Can I get my basic training pictures

I would like to get my basic training pictures from Ft..Dix 

  • Dear ,

    Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

    The "official" photographs of individual service members are not considered permanent federal records, and the National Archives does not have portraits, headshots, or group photographs taken during basic training. Such photographs are also not retained in separate collections by the various branches of service. According to the military, graduates’ formal photos--both individual and group--were taken by private local commercial photographers and offered for sale at the time taken. Unfortunately those items never became part of official military records, nor were they retained by the commercial photographers responsible for shooting the photos.

    Generally speaking, military yearbooks are also not considered permanent federal records by the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and therefore, they are not usually found in the holdings of the National Archives (NARA), either. We suggest that you contact the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center for further assistance. You may also wish to review online resources such as The Military Yearbook Project or the Military Yearbooks collection available from Fold3. Please note that there may be a fee for using Fold3. Instead, please check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to such sites, making them free for their patrons. 

    We also suggest that you contact Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst directly for further assistance.

    If the photograph you are seeking still exists, it would most likely be found in the individual's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). However, there is no guarantee the photograph will be present. 

    OMPFs for those who served in the U.S. Army and were separated from service before October 2002 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. Please complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. If there is any information requested by the form that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file. Certain information in the records is not available to the general public without the written consent of the Veteran or the next of kin the deceased veteran. If you are the next of kin of a deceased veteran, you must provide proof of death of the veteran such as a copy of death certificate, letter from funeral home, or published obituary. For more information see Request Military Service Records.

    Please be aware that the NPRC is prioritizing the requests for separation documents needed by veterans and their dependents to prove eligibility for a variety of benefits. The NPRC has restored service levels to pre-pandemic levels for requests related to burials, homeless veterans, medical emergencies, congressional inquiries, and routine separation documents. It will take a considerable amount of time to eliminate the backlog on other types of requests, such as genealogical requests for complete copies of records. For more information, please refer to Onsite Operations at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

    Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) for those who served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves since October 2002 are in the custody of the U. S. Army Human Resources Command, ATTN: AHRC-PDR-VIB, 1600 Spearhead Division Avenue, Department 420, Fort Knox, KY 40122-5402. The telephone number is 1-888-276-9472; email address is askhrc.army@us.army.mil; and the website is www.hrc.army.mil. They also are available in electronic format via https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/

    Finally, the Still Picture Branch (RRSS) located at the National Archives facility in College Park, MD has various photographs of U.S. military activities, which includes many candid photographs of U.S. Military personnel, but in many of them, there is no identification of the people shown. For more information, please contact RRSS via email at stillpix@nara.gov for assistance with these records, and be sure to include as much information as possible in your request. Please also note that the bulk of military photographs taken between 1982 and 2007 are already available in the National Archives Catalog within the series 330-CFD: Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files. Currently the National Archives does not have military photographs later than 2007. Those are held by the Defense Media Activity (https://www.dma.mil/)

    We hope this is helpful.