US World War Two Dog Tags Information

Click here for WW2 tag info

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Click here for Vietnam tag info

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American WW2 Dog Tags

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American soldiers who served during World War Two were issued with the M1940 Identification (ID) tags stock No. 74-T-60. These tags featured the distinctive notch cut out and were issued to personnel until 1964.

The information on the WW2 American Dog tags was stamped into the tags by a special machine, modern tags are embossed so they look different when printed. Modern ones look neater as they use machines similar to the way credit cards are embossed. We stamp our WW2 tags on an original US machine so you can have the correct look.

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ID Dog Tag information layout	How to create your Army Serial Number	Dog Tags of Famous Characters and People
Click Here	Click Here	Click Here

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US WW2 Identification Dog Tag Layout

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The information on the ID tags changed during the war with three layouts having been used, the most common of which is the 1943-44 layout due to the large intake of soldiers during this time. It also covers the period of the Normandy D-Day landings in France.

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Layout information for US WW2 dog tags November 1941 - July 1943	Layout information for US WW2 dog tags July 1943 - March 1944	Layout information for US WW2 dog tags March 1944 - April 1946

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Creating a US WW2 Army Serial Number

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The Army Serial Number (ASN) was not a totally random assigned number, you can tell quite a bit of information from a soldiers serial number:

• From the first digits you can tell if they are enlisted, Warrant Officer, Commissioned Officer or a Flight officer,
• If they volunteered (Regular Army) or where in the National Guard or where a Draftee into the Army.
• Where they lived or joined up.
• Some Branch of Service also had there own specific layout like Nurses, Medical staff and the WAC'S.

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How to read or make an Army Serial Number.

The Army Service Number is a unique number and is used on all paperwork including military ID cards, Dog tags, Driving licences etc.

From the list below scroll down until you find the appropriate rank or branch of service and learn how to create your Army Serial Number.

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Regular Army.

All Volunteers who joined before the war or during the war were called Regular Army. The serial number for Regular Army was made up of 8 digits. The first digit was always 1, the next digits denoted the geographical area in which the soldier enlisted. For administrative purposes the American military split the country up into 9 Corps Areas and 4 Army Areas so if you joined up in an area covered by a Corps area you would have one digit, 1 to 9 and if you joined up in an area covered by one of the Army areas you would have two digits, 01, 02, 03 or 04 after the first digit. The remaining series of 6 digits for the Corps and 5 digits for an Army area enlisted soldier were then assigned giving a total of 8 digits. These last digits can be made up by yourself within the ranges based on command area shown in the table below.

 

Service Area Commands	Serial Number Range
Hawaiian Department	10,100,000 to 10,199,999
Panama Canal Department	10,200,000 to 10,299,999
Philippine Department	10,300,000 to 10,399,999
Puerto Rican Department	10,400,000 to 10,499,999
Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont. HQ: Boston, Massachusetts	11,000,000 to 11,999,999
Delaware, New Jersey, New York. HQ: Governors Island, New York	12,000,000 to 12,999,999
District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia. HQ: Baltimore, Maryland	13,000,000 to 13,999,999
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina. HQ: Atlanta, Georgia	14,000,000 to 14,999,999
Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia. HQ: Columbus, Ohio	15,000,000 to 15,999,999
Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan. HQ: Chicago, Illinois	16,000,000 to 16,999,999
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. HQ: Omaha, Nebraska	17,000,000 to 17,999,999
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma. HQ: Dallas, Texas	18,000,000 to 18,999,999
Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington. HQ: Fort Douglas, Utah	19,000,000 to 19,999,999

 

 
National Guard.

Anyone who joined the National Guard before joining the Army had the first two digits of 20 at the start of their Army Serial Number. The next digits denoted the geographical area in which the soldier enlisted. For administrative purposes the American military split the country up into 9 Corps Areas and 4 Army Areas so if you joined up in an area covered by a Corps area you would have one digit, 1 to 9 and if you joined up in an area covered by one of the Army areas you would have two digits, 01, 02, 03 or 04 after the first digit. The remaining series of 5 digits for the Corps and 4 digits for an Army area enlisted soldier were then assigned giving a total of 8 digits. These last digits can be made up by yourself within the ranges based on command area shown in the table below.

