Genealogical Research & Personnel Records
Military Personnel Records (U.S. Coast Guard
officers separated after 1928 and enlisted personnel separated after 1914).
If you would like to obtain copies of your own or a
relative's Coast Guard service record (and they served in the Coast Guard
sometime between 1914 to the present if they were enlisted or 1928 if they
were a commissioned officer), which contains dates of service, station and
cutter assignments, as well as medals and awards earned, you will need to
contact the National Personnel Records Center. Please see their
website at the following URL:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/index.html
Or write to them directly at:
National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, MO 63138
Phone: (314) 801-0800
Civilian Personnel
If the person you are researching served as a civilian in the Coast Guard or any of its predecessor agencies, you will need to contact the Civilian Records facility of the National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri:
National Archives & Records Administration
ATTN: Archival Programs
P. O. Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138
Service prior to 1920
If they served prior to 1928 or were keepers in the U.S. Lighthouse Service prior to 1919, the records will be in the headquarters branch of the National Archives. Please visit their website for further information:
www.archives.gov
Or write to them directly at:
National Archives and Records Administration
7th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408
Lighthouse Keepers' Documentation
Researching the career of anyone who served with the Lighthouse Service or the Coast Guard entails accessing documentation available at a number of different locations. Our office does not have any information on individual keepers. Personnel records for those who served in lighthouses prior to the Lighthouse Service's merger with the Coast Guard in 1939 need to contact the National Archives, which is the primary repository for all records concerning the Lighthouse Establishment & Service:
Write to them for further information:
National Archives and Records Administration
Textual Records
7th & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20408
Or visit their website for further information:
www.archives.gov
If the individual(s) served with the U.S. Lighthouse Service or the Coast Guard as a civilian, you will need to contact the National Archives branch in St. Louis, Missouri. Please be advised that privacy restrictions apply to these records:
Civilian Employees (lightkeepers prior to 1939 were civilians, many stayed in as civilians after the Lighthouse Service merged with the Coast Guard after that date):
National Archives & Records Administration
ATTN: Archival Programs
P.O. Box 38757
St. Louis, MO 63138
Crew Lists & Muster Rolls
Please write to:
Military Records Branch (psd-mr)
U.S. Coast Guard Personnel Service Center
4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1100, Stop 7200
Arlington, VA 20598-7200
Or visit their website's contact page here:
http://www.uscg.mil/psc/adm/adm3/contact.asp
Include the cutter's or station's name and the month and year you are interested in.
Locating a Coast Guard Retiree:
You will need to contact the Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center. Due to the Privacy Act, however, they cannot provide home addresses. Nevertheless, if you would like to contact a Coast Guard retiree, send an envelope addressed to:
COMMANDING OFFICER (RPD)
U.S. Coast Guard Pay & Personnel Center
444 SE Quincy
Topeka, KS 66683-3591
Enclose in this envelope your correspondence (your letter to the retiree you wish to contact) inside another stamped envelope with the retiree's full name on it. The Pay and Personnel Center will look through their files, add the retiree's address, and forward your correspondence on to the retiree. Please include a telephone number where you may be reached--since there may be more than one retiree by the name you are seeking, they may need to contact you.
There are a number of books and search engines on the Internet that are useful references to utilize when attempting to locate someone who served in the Coast Guard, such as:
Richard S. Johnson. How to Locate Anyone Who Is Or Has Been in the Military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard: Active, Retired, Reserve, National Guard, Veterans and Others: Unit Reunion and Veterans Organization Information. Fort Sam Houston, TX: Military Information Enterprises, 1988.
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