Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Find a Vet

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Expert: Rod Powers - 7/14/2006


Question
Rod--Thanks for the information you recently gave me concerning military posts in the late 60's.  I have another question.  I wrote to a serviceman in Vietnam and would like to locate him now.  I have tried Military.com but it doesn't list his infantry unit or division.  MilitaryUSA.com's Vietnam database is no longer available.  Do you have any suggestions for other sites with databases that might give me the information I need.  I also have his army ID number.

Thanks,
Karen


Answer
Hi Karen,

I wish I could help, but I can't.  Here's the thing:  The U.S. Government (Department of Defense) doesn't keep track of former military members, unless they retired from the military (ie, spend 20 or more years in the military).  Unless they retired, after they leave the military, it's no longer the Government's concern (just like if they worked for Wal-Mart for 4 years, and then left -- one would not be able to find the person 20 years later, through Wal-Mart).

For details, see my article, "Locating Military Members" at:  http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/locatorservices/a/millocate.htm

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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