To look up Navy unit awards, active-duty and reserve personnel with a Common Access Card search the Navy Department Awards Web Service (NDAWS) through BUPERS Online, while veterans request the same information from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. Unit awards go to the command rather than to individuals, so no citation will carry your name; you confirm entitlement by matching the citation’s date range against your assignment history.
Where the Records Live
NDAWS is the authoritative database for all Navy award data. It’s maintained by Navy Personnel Command’s awards section, PERS-312, together with CNO Awards.1MyNavyHR – Navy.mil. Decorations and Medals (Awards) Entries are made at the command level, which is why you won’t find your name attached to a specific citation. What NDAWS shows is the unit, the type of award, and the dates of the recognized action. The rest is on you to verify.
Veterans who no longer have network access work through the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), which holds historical Official Military Personnel Files, including unit award documentation.2National Archives. Request Military Service Records Sailors assigned to non-Navy commands, including Coast Guard units where no senior Navy officer can make database entries, can get direct NDAWS support from PERS-312.1MyNavyHR – Navy.mil. Decorations and Medals (Awards)
Running an NDAWS Search With a CAC
Log in to BUPERS Online at bol.navy.mil. The application runs best in Google Chrome.3MyNavy HR. NDAWS User Guide – 12 February 2025 Select the “Search Awards” tab, then the “Unit Awards Search” sub-tab.
You can search by command name or by Unit Identification Code (UIC). For ships, type only the vessel name without “USS” and click search.3MyNavy HR. NDAWS User Guide – 12 February 2025 If you know the UIC, that’s the most reliable input, because unit names sometimes changed over the years or appear in NDAWS under slightly different spellings.
The results list every approved unit award for that command with the date range of the recognized action. Cross-reference those dates against your orders. If they overlap, you have a match. If not, check whether the unit operated under a different name or UIC during your time aboard, which is common after reorganizations.
If your assignment history includes time under another branch’s operational control, search that branch’s unit citations too. You may be entitled to awards outside the Navy’s own list.
Requesting Records as a Veteran
Without a CAC, you’ll go through the NPRC. There are two ways in.
Online Through eVetRecs
The fastest option is eVetRecs at vetrecs.archives.gov, which lets you create, submit, and track a records request online.4National Archives. Veteran Records Choose “Make a new request,” provide your service information, and specify that you need unit award verification. Include the unit name, hull number or squadron designation, and the approximate dates of your assignment. Specific identifying information moves the request faster.
Standard Form 180 by Mail or Fax
If you’d rather use paper, download Standard Form 180 and send it to the NPRC at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138.5VA News. Accessing Veterans Records From the National Archives or National Personnel Records Center It asks for your name, service number or Social Security number, branch, dates of service, and what records you need. Write “unit award verification” clearly in the request section and identify the specific unit and timeframe.
Response times vary with demand and the complexity of the request. If the NPRC can’t locate the award, it may refer you back to PERS-312 or ask you to reconstruct the record from alternate documentation.
Confirming You Actually Qualify
A date match in NDAWS is a starting point, not a conclusion. The Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual sets minimum-presence thresholds that catch a lot of people.
If you were permanently assigned to the unit during the entire award period, eligibility is straightforward as long as you physically participated in the actions the unit was recognized for. Transferring in partway through the period doesn’t disqualify you, but your assignment dates must overlap the citation dates.
Temporarily assigned or attached personnel need at least 30 days with the unit during the award period. If the entire period ran fewer than 30 days, you must have been present for all of it. Anyone on orders for fewer than 30 days is not eligible unless the commanding officer of the decorated unit certifies that the individual made a significant contribution to the accomplishment recognized.6Marines.mil. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual
Reservists on any form of orders need at least 14 days of duty during the award period. The same commanding officer certification exception applies for shorter periods if the reservist’s contribution was significant.6Marines.mil. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual A single drill weekend doesn’t reach the threshold.
What to Do When an Award Is Missing
Unit awards that were approved and published often never make it into individual records, particularly when the citation is processed after a Sailor has transferred away. That’s the most common reason a lookup ends in a discrepancy.
Filing With BCNR
The Board for Correction of Naval Records (BCNR) handles applications to fix errors or injustices in Navy and Marine Corps records, including missing unit awards.7eCFR. Part 723 Board for Correction of Naval Records Apply using DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record). BCNR prefers email submission, but you can also mail applications to 2000 Navy Pentagon, Washington, DC 20350, or send them by fax.8SECNAV. Application Process – Board for Correction of Naval Records
The Three-Year Window
You have three years from the date you discovered the error to file.7eCFR. Part 723 Board for Correction of Naval Records The clock runs from discovery, not from the date of the original award. The Board can waive the deadline in the interest of justice, so a late filing isn’t automatically rejected, but filing promptly removes a hurdle.
Evidence That Helps
Strong documentation moves corrections faster. Useful evidence includes copies of your orders assigning you to the unit, your DD-214 showing the unit’s designation, and printed NDAWS results confirming the award and its date range. When endorsements or original documents aren’t available, the Awards Manual allows unit reports, logbook entries, and notarized eyewitness statements to substantiate the claim.6Marines.mil. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual Travel vouchers and pay records placing you at the unit’s location during the award period can also help, though the manual doesn’t list them specifically.
Where Unit Awards Should Appear
For current service members, verified unit awards appear in the Electronic Service Record (ESR), which feeds the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), the permanent record.9MyNavyHR. Electronic Service Record (ESR) Commands can pull award information not shown in the ESR through OMPF Command View.10MyNavyHR. OMPF – Command View
At separation, verified unit awards should appear in Block 13 of the DD Form 214, “Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized.” Block 13 covers all periods of service up to the DD-214’s effective date. If a unit award is missing from Block 13, that omission follows you into civilian life and can affect VA benefits and veteran status verification. Correcting the DD-214 goes through the BCNR process described above.
Entitlement to wear the ribbon and any associated devices depends on confirmed assignment to the unit during the citation’s dates. Meeting the minimum-presence threshold is enough; you don’t have to have been there the entire period. The Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual governs proper display and positioning of unit award ribbons on the uniform.