The Department of Defense's Casualty Assistance Program makes sure that military families have support in their time of need, including understanding all benefits and other forms of assistance. Although the term "casualty" is usually associated with death, casualty support to eligible family members also means support after injury and illness, and when a service member is missing, duty status — whereabouts unknown, or excused absence — whereabouts unknown.
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The Casualty Assistance Program
This program provides compassionate help for families of service members who are duty status — whereabouts unknown, excused absence — whereabouts unknown, missing, ill, injured or deceased, including:
- Transportation and burial expenses
- Injury, mortuary and funeral honors assistance
- Benefits and entitlements (explaining both and assisting with applying for and receiving them)
- Personal effects, records, reports and investigations (receiving)
- Legal matters (tax issues) and relocation assistance (shipping household goods)
- Benevolent, philanthropic and federal agencies (information, referral and coordination)
- Emotional and spiritual support
What is a casualty?
A casualty is any person who is lost to the organization by having been declared dead, duty status — whereabouts unknown, excused absence — whereabouts unknown, missing, ill or injured. A casualty may be a service member, a civilian or a contractor.
Note: Each service branch operates its own wounded warrior program to help meet the specific needs of injured service members.
Notification
When a casualty is seriously ill or injured, the next of kin will be notified as quickly as possible with the expressed desires of the member. If a member dies, is duty status — whereabouts unknown, excused absence — whereabouts unknown or missing, a notification team of at least two uniformed service members (one may be a chaplain) makes an in-person notification to the surviving family members listed on the service member's Record of Emergency Data form.
Casualty assistance (calls) officer
In those cases in which the individual is declared deceased, whereabouts unknown or missing, a casualty assistance officer will be assigned to advise and assist the primary next of kin. Assistance officers will also be assigned to the parents of married service members, who are considered the secondary next of kin.
Each military service branch has its own title for casualty assistance officers: Army — casualty assistance officer, or CAO; Marine Corps and Navy — casualty assistance calls officer, or CACO; and Air Force — casualty assistance representative, or CAR; family liaison officer, or FLO; and mortuary officer. The casualty assistance officer is the liaison between the family and the service branch.
Who's eligible to receive casualty assistance?
Casualty assistance is available to the primary next of kin — the person most closely related to the service member. Typically, this is the spouse, or the parents for unmarried service members. The following order of precedence is used to identify the primary next of kin:
- Spouse
- Natural, adopted, step and illegitimate children
- Parents
- Persons standing in loco parentis
- Persons granted legal custody of the individual by a court decree
- Brothers or sisters, to include adopted or half-brothers or -sisters
- Grandparents
- Other relatives in order of relationship to the individual according to civil laws
If no other persons are available, the secretary of the military service may be deemed to act on behalf of the individual.