FED-003 // Federal records policy

A New Order Targets the Military-to-VA Records Gap. The System Is Not Finished Yet.

Executive Order 14426 sets deadlines for continuous military-to-VA record sharing, interoperable systems, and new digital tools—but the implementation work is still ahead.

September 8, 20266 minute readSource verified

THE SHORT VERSIONTreat this as a major records-policy order with deadlines—not as a finished system or a promise about one claim. Keep checking the record, organizing the evidence, preparing for exams, and reading every decision.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS

Service members preparing to separate, recently discharged Veterans, claimants dealing with missing service records, and anyone building a new VA claim

What was ordered

Earlier sharing, continuous access, and systems that are supposed to talk to each other.

Executive Order 14426 directs the Department of War and the Department of Veterans Affairs to change how Official Military Personnel Files, health records, and Service Treatment Records move between the departments.

The order describes a prospective, ongoing exchange that begins during service and continues while the former service member needs VA benefits. It also directs the agencies to build a single-source digital experience using artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities.

Within 30 days, current service-member personnel, health, and treatment records are to be shared with VA immediately at discharge or release—and at all times thereafter.
Within 120 days, relevant existing technology contracts are to be reviewed and modified where legally permissible, with interoperability requirements added to future contracts.
Within 180 days, the agencies are to establish updated systems and policy guidance for continuous record sharing.
Within 180 days, new digital tools are to be created and deployed for benefits and employment access.

The boundary

An order and a deadline are not the same thing as an operating system.

The order was issued on September 8. Its 30-, 120-, and 180-day instructions describe work that must happen after that date. The text does not establish that every required system, policy, contract change, or digital tool is already complete.

It also says implementation is subject to applicable law and available appropriations, and that the order does not create an independently enforceable legal right. That does not make the order meaningless; it means the status must be reported accurately.

What it does not prove

Record access does not automatically make a record complete—or prove a claim.

A service record can exist and still omit an event, symptom, exposure, treatment episode, duty location, or functional impact that matters. A record can also be present while the claim still lacks a current diagnosis, competent link, severity evidence, or a clear theory of service connection.

Earlier agency access may reduce one source of delay. It does not replace the Veteran’s job of reviewing what is actually in the file, identifying gaps, and submitting evidence that answers the question VA must decide.

The VACB route

Use the new policy as a checkpoint—not an excuse to surrender control of the file.

Before filing, identify the condition, the in-service event or service-connected starting point, and the evidence needed to connect them. Then organize the record by purpose instead of uploading a paper landfill.

If an exam is scheduled, prepare to describe onset, frequency, severity, treatment, and functional impact accurately. While the claim is pending, track requests and deadlines. When the decision arrives, separate the grant, denial, rating, effective date, and stated reasons before choosing the next move. Better record transfer does not change VA combined-rating math.

Practical next move

What to do with this information.

Download or request the records you can access and compare them with what actually happened in service; do not assume agency access means the file is complete.
Use the Claim Checklist and Evidence Organizer to give every record, statement, and medical item a specific job.
Prepare for any C&P examination even when the relevant treatment record already appears in the file.
Track the claim and read the decision letter before relying on an agency-wide processing average or a headline about faster benefits.
Recheck the official implementation sources as the 30-, 120-, and 180-day milestones arrive.

Continue through the site

Open the field files that match the job.

Before You FileIdentify the condition, the event, the evidence, and the claim theory before the packet moves.Open field file →Build a New ClaimTurn the record into an organized, supportable claim instead of an evidence dump.Open field file →Claim ChecklistCheck the core parts of a claim before submission.Open field file →Evidence OrganizerSort service, medical, lay, and nexus evidence by the fact each item helps establish.Open field file →C&P Exam PrepPrepare to describe the disability accurately when an examination is ordered.Open field file →Claim PendingTrack requests and deadlines without treating a national average as your personal clock.Open field file →Decision ReceivedSeparate what VA granted, denied, rated, dated, or deferred before choosing a response.Open field file →VA MathRecord-transfer reform does not change combined-rating calculations, rounding, or the bilateral factor.Open field file →

Verify it yourself

Source rack.

Read the primary source before applying a national announcement to an individual situation.

The White HouseExecutive Order 14426: Accelerating Access to Veterans’ Benefits and Employment OpportunitiesOpen official source →U.S. Department of Veterans AffairsVA response to the military-records-sharing executive orderOpen official source →

RECON

Which branch should we load?

Quick Check