Hello, I just received my 214 the other day, registered it with the clerk's office, and mailed a copy to the VA to finalize my claim...now what do I do? I feel like I had a brain dump from the TAPS class. Any help would be great!
question: did you review it, or just sign it? your dd-214 is the most important piece of paper of your military life! you should have gotten a worksheet so you could of looked it over. EVERTHING should be on it... time in service, grade, awards, training etc. keep copies!
ok, some... a lot of people dont review and just sign it, only to find out that it is missing something that could prevent benefits - medical, employment etc. computers record everything, but not all. before the coast guard automated, i would have to create a 214 with a green screen,and go through each page of the record! to correct one after the fact takes just as long as a va claim!
destiny 2719: you registered the DD214 with your county clerk's office?? A couple of years before I retired 1 Nov 2006 I was hearing not to register it with a county clerk because it became a public record... Your SSN, birth date, etc.
We were told during our TAPs call to register them in case you loose it or ever need certified copies. There are forms that the county clerks office have that can be signed by the member that takes it off of any kind of public record search and makes it not locatable.
Registering with the County Clerks office is fine, it becomes part of the public record in that it is registered there, the general public can not view it and get your personal information off it.
Also, being "in" with the VA system does not necessarily mean that they have verification of your military service. The example I use for vets here is that the Regional Office and Hospital in Salt Lake City are located within 200 feet of each other, however, they do not exchange information. Registering for Medical Care will not register you with the Regional Office and Vice Versa.
Also, additional copies can be easily requested from the NPRC and if you request on-line they have been coming in pretty quickly (2 to 3 weeks is what I am seeing), however, having one locally available for your family members in a worst case scenario is always a good thing.
Worst case scenarios I have seen are the Vet passing away, family wants military honors at the funeral because they knew Grandpa was in the service, but they dont have a copy of the DD-214 to prove it. If Grandpa was never in the VFW, Legion, DAV, Marine Corps League, etc, it can be difficult without the papers in hand. In that situation, families dont have the time to wait for verification to come from the NPRC, so I will usually start searching at the County Clerks Office for a copy.
If you are applying for compensation, make sure that all of your awards are listed on your 214. My husband didn't notice that his combat action ribbon had never been noted. It took well over a year to get this corrected and by the time he finally received the amended 214 he was to ill with esophageal cancer to proceed with his claim..
Contact a VSO assigned to your base or if none, the nearest VA hospital, or using their web site, the State Office of one of the National organizations like DAV, AMVETS, VFW, American Legion, etc. You do not have to be a member.
And please do not post the same thing twice on the forums.
