The Official Military Personnel Files held by the Government, sometimes referred to as a 201 File or OMPF, hold the stories of millions of individuals who defended our nation throughout the many wars of the 20th century. The army calls its OMPF folder Form 201, which is now the popular term for all military personnel folders – “the 201 file.” The most common OMPF container is a stiff 12-by-9½-inch brown file folder. Many of the folders from the past quarter-century contain microfiche images of the personnel documents that were sent to NPRC either in place of the original paper records or with them. OMPFs held by NPRC, a physical records facility, reside in hundreds of thousands of cubic-foot cardboard boxes on 11-foot-high shelves in immense storage areas. OMPFs will vary widely in their contents, sometimes containing information in minutia, other-times missing vital documents. It may contain medical records such as physical evaluations and outpatient records. It may also contain personal information such as home of record, and awards documents. They typically contain such documents as enlistment contracts, duty locations, performance evaluations, award citations, training records, and the especially important Report of Separation (DD Form 214 or earlier equivalent). Typically, an OMPF contains one or more of the following: A typical U.S. Air Force OMPF from recent years. Promotion Orders Mobilization Orders DA 1059s, Service School Academic Evaluation Reports MOS Orders Awards Transcripts SGLV 8286, SGLI Election and Certificate NCOERs and OERs, Evaluation Documents DD-214 Complete OMPFs are available for more than 34 million veterans, plus several million more partial files and supplemental records regarding individual military service. Most folders that were retired before the early 1990s also include records of routine physical exams and outpatient medical and dental treatment. Such health records now go directly to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Your OMPF is an important document for former service members to maintain, as the documents contained within it are important for access to benefits such as the VA Loan and the GI Bill.