 

Service Area Commands	Serial Number Range
Hawaiian Department	20,010,000 to 20,019,999
Puerto Rican Department	20,020,000 to 20,029,999
Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont. HQ: Boston, Massachusetts	20,100,000 to 20,199,999
Delaware, New Jersey, New York. HQ: Governors Island, New York	20,200,000 to 20,299,999
District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia. HQ: Baltimore, Maryland	20,300,000 to 20,399,999
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina. HQ: Atlanta, Georgia	20,400,000 to 20,499,999
Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia. HQ: Columbus, Ohio	20,500,000 to 20,599,999
Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan. HQ: Chicago, Illinois	20,600,000 to 20,699,999
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. HQ: Omaha, Nebraska	20,700,000 to 20,799,999
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma. HQ: Dallas, Texas	20,800,000 to 20,899,999
Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington. HQ: Fort Douglas, Utah	20,900,000 to 20,999,999

 
Draftees.

Anyone civilian who was called up with the draft board under the Selective Training and Service act for military service was given an Army Serial Number beginning with the first digit of 3. The next digits denoted the geographical area in which the soldier enlisted. For administrative purposes the American military split the country up into 9 Corps Areas and 4 Army Areas so if you joined up in an area covered by a Corps area you would have one digit, 1 to 9 and if you joined up in an area covered by one of the Army areas you would have two digits, 01, 02, 03 or 04 after the first digit. The remaining series of 6 digits for the Corps and 5 digits for an Army area enlisted soldier were then assigned giving a total of 8 digits. These last digits can be made up by yourself within the ranges based on command area shown in the table below.

 

Service Area Commands	Serial Number Range
Hawaiian Department	30,100,000 to 30,199,999
Panama Canal Department	30,200,000 to 30,299,999
Philippine Department	30,300,000 to 30,399,999
Puerto Rican Department	30,400,000 to 30,499,999
Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont. HQ: Boston, Massachusetts	31,000,000 to 31,999,999
Delaware, New Jersey, New York. HQ: Governors Island, New York	32,000,000 to 32,999,999
District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia. HQ: Baltimore, Maryland	33,000,000 to 33,999,999
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina. HQ: Atlanta, Georgia	34,000,000 to 34,999,999
Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia. HQ: Columbus, Ohio	35,000,000 to 35,999,999
Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan. HQ: Chicago, Illinois	36,000,000 to 36,999,999
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. HQ: Omaha, Nebraska	37,000,000 to 37,999,999
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma. HQ: Dallas, Texas	38,000,000 to 38,999,999
Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington. HQ: Fort Douglas, Utah	39,000,000 to 39,999,999

 
Commissioned Officers.

All commissioned Officers serial numbers started with the letter O which was followed by a hyphen (-) then a series of numbers. Between 1921 and 1940 the remainder of the serial number was up to 6 digits so you could have any number between 1 and 99999. In 1940 they added a 7th digit and started the numbers from 23000 creating an 8 digit serial number when you include the first letter O.

 

Warrant Officers.

These started with the letter W and was followed by a 7 digit number. Some tags have a hyphen (-) between the W and the numbers other examples have no hyphen and most examples seem to start with 21 although others start with 9 which may be from Officers already commissioned between the wars.

 

Flight Officers.

These started with the letter T followed by a hyphen (-) then a series of digits.

 

Army Nurse Corps.

American Army Nurses had a special Army Service Number on their tags, these started the letter S and was followed by a series of 8 digits.

 

Women Army Corps. WAC.

The WAC's also had a special Army Service Number on their ID dog tags.

WAC Officers started with the letter L followed by a hyphen (-) and a series of 6 digits.

WAC Warrant Officers started with the letter V followed by a hyphen (-) and a series of 6 digits.

Enlisted WAC's started with the letter A followed by a hyphen (-) and a series of 6 digits. The first digit identified the Service Area Command of which there where 9. You can create your own 6 digit number within the Area commands ranges shown below.

 

Service Area Commands	Serial Number Range
Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont. HQ: Boston, Massachusetts	100,000 to 199,999
Delaware, New Jersey, New York. HQ: Governors Island, New York	200,000 to 299,999
District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia. HQ: Baltimore, Maryland	300,000 to 399,999
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina. HQ: Atlanta, Georgia	400,000 to 499,999
Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia. HQ: Columbus, Ohio	500,000 to 599,999
Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan. HQ: Chicago, Illinois	600,000 to 699,999
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. HQ: Omaha, Nebraska	700,000 to 799,999
Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma. HQ: Dallas, Texas	800,000 to 899,999
Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington. HQ: Fort Douglas, Utah	900,000 to 999,999

 

 

Medical Personnel.

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Army Specialist Corps.

Started with the letter S and followed by a series of digits.

Hospital Dietitian.

Started with the letter R followed by a series of digits.

