Two records, two orders. The pension file comes from the National Archives; the service record is a separate order from the same place. Start with the index card: it gives you the numbers everything else needs.
The compiled military service record (CMSR) is a separate order: same site, its own form. For many soldiers it's already scanned on Fold3, including every United States Colored Troops jacket. A sailor has no CMSR at all; his record IS the pension file, which is why our Navy pension report exists.
Expect twenty to a hundred pages in no particular order, in half a dozen clerks' hands. Here is what our report does with this record, and the waitlist below holds today's price for you.
Two costs, two clocks. The file comes first and takes the longest: a National Archives order (the NATF Form 85 route) carries NARA's copy fee and weeks of mail time, while Fold3 access is free at most public libraries if the file is digitized. The report is the fast, fixed part: $99 for the pension file, $35 for the service record, $149 for both read together, delivered in days once the file is in hand. Start the file today and the wait does the hard part for you.
We're opening in stages, by record type. The more you tell us, the sooner we get to yours.
We'll be in touch when your record type opens. If you told us you're still waiting on a file, we'll send you the ordering instructions in the meantime.