NARA II holds documentary records which are referred to as textual records from the following categories:
- Army records from WWI
- Navy records from WWII
- Federal agency records
- Still pictures
- Motion pictures, sound, and video
- Maps
Note that military personnel files and civilian personnel files are kept at the National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri. Archives II has military records at the unit level that include historical reports, after action reports, unit journals, and general orders.
Research hours are Monday through Friday 9 AM to 5 PM.
NARA II is located at 8601 Adelphi Road in College Park, Maryland. You can reach NARA II by either taking taking a bus from NARA I Archives located at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (first priority goes to NARA staff and researchers can ride on the shuttle if space is available), driving and parking onsite, or taking the Metro to the College Park Metro Station and then taking a 30 minute bus ride on the C-8 Metrobus or grabbing an Uber from the metro station.
Requesting Records
It is important to do as much research as you can before you go. I found information about my grandfather who served in the Army and great uncle who served in the Army Air Corps, in WWII.
I had a copy of my grandfather, Joseph Caccarozzo's DD-214 separation papers from our family collection. This listed him as serving from March 14, 1941 to July 12, 1945 in the Headquarter Battery, 1st Battalian, 16th Coast Artillery.
I found specific information about my great uncle, John Volpe's WWII serving in a Missing Air Crew Report on Fold3. It indicated that his unit was 20th Air Force, 43rd Bomb Squad, 29th Bomb Group. It also listed his aircraft name and serial number, which could be helpful with later research.
Prior to my trip to NARA II, I created an Airtable database using a Research Like a Pro Template that I tweaked to fit my needs. It contained all the basic information I would need to request both my grandfather's and great uncle's military unit records at NARA II. I also uploaded family documents and other research that I performed prior to my visit, in case I needed to refer to them for additional information.
In preparing for my trip, I looked for the records I wanted to request in the NARA catalog. I first decided to search within Record Group 407 - Records of the Adjutant General's Office 1905-1981. This is the large record group which contains records created by the Department of the Army.
Then I decided to click "Search within this Record Group." The first sub-group that came up was World War II Operations Reports. This subgroup contains unit histories, after action reports, intelligence reports, combat interviews, maps, and military intelligence reports. I wrote down in my table what materials I wanted to request and where they would likely be located.
When you enter the College Park location, you will go through security and your belongings will be scanned. If you do not already have a researcher card you must obtain your researcher card before you can look at any records. The room to obtain your researcher card is right next to security. You must watch a short video and take a quiz online. You will be issued a certificate of completion. You can either print out your certificate or take a photo and present it when you go. You will have to show a photo ID and they will take a photo of you and give you a card with a barcode. The researcher card is good for one year at any of the NARA facilities and can be renewed.
After you go through security you have to go to the basement to leave any bags, purses, notebooks, coats, etc. in a locker. You must bring a quarter to lock up your valuables and your quarter is returned to you automatically at the end of they day when you retrieve your belongings. The rules of the Research Room is located here. Basically you can bring a laptop, your phone (silenced), a pencil, and your chargers. You can place your chargers in a clear gallon plastic bag.
The Library on the third floor has a number of Finding Aids in 3-ring binders to help you find the correct box or boxes where the unit histories are located. On the third floor you will have to consult with one of the employees there and they must sign off on your pull slip. When I was there, they only had one employee for military and one for civilian records. Even though I made a research appointment online, consultations were first-come first-served and there were several people in line ahead of me.
Below is what a blank pull slip looks like. It has three layers - white, pink, and green. You need to fill out the date, your first and last name, your researcher card number, the collection name, entry number box, stack, and row, and any other information to help find the records you are requesting. One of the employees on floor three in the library/consultation area must sign the pull slip and then you must go down to the second floor and drop it at the front desk in the Research Room. You also need to scan your research card when you turn in your pull slip.
Usually it takes 45 minutes or longer for materials to be pulled. I submitted two pull slips and it ended up taking almost one and a half hours for the first pull. There is another large desk, farther into the Research Room on the left where you pick up your pulls. Right before the desk is a small television screen where your name will be listed when your pull is ready. This screen was not working while I was there and they set up a small table with a notepad and wrote your last name down when a pull was available. By the time my pulls were ready, I only had one and a half hours before I needed to leave on the 5pm bus back to the main archives.
