UNCLASSIFIED//
MARADMIN 002/08
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC/MR//
SUBJ/MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS TASKING AND REPORTING//
REF/A/-/DOC/YMD:20030227//
NARR/THE REF IS THE MARCORCASPROCMAN, MCO
P3040.4E// POC/GERALD CASTLE/GS13/UNIT:MRPC/-/TEL:COM (703)784-9512// POC/J. A. ELWELL/SSGT/UNIT:MRPC/-/TEL:COM (703)432-9524// GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE IS MORE THAN A PHRASE, IT SPEAKS TO OUR COMMITMENT TO PAYING FINAL TRIBUTE TO A MARINE'S SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY BY PROVIDING MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS (MFH). THE PURPOSE OF THIS MARADMIN IS TO PROVIDE CLARIFICATION ON HQMC POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR MFH AND ENSURE THE MARINE CORPS PROPERLY PAYS RESPECTS TO A DECEASED MARINE'S FAMILY.
2. UNDER TITLE 10 U.S.C., SECTION 1491 AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH DOD
MEMORANDUM DATED JANUARY 11, 2001, THE MILITARY SERVICES ARE REQUIRED TO ASSIGN THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COORDINATION AND DELIVERY OF MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS TO A SINGLE OFFICE AT THE HEADQUARTERS LEVEL. AS A RESULT, HQMC CONTINUES TO OPERATE A MFH TASKING CELL WITHIN THE CASUALTY SECTION (MRPC) THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TASKING AND REPORTING OF ALL MARINE FUNERAL HONORS TO DOD. A TOLL FREE NUMBER (866-826-3628) HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR FUNERAL DIRECTORS, FAMILIES, AND MARINE CORPS UNITS TO REQUEST MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS. THE HQMC MFH SECTION CAN BE REACHED AT THE TOLL FREE NUMBER DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS, 0730 TO 1630, EASTERN TIME, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
AFTER NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS, OR ON WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS, ALL CALLS TO THE TOLL FREE NUMBER ARE ROUTED TO THE MFH VOICE MAIL. MESSAGES RECEIVED AFTER 1630, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, WILL BE RETURNED THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY. DURING WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS, MESSAGES ARE MONITORED IN ORDER TO PROCESS REQUESTS FOR MFH THAT TAKE PLACE ON SUNDAY OR MONDAY. FUNERALS FOR TUESDAY OR LATER WILL BE RETURNED ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY. HQMC MFH SECTION DOES NOT ACCEPT FAX OR E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR MFH.
3. UPON RECEIPT OF THE FUNERAL REQUEST, HQMC MFH SECTION ENTERS PERTINENT INFO INTO THE MFH DATABASE AND TASKS THE FUNERAL SUPPORT ACCORDINGLY. FUNERAL SUPPORT IS TASKED TO THE CLOSEST UNIT TO THE LOCATION OF THE INTERNMENT, UNLESS OTHER AGREEMENTS ARE IN PLACE. THESE AGREEMENTS NEED TO BE SIGNED BY ALL AFFECTED UNITS AND FORWARDED TO HQMC (MRPC/MFH). UNITS TASKED BY HQMC MFH SECTION WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A FAX AND AN EMAIL WITH THE PERTINENT INFORMATION. ONCE A UNIT RECEIVES THE TASKER, UNITS MUST SUPPLY AN EMAIL OR PHONE CONFIRMATION TO HQMC MFH SECTION TO VERIFY RECEIPT OF THE TASKER WITHIN 24 HOURS. ADDITIONALLY, THE UNIT MUST CONTACT THE FUNERAL
HOME TO VERIFY THE INFORMATION, OBTAIN DIRECTIONS AS NEEDED, AND COMMUNICATE WITH THE FUNERAL HOME AS TO WHAT SUPPORT WILL BE PROVIDED.
4. IN THE EVENT A MARINE CORPS UNIT IS CONTACTED DIRECTLY BY A FUNERAL DIRECTOR OR NEXT OF KIN, UNITS WILL OBTAIN A PHONE NUMBER TO THE POC REQUESTING THE HONORS AND CONTACT HQMC MFH SECTION, OR SUPPLY THE REQUESTOR WITH THE MFH TOLL FREE NUMBER (866) 826-3628. IF THE REQUEST IS MADE WITH LESS THAN 24 HOURS FROM THE FUNERAL AND PROOF OF HONORABLE SERVICE IS VERIFIED, THE UNIT RECEIVING THE REQUEST MAY PROVIDE HONORS WITHOUT AN OFFICIAL TASKER FROM HQMC MFH SECTION. IN THE EVENT THE MFH CANNOT BE SUPPORTED, THE MARINE CORPS UNIT RECEIVING THE REQUEST WILL COORDINATE WITH ANOTHER UNIT THAT CAN SUPPORT THE REQUEST. MARINE CORPS UNITS WILL PROVIDE FUNERAL HONORS IAW CHAPTER 7 OF THE REFERENCE, WITH OR WITHOUT COORDINATION FROM HQMC MFH SECTION.
5. ALL SPECIAL REQUESTS FROM FAMILY MEMBERS (I.E.,CHAPLAINS, BUGLERS, FIRING DETAILS, BODY BEARERS,ETC) WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE UNIT FOR CONSIDERATION. HQMC WILL ONLY GUARANTEE THE PRESENCE OF A MINIMUM OF TWO SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES TO RENDER HONORS FOR AN ELIGIBLE SERVICEMEMBER, AS REQUIRED BY LAW.