Physical Therapist.

Started with the letter M and followed by a series of digits.

Contract Surgeon.

Started with the letter CS and followed by a series of digits.

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Dog Tags of Famous Characters and People

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Coming Soon

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How US WW2 dog tags where stamped between November 1941 to July 1943

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
First Name, MI, Last Name	JOHN P DOE
Army Serial #, tetanus dates, blood type	12345678 T42  O
Next of Kin	MARY DOE
Street Address for Next of Kin	1234 MAIN STREET
City & State and Religious Preference	HOPE  CA         P

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers name.

• The name is printed in the following order; Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial.

 

The 2nd line contains the soldiers Army Serial Number, the tetanus shot year, and the blood type.

• The Army Serial Number was unique to the soldier and was used on all paperwork including military ID cards, Dog tags, Driving licences etc. For detailed information on how to create an Army Serial Number click here.
• The tetanus date is the last 2 digits of the year which the soldier received their tetanus shot.
• The blood group was either 'A' 'B' 'AB' or 'O'. There was no Rhesus factor of (+ or -) as it is now.

 

The 3rd line contains the Name of the soldier's next of kin.

The 4th line contains the street address of the soldier's next of kin

The 5th line contains the city and state of the soldier's next of kin and their religion preference.

• The tags were marked 'C' for Catholic, 'P' for Protestant, 'H' for Hebrew or it was left blank if there was no preference. The letter was place to the far right of the line.

 

If more space was required on line 1 the T for tetanus is deleted and only the year remains.

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How US WW2 dog tags where stamped between July 1943 and March 1944

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
First Name, MI, Last Name	JOHN P DOE
Army Serial number, tetanus dates, blood type	12345678 T43 0
Blank
Blank
Religious Preference	P

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers name.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name

 

The 2nd line contains the soldiers Army Serial Number, the tetanus shot year, and the blood type.

• The Army Serial Number was unique to the soldier and was used on all paperwork including military ID cards, Dog tags, Driving licences etc. For detailed information on how to create an Army Serial Number click here.
• The tetanus date is the last 2 digits of the year which the soldier received their tetanus shot.
• The blood group was either 'A' 'B' 'AB' or 'O'. There was no Rhesus factor of (+ or -) as it is now.

 

The 3rd line was blank.

The 4th line was blank

The 5th line contains the religion preference of the soldier.

• The tags were marked 'C' for Catholic, 'P' for Protestant, 'H' for Hebrew or it was left blank if there was no preference. The letter was place to the far right of the line.

 

In July 1943 the next of kin information was deleted from the dog tags.

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How US WW2 dog tags where printed between March 1944 and April 1946

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial	DOE  PAUL  D
Army Serial #, Tetanus Dates, Blood Type	12345678  T44  A
Blank
Blank
Religious Preference	P

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers name.

• The name is printed in the following order; Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial.

 

The 2nd line contains the soldiers Army Serial Number, the tetanus shot year, and the blood type.

• The Army Serial Number was unique to the soldier and was used on all paperwork including military ID cards, Dog tags, Driving licences etc. For detailed information on how to create an Army Serial Number click here.
• The tetanus date is the last 2 digits of the year which the soldier received their tetanus shot.
• The blood group was either 'A' 'B' 'AB' or 'O'. There was no Rhesus factor of (+ or -) as it is now.

 

The 3rd line was blank.

The 4th line was blank

The 5th line contains the religion preference of the soldier.

• The tags were marked 'C' for Catholic, 'P' for Protestant, 'H' for Hebrew or it was left blank if there was no preference. The letter was place to the far right of the line.

 

 Note in March 1944 the order of the name was changed.

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American Vietnam Dog Tags  id answer 8

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Stamped American Vietnam Dog Tag information

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In 1965 the US Army stopped using Dog Tags with the notch cut out and started issuing dog tags with a full rim around the outside which is the same style as the current issue US dog tags.

If you have ever wanted to know what information was on GI dog tags in Vietnam? Well here on these pages you will find the answer to what to print on US Vietnam era dog tags.

 

US Army Dog Tag Layouts Click Here	USMC Vietnam Dog Tag Layout Click Here	US Navy Vietnam Dog Tag Layout Click Here

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US Army Dog Tag Layout Information

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During the Vietnam War the layout of the US Army GI dog tags changed three times, the main change was when the American military started using the Social Security Numbers instead of the Army Service Number. Here you will find information on dog tag layouts for the US Army during Vietnam.

