I’m a U.S. Air Force veteran from 1971 to 1976. I’m having difficulty obtaining a copy of my Air Force flight records. I’d like to update my DD-214 to reflect Vietnam service. Who can I contact?

Requests for military records are handled by the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

The center’s website says the standard procedure for file requests — a procedure meant to cut response time — is to forward “only copies of key documents and extracts of vital information.”

“This extract contains copies of all essential documents to certify entitlement to most rights and benefits associated with military service, to identify key events in a military career, and to identify significant events in health care,” the website reads.

“Personal data pertaining to third parties is redacted from the file, pursuant to Privacy Act provisions.”

The extract comprises the following, if the details are on file:

Military separation documents.

Dates of military service.

The character of the service time.

All promotions and reductions.

A list of duty stations and assignments.

Information on foreign or sea service.

Records for military schooling and training.

A list of awards and letters of commendation.

Records of any disciplinary actions.

Information on lost time.

Copies of enlistment contracts.

Records for entry and separation physicals.

Immunization records.

Records of dental exams.

Any clinical summaries and cover sheets.

“If, after receiving an extract of a file, a requester submits a follow-up request for additional information or documents, NPRC will automatically send copies of all the other documents in the file,” reads the website.

The address is National Personnel Records Center, 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138. The telephone number is 314-801-0800; the fax number is 314-801-9195. The email address is MPR.center@nara.gov.

Online: www.archives.gov/st-louis.

‘Dhimmitude’ not in health care law

In the Obamacare program, or the law or whatever it’s called now, what does this word mean — “dhimmitude”?

The term doesn’t appear in the health care reform measures, which President Obama signed into law in 2010.

The word, the pairing of an Islamic term and the suffix “-tude,” was coined in 1983 by scholar Bat Ye’or, who, according to her website, uses it “to describe the legal and social conditions of Jews and Christians subjected to Islamic rule.”

“Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to indigenous non-Muslim populations who surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination,” Ye’or writes on her site.

Online: www.healthcare.gov; www.dhimmitude.org.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(Special to the American Press)