After Sixty-Two Years the Discharge Becomes a Public Record — and the Division Must Release It
The veterans’ affairs division shall release, on request, a military discharge document that is at least sixty-two years old and is a public record under federal law. The request goes on a form the board prescribes and must carry enough information to locate the document. Where the discharge contains a social security number, that number must be redacted before release.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
The veterans’ affairs division shall release, on request, a military discharge document that is at least sixty-two years old and is a public record under federal law. The request goes on a form the board prescribes and must carry enough information to locate the document. Where the discharge contains a social security number, that number must be redacted before release.
What it's worth: A copy of an old discharge, released on request, with the social security number redacted
- The section names no fee. Whether a copying charge applies is not stated in it.
- The sixty-two-year threshold is the federal public-record line for military service records, which is why the section is written the way it is.
Who is entitled to it
- The section is written around the document, not around who is asking.
- You are in this state.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Work out the age of the document first. The duty to release attaches to a military discharge document at least sixty-two years old that constitutes a public record under federal law — a more recent discharge is outside this section entirely.
- 2Ask the division for the prescribed request form rather than writing a letter. The section requires the request to be made on a form prescribed by the board.
- 3Put enough on the form to find the record: full name as served, service branch, approximate dates, and any service number you have. The section conditions release on the request including sufficient information to locate the document.
- 4Expect a redaction and do not treat it as a refusal — where the discharge contains a social security number, the section requires that number to be removed before the document is released.
- 5This is the route for family history and for estate and burial paperwork on a long-dead relative. For a living veteran’s own recent discharge, the county recording route and the federal records request are the ones to use.
- 6If the division has no copy, it is because the county or the family never lodged one. The federal records centre is then the next call, not this section.
- Form
- The request form prescribed by the board of veterans’ affairs
- File with
- Montana Veterans Affairs Division, Department of Military Affairs
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
Why only one source type: The section states the duty, the age threshold, the form requirement and the redaction rule in terms; no division operating page for the request form was reachable this session.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.