 

Layout information for US Vietnam dog tags 1965 - 1967	Layout information for US Vietnam dog tags 1967 - June 1969	Layout information for US Vietnam dog tags June 1969 - current

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How US Army Vietnam Dog Tags were stamped up to 1967

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name	DOE
First Name, Middle Initial	JOHN J
Service Pre-fix. Army Service Number	RA12345678
Blood Type	B POS
Religion	NO PREFERENCE

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Please note up to 1965 the WW2 type Dog Tags with the notch in was issued after 1965 the standard GI dog tags with no notch cut into it was issued on all dog tags up to today.

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Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers last name only.

The 2nd line contains the soldiers first name and middle name initial.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name, Middle Initial.
  

 

The 3rd line contains the Service pre-fix and Army service number of the soldier.

The 4th line contains the soldier's blood type.

The 5th line contains the soldier's religion preference.

• Religion, on Vietnam era dog tags, was stamped out in full unlike WW2 era tags where the religion was abbreviated. So you had Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc, if you had no religious preference the tags are stamped NO PREFERENCE or are left blank.

 

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Army Service Number

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The US Army service number was an eight digit number which gave an idea of where the GI was from, the service number was prefixed by one or two letters which meant the following.

RA	Regular Army, volunteer enlisted.
US	Enlisted Draftee.
NG	National Guard.
ER	Enlisted Reserve.
O	Officer.

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The US designation for Enlisted Draftee the first number will be either a 5 or a 6. The second number is the "Army Area" where the Draftee was from. These are:

1 or 2	Northeast America.
3	South America.
4	Southwest America.
5	Midwest America.
6	California, Pacific coast, Hawaii or Alaska.
0	Indicated outside America like Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands or America Samoa.

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An Army Service Number starting with US67 indicates the soldier was one of McNamara's Project 100,000 draftees, these were draftees who had failed the Armed Forces minimal IQ test but were drafted anyway to meet the manpower needs of the US Army.

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How US Army Vietnam Dog Tags were stamped from 1967 to June 1969

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name	DOE
First Name, Middle Initial	JOHN J
Service Pre-fix. Army Service Number	RA12345678
Blood Type, Social Security Number	B POS 123-45-6789
Religion	NO PREFERENCE

 

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Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers last name only.

The 2nd line contains the soldiers first name and middle name initial.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name, Middle Initial.
  

 

The 3rd line contains the Service pre-fix and Army service number of the soldier.

The 4th line contains the soldier's blood type and social security number.

• Social Security Numbers are a nine digit set of numbers and where introduced onto Army Dog Tags in 1967 and from 1967 to 1969 many dog tags where stamped with both the social security number and the army service number. After June 1969 only the social security number was used.

 

The 5th line contains the soldier's religion preference.

• Religion, on Vietnam era dog tags, was stamped out in full unlike WW2 era tags where the religion was abbreviated. So you had Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc, if you had no religious preference the tags are stamped NO PREFERENCE or are left blank.

 

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Army Service Number

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The US Army service number was an eight digit number which gave an idea of where the GI was from, the service number was prefixed by one or two letters which meant the following.

RA	Regular Army, volunteer enlisted.
US	Enlisted Draftee.
NG	National Guard.
ER	Enlisted Reserve.
O	Officer.

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The US designation for Enlisted Draftee the first number will be either a 5 or a 6. The second number is the "Army Area" where the Draftee was from. These are:

1 or 2	Northeast America.
3	South America.
4	Southwest America.
5	Midwest America.
6	California, Pacific coast, Hawaii or Alaska.
0	Indicated outside America like Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands or America Samoa.

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An Army Service Number starting with US67 indicates the soldier was one of McNamara's Project 100,000 draftees, these were draftees who had failed the Armed Forces minimal IQ test but were drafted anyway to meet the manpower needs of the US Army.

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How US Army Vietnam Dog Tags were stamped from June 1969 to current issue

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name	DOE
First Name, Middle Initial	JOHN J
Social Security Number	123-45-6789
Blood Type	B POS
Religion	NO PREFERENCE

  

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers last name only.

The 2nd line contains the soldiers first name and middle name initial.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name, Middle Initial.
  

 

The 3rd line contains the Social security number of the soldier.

• Social Security Numbers are a nine digit set of numbers and where introduced onto Army Dog Tags in 1967 and from 1967 to 1969 many dog tags where stamped with both the social security number and the army service number. After June 1969 only the social security number was used.

 

The 4th line contains the soldier's blood type.

The 5th line contains the soldier's religion preference.

