National Guard:
All serial numbers start with digits 20, while the third digit indicates Corps Area or Service Command (i.e. the area of Induction). The War Department allotted following blocks to members of National Guard units inducted into Federal Service.
| Hawaiian Department = | range from 20,010,000 > 20,019,999 |
| Puerto Rican Department = | range from 20,020,000 > 20,029,999 |
| First Corps Area = | range from 20,100,000 > 20,199,999 |
| Second Corps Area = | range from 20,200,000 > 20,299,999 |
| Third Corps Area = | range from 20,300,000 > 20,399,999 |
| Fourth Corps Area = | range from 20,400,000 > 20,499,999 |
| Fifth Corps Area = | range from 20,500,000 > 20,599,999 |
| Sixth Corps Area = | range from 20,600,000 > 20,699,999 |
| Seventh Corps Area = | range from 20,700,000 > 20,799,999 |
| Eighth Corps Area = | range from 20,800,000 > 20,899,999 |
| Ninth Corps Area = | range from 20,900,000 > 20,999,999 |
Evolution:
First type December 1940 – November 1941
| first line | first name of soldier, second initial, surname | CLARENCE R JONES |
| second line | army serial number + blood type (space 17 or 18) | 37337566 O |
| third line | name next of kin | FRED JONES |
| fourth line | address, number, street, next of kin | 2843 FEDERAL BL |
| fifth line | address, city, state | DENVER COLO |
Note: blood type (A B AB O), tetanus toxoid shot (T), and religious preference (C H P) are added 10 November 1941; name, street, city, and state address of person to be notified in case of emergency are to be indicated in the fifth line
Second type November 1941 – July 1943
| first line | first name of soldier, second initial, surname | CLARENCE R JONES |
| second line | army serial number (8 first spaces), space 9 vacant), tetanus immunization (spaces 10 >12), space 13 vacant, tetanus toxoid (spaces 14 > 15), space 16 vacant, blood type (space 17) | 37337566 T42 43 O |
| third line | name next of kin | FRED JONES |
| fourth line | address, number, street, next of kin | 2843 FEDERAL BL |
| fifth line | address, city, state + religion (space 18) | DENVER COLO P |
Note: in case of blood type AB which necessitates more space, prefix T is usually dropped and only numerals are retained or Tetanus Inoculation date simply takes over a following space; the same happens with extra long names of bearers
Third type July 1943 – March 1944
| first line | first name of soldier, second initial, surname | CLARENCE R JONES |
| second line | army serial number, tetanus immunization , tetanus toxoid, blood type | 37337566 T42 43 O |
| fifth line | religion | P |
Note: name and address of next of kin are deleted 20 July 1943
Fourth type March 1944 – April 1946
| first line | surname, first name, second initial | JONES CLARENCE R |
| second line | army serial number, tetanus immunization , tetanus toxoid, blood type | 37337566 T42 43 O |
| fifth line | religion | P |
Note: sequence in name of wearer changes 31 March 1944
Serial Numbers:
Regular Army (1940) start with digit 1, followed by a second digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Command) (there were 9 Corps Area for military administrative purposes and 4 Army Areas for strategic military purposes) examples: 14130598, 12136155, 17000752 National Guard (1940) start with digits 20, followed by a third digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Command) examples: 20417243, 20318551, 20700075 Draftees (1940) start with digit 3, followed by a second digit (indicating Corps Area/Service Command) examples: 31130734, 33263890, 35499952 (these were draftees called up by the Selective Training & Service Act) Commissioned Officers (1921) start with prefix O, followed by hyphen + series of 1 to 6, even 7 digits (1940 starts with box of 23,000) examples: O-57 O-3822 O-1170276 Warrant Officers (1942) start with prefix W, followed or not by hyphen + series of 7 digits, starting with 21, examples: W-2118310, W-2105437, W-2127845 (while most ID Tags start with first digits 21, other show different numbers, such as W-92186, W-800217 or W 901800, most probably Officers already commissioned between the war years, 1920-1930) Flight Officers (1942) start with prefix T, followed by a series of digits, examples: T-80, T-6367, T-132096 Army Specialist Corps (1942) start with prefix S, followed by a series of digits, example: S-103845 Army Nurse Corps (1921) start with prefix N, followed by a series of 6 digits (box of 700,000), example: N-782136, N-743921, N-751759 Hospital Dietitian (1942) start with prefix R, followed by a series of digits, examples: R-676, R-328, R-627 Physical Therapist (1942) start with prefix M, followed by a series of digits, examples: M-740, M-530, M-321 Contract Surgeon (1941) start with prefix CS, followed by a series of digits, example: CS-32486 WAC (1943) start with prefix L (officer), example: L-918042, L-210086, L-2022345, A (soldier), example: A-205333, A-225144, A-7514789 and V (W.O.), example: V-704827, V-303817, V-698236, followed by a series of 6 digits, of which the first designated the Service Command
Some examples of Army Serial Numbers pertaining to ‘prominent’ US Army WW2 Military Leaders:
| ASN O-1 John J. PERSHING (1860-1948) | ASN O-57 Douglas A. McARTHUR (1880-1964) |
| ASN O-742 John L. DE WITT (1880-1962) | ASN O-1616 George C. MARSHALL (1880-1959) |
| ASN O-2605 George S. PATTON Jr (1885-1945) | ASN O-2686 Courtney H. HODGES (1887-1966) |
| ASN O-3706 Carl A. SPAATZ (1891-1974) | ASN O-3807 Omar N. BRADLEY (1893-1981) |
| ASN O-3822 Dwight D. EISENHOWER (1890-1969) | ASN O-5264 Matthew B. RIDGWAY (1895-1993) |
| ASN O-8431 Maurice ROSE (1899-1945) | ASN O-17676 James M. GAVIN (1907-1990) |
| ASN OA-1 Oveta C. HOBBY (1905-1995) | |
What are dog tags
We all know what dog tags are — those little oval disks on a chain that service members wear to identify themselves in combat. But have you ever wondered how and when that tradition started, and why theyre called dog tags?