 16, 1992; Navy - January 31, 1994; Air Force and Marine Corps - May 1, 1994. If the computer probe indicates an ARP, AFP, NVP, or MCP service code, and:

     (a) Health record only is requested. Forward the inquiry to the VA, RMC, using NA Form 13051. Send NA Form 13060 to the requester, checking the appropriate block to notify the requester of the referral to the VA, RMC.

     (b) Both personnel and health records are requested. Photocopy the request and send the copy to the VA, RMC, using NA Form 13051. Annotate on the original request that a copy was sent to the VA, RMC, and the date it was sent. Code and route the inquiry based on the personnel records information requested. Use NA Form 13060 to notify the requester of the referral to the VA, RMC, and that the personnel record portion will be answered by this Center. Mark the block by the third paragraph and the block by the blank space at the bottom of the form. Write, "This Center will respond separately to your request for personnel records."