The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) – the Federal agency charged with preserving all government records – has officially eliminated its 600,000-plus backlog of veteran records requests at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Saint Louis, Mo.
The agency reduced the backlog – which stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic – by implementing new technologies to help digitize records and adding more individuals to the agency’s workforce.
“The National Archives plays a critical role in ensuring that our veterans and their families have access to the records they need for the benefits they’ve earned. Clearing the backlog of record requests at the National Personnel Records Center has been my top priority and I am proud that we’ve gotten this done,” said Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan.
“I want to recognize the hard work and dedication of the National Archives staff. They have worked overtime and across weekends and holidays to achieve this goal and ensure we meet our obligation to those who’ve served,” Shogan added.
To achieve this milestone, the NPRC team said it also reconstructed buildings to allow for improved work efficiency, as well as entered into different agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to speed up the digitization of documents.
“I have worked for the National Archives for 35 years and the pandemic and subsequent backlog presented the greatest challenges of my career, but they also led to many fast-paced, transformative changes, particularly with regard to transitioning NPRC’s holdings and processes to an electronic environment,” said NPRC Director Scott Levins.
“We are routinely doing things today that were seemingly impossible before the pandemic and which position us for success for years to come,” concluded Levins.