Once my pulls were ready, I presented my researcher card to the employee at the desk in the Research Room and they had me sign a copy of the pull slip with the time and date. They wheeled out my pulls on a cart, even though they were only a couple small boxes that could be carried.
In the research room there are two different desks at the far ends of the room with employees. I brought my pulled materials with the cart to one of the desks. I then asked permission to take photos of the materials I retrieved. They gave me a red card to take photos. Once I found an empty table, I placed the red card in the plastic sleeve hanging from the light over the table, to identify that I was given permission to take photos of the records.
In addition, most of the records found at NARA II were previously classified military or federal records. I also had to ask permission to take photos of these declassified materials. An employee at the same table will review the records to determine if you can take photos of the formerly classified documents. I was given permission, and they gave me a piece of paper that said declassified and it contained a letter/number sequence. I had to sign and date a book they had at the table with my name and researcher number allong with the declassification number I was given.
Finally it was time to review the information I had pulled. I took a photo of the green copy of the pull slip I filled out to help me write a citation later and it also helps to keep the materials I take photos of separate on my camera roll.
Every single photo you take of the records must have the declassified piece of paper somewhere in the photo.
Unfortunately, I did not find anything directly on my grandfather's unit that remained at Pearl Harbor during WWII, but there was information on some of the men that were transferred to the Pacific during the war. I also could not find any information specifically on the 29th Bomb Group located in the 20th Air Force. I did pull boxes on th 20th Air Force and found some general information but nothing specifically covering the missions for the 29th Bomb Group or my great uncle's specific plane. I did find very detailed plans about the 20th Air Force's bombing missions and target maps.
I also spoke to one of the military consultants who said that the 20th Airforce did not have the same reporting structure as the rest of the units and directly received its orders from Washington, D.C. so the records may be in a different area. I will need to do more research to locate them before my next trip.
NARA is also digitizing records - some in partnership with FamilySearch or Ancestry.com, and some on their own. I did just find a photo showing the planes of the 29th Bomb Group located at North Field Guam that has been digitized and can be found in the NARA Catalog here.
My advice in researching at NARA II is to plan ahead and research their catalog. If you do find something you want to review at the archives, copy the NAID number located in the catalog this will take you back directly to that record in the catalog without trying to replicate the search. Also, contact them by email at archives2reference@nara.gov before your arrival and they will give you some general guidance where you may find the records you are looking for. They will not pull any records for you before your visit, but they will typically keep the receords available for three to five business days in the room behind the desk where you pick up your pulls. The amount of pulls you can have at any one time is discretionary.
My grandmother and my great aunt served as Navy WAVES in Washington, D.C. during WWII. I wrote to the email listed above and this is the information they provided me with.
Thank you for your recent inquiry to the National Archives regarding the Navy WAVES. We hope you enjoyed your visit.
When it comes to WAVES, we have a variety of records with information pertaining to them. Some of these include:
- Record Group 24: Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Entry NM-74, General Correspondence, 1942-1946 (Box 13, Folder 144)
- RG 24, Entry A1 3, World War II Casualty Reports (Box 50)
- RG 24, Entry PI-123 445, General Records of the Physical Fitness Section (Box 59, 68)
- Record Group 428: General Records of the Department of the Navy, Entry P 3, Subject Files (Box 168)
We regret that we are not staffed to conduct the extensive research necessary to identify all pertinent records relating to your request within the suggested record groups and their record series. We would be happy to make them available to you or your representative in our research room. Should you be unable to return to the National Archives you may wish to hire a professional researcher. Here is a list of some of these researchers.
Hope you have a successful search. I hope to have time in the next few years to spend several days at NARA II. However, first, I want to pull my family's individual military personnel files at NARA St. Louis before I go back. Their personnel files may mention specific events that I can cross-reference with the specific unit histories or morning reports located at NARA II.