6. ALL MARINE CORPS UNITS THAT PROVIDE MFH ARE REQUIRED TO CONTACT HQMC MFH SECTION TO ENSURE THAT CURRENT PHONE NUMBERS AND EMAIL POCS ARE ON FILE. ANY CONTACT NUMBERS OR POCS THAT CHANGE MUST BE REPORTED TO HQMC MFH SECTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THIS WILL HELP TO ENSURE THAT FUNERAL HONORS TASKINGS ARE RECEIVED AND FUNERAL HONORS ARE RENDERED.
7. ALL MARINE CORPS UNITS MUST REPORT EVERY MFH CONDUCTED TO HQMC MFH SECTION USING THE MFH AFTER ACTION REPORT (AAR) FORM FOUND ON THE HQMC, M&RA WEBSITE (WWW.MANPOWER.USMC.MIL) . IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE FORM, CLICK ON THE CASUALTY ASSISTANCE LINK, THEN MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS, AND THEN SELECT (FORM) FOR THE MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS REPORT. THIS FORM WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE UNIT PERFORMING THE HONORS AND SUBMITTED TO HQMC MFH SECTION WITHIN 72 HOURS.
UNITS CAN EMAIL THE OFFICIAL AAR TO HQMC MFH EMAIL AT
FUNERAL.HONORS@USMC.MIL. ALL MARINE CORPS UNITS ARE REQUIRED TO VERIFY THE NUMBER OF FUNERAL HONORS INDICATED IN THE DOD DATABASE FOR ACCURACY THEREBY ENSURING EACH UNIT RECEIVES PROPER CREDIT FOR FUNERAL HONORS RENDERED. FUNERAL HONORS MAY BE VERIFIED AT THE DOD WEBSITE: HTTPS:WWW.DMDC.OSD.MIL/FHDB/OWA/FHDB_MAIN.LOGIN,
(THIS WEBSITE IS CASE SENSITIVE, USE LOWERCASE LETTERS).
THE USER ID IS MR5106 AND THE PASSWORD IS USMC1778 (ALL CAPS). THE PASSWORD FOR THIS ACCOUNT WILL BE RESET EVERY 90 DAYS BY MFH PERSONNEL. MARINE CORPS UNITS ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO CHANGE THE PASSWORD. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU ARE PROMPTED TO CHANGE THE PASSWORD, CALL HQMC FUNERAL HONORS. UPON LOGGING IN, THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS AVAILABLE:
A. OPTION 1: GO INTO REPORTS AND SELECT FHDB SYSTEM REPORTS. SELECT
TRANSACTION SUMMARY (THIS WILL INDICATE THE NUMBER OF FUNERAL HONORS
PERFORMED BY UNIT); ENTER THE START AND END DATES DESIRED, SELECT FUNERALS, AND THEN SELECT GO. TO SEE A BREAKDOWN OF FUNERAL HONORS COMPLETED BY MONTH, CLICK ON THE RUC AND MCC (UIC) OF YOUR UNIT.
B. OPTION 2: GO INTO DATA COLLECTION AND SELECT FUNERAL DATA SEARCH. HERE YOU MAY VIEW FUNERAL HONORS COMPLETED MONTHLY BY UNIT OR INDIVIDUAL CASE. TO VIEW BY UNIT, INDICATE THE MONTH TO BE CHECKED AND YOUR UNIT'S RUC AND MCC (UIC).
8. HQMC MFH WILL SUBMIT QUARTERLY AAR RECONCILIATION REPORTS TO MARFORRES HQ AS WELL AS A MONTHLY COURTESY COPY TO ALL MARINE CORPS UNITS IN THE MARFORRES IN AN EFFORT TO ENSURE AAR'S ARE BEING TURNED IN AS INDICATED ABOVE.
9. FOLLOWING THE PROCEDURES ABOVE AND PER THE REF, ALL BRANCHES OF THE MILITARY ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS RENDERED DURING THE PAST CALENDAR YEAR. AS ALWAYS, THE MARINE CORPS HAS DONE ITS BEST TO SUPPORT EVERY REQUEST FOR MFH AND NOW WE MUST TAKE THE TIME TO ENSURE THAT THESE EFFORTS ARE PROPERLY REPORTED TO CONGRESS. TO ENSURE AN ACCURATE REPORT, ALL MFH RENDERED DURING CY07 MUST BE REPORTED TO HQMC MFH SECTION NO LATER THAN 4 JAN 08, NO EXCEPTIONS.
10. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT THE FAMILY OF OUR FALLEN MARINES HAS ONLY ONE CHANCE TO RECEIVE HONORS FOR THEIR LOVED ONE. TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN IS NOT JUST A PHRASE, IT IS OUR DUTY. THOSE OF US WHO ARE CURRENTLY HONORED TO WEAR THE UNIFORM MUST CONTINUE THE
LONG LINE OF OUR PREDECESSORS IN UPHOLDING THE INTEGRITY OF THESE WORDS. OUR SUPPORT OF FUNERAL HONORS FOR OUR MARINES WILL SPEAK LOUDER THAN ANY WORDS.
11. RELEASE AUTHORIZED BY MR. TIMOTHY R. LARSEN, DIRECTOR, PERSONAL AND FAMILY READINESS DIVISION.//