Say a marine was told, while on active duty abroad, that one of their close relatives had died (mother, brother, etc). Just how long would they have as 'time off' regarding the funeral and grieving?
I think it's about a week, depending. If they're in a war zone, I don't think it works that way. I had an uncle die and I got a week to go and be with my family but I wasn't in a war zone.
and as a small, but important point, the Marines are not in the US Army. They're part of the Armed Forces, but not a part of the Army. The Marines wish they were a part of the Army, 'cause then they'd be real soldiers instead of Navy baby-sitters.
Ahem... technically, the U. S. Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy. So yes, they are Navy babysitters.
Yeah, a week of grievance time is average. Part of it might depend on where the serviceman (or woman) is stationed. A good source of information about this would be the Red Cross, since they are the one's who coordinate these things for servicemembers of all branches.
It's generally about a week or so, and usually they would get a "Red Cross message". Aka, someone contacts the Red Cross, gives them the service member's information (such as their name, rank, branch, unit), and then they give the message to the Red Cross who then forwards it to the service member's chain of command (usually the SM's commander).
When I was in the Army, I remember that Red Cross messages were taken very seriously, they often got people out of field training, or if they were deployed, usually if it was something serious (like a death in the family), they'd get to go home and cope with the issues.
And yes, a Marine would be in the US Marine Corps, not the US Army (it's soldier in the Army, sailor in the Navy, and Airman in the Air Force).
If you have any other military questions, feel free to ask. I'll try my best to answer them (as well as others here).
Leaves granted in those type situations are around 7-30 days. The Red Cross and/or military chaplins make the arrangements. The USMC may have different rules for combat areas.
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