• Religion, on Vietnam era dog tags, was stamped out in full unlike WW2 era tags where the religion was abbreviated. So you had Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc, if you had no religious preference the tags are stamped NO PREFERENCE or are left blank.

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How USMC Vietnam Dog Tags were stamped

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Although the US Marines used the same style of dog tags in Vietnam as the US Army, they had different information stamped on them. If you want to know what was stamped on USMC dog tags in Vietnam, the following will answer that question.

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name	DOE
First Name, Middle Initial or Just Initials	JOHN J or J.J.
Service Number, Blood Group	123-45-67 B POS
USMC and Gas Mask Size	USMC L
Religion	NO PREFERENCE

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers last name only.

The 2nd line contains the soldiers first name in full and middle name initial, or just the Initials of both names.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name, Middle Initial.
  

 

The 3rd line contains the service number of the soldier and their blood group.

• The USMC service number could be 5, 6 or 7 digits.

 

The 4th line contains USMC and the soldier's gas mask size.

• There are five sizes of gas mask XS, S, M, L, XL.

 

The 5th line contains the soldier's religion preference.

• Religion, on Vietnam era dog tags, was stamped out in full unlike WW2 era tags where the religion was abbreviated. So you had Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc, if you had no religious preference the tags are stamped NO PREFERENCE or are left blank.

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USMC Service Number

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During the early part of the Second World War, the Marine Corps extended their enlisted service numbers to the number 1,000,000 with numbers broken down into sub-sections reserved for particular groups enlisting during World War Two. The first group, ranging numbers 350,000 to 670,899, were standard Marine Corps enlistees joining for wartime service. Numbers 670,900 to 699,999 were never issued and 700,000 to 799,999 were reserved for female enlisted personnel. The female enlisted service numbers were also the only numbers assigned a prefix code, as the letter 'W' was used to denote female Marine Corps enlisted.

Until the middle of World War Twp, the remaining service number range of 800,000 to 999,999 was used by regular Marine enlistees. In 1943, the Marine Corps extended enlisted service numbers to 1,699,999 even though the original one million service number cap had not yet been reached.

Service numbers 1,700,000 to 1,799,999 were set aside for female enlisted personnel of the 1960s and 1970s while 1,800,000 to 2,000,000 was used by male enlistees. In 1965, with male service numbers running out due to a rise of enlistments during the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps extended enlisted service numbers a final time to 2,800,000. In 1972 the Social Security numbers was used as the primary identification means for service members.

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How USN Vietnam Dog Tags were stamped

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The United States Navy had the following information stamped on to them and they used the same dog tags as the Army and USMC.

 

 

Line Details:	Line Example:
Last Name	DOE
First Name Initial, Middle Initial and Blood Group	J.J. B POS
Service Number with pre-fix or Social Security Number	B12 34 56 or 123-45-6789
USN	USN
Religion	NO PREFERENCE

 

Dog Tag Layout

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The 1st line of the tags contains the soldiers last name only.

The 2nd line contains the soldiers first name and middle name initials and their blood group.

• The name is printed in the following order; First Name Initial, Middle Name Initial, Blood group
  

 

The 3rd line contains the service number with pre-fix or the social security number of the soldier.

• See below for the service number explanation.

 

The 4th line contains USN.

The 5th line contains the soldier's religion preference.

• Religion, on Vietnam era dog tags, was stamped out in full unlike WW2 era tags where the religion was abbreviated. So you had Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist etc, if you had no religious preference the tags are stamped NO PREFERENCE or are left blank.

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USN Service Number

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Officer.

An officer's service number ranged from 0 - 999,999 and was issued based on date of commission. This ran from the 1920's until 1972 when the Navy moved to use social security numbers.

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Enlisted.

Navy Enlisted service numbers ran from 1,000,000 - 9,999,999 and until the 1930's the 1st digit was issued based on enrollment decade. example from the 1920's: 212 34 56.

It was realised that that if large numbers were to enlist the numbers would run out so before the outbreak of WW2 it was changed so that the 1st digit was based on an enrollment district then a 6 digit personal identifier.  Example: 312 34 56.

From 1965 to 1971 soldier's were issued with a 'B' series service number. The number began with the letter B and 6 digits as a personal identifier. in 1969 a 'D' series was also added. In 1972 the Navy had moved to using social security numbers. Example B12 34 56.

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Women.

The Navy used the suffix W which was issued from 1948 until the late 1960s to female enlisted personnel. The "W" suffix was written behind the service number of any officer or enlisted Navy member who was a woman. This practice was discontinued in early 1970, shortly before the discontinuance of service numbers as a whole.