Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 3.djvu/715

 PUBLIC LAW 102-484—OCT. 23, 1992 106 STAT. 2509 552 or 552a of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary concerned shall ensure that the family members— (i) are informed about the requirements and procedures necessary to request a copy of such reports; and (ii) are assisted, if the family members so desire, in submitting a request in accordance with such requirements and procedures. (C) The requirement of subparagraph (B) to inform and assist family members in obtaining copies of fatality reports shall continue until a copy of each report is obtained, or access to any such report is denied by competent authority within the Department of Defense. (4) WAIVER. —The requirements of paragraph (2) or (3) may be waived on a case-by-case basis, but only if the Secretary of the military department concerned determines that compliance with such requirements is not in the interests of national security, (b) REVIEW OF COMBAT FATALITY NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES.— (1) REVIEW.— The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a review of the fatality notification procedures used by the military departments. Such review shall examine the following matters: (A) Whether uniformity in combat fatality notification procedures among the military departments is desirable, particularly with respect to— (i) the use of one or two casualty notification and assistance officers; (ii) the use of standardized fatality report forms and witness statements; (iii) the use of a single center for all military departments through which combat fatality information may be processed; and (iv) the use of uniform procedures and the provision of a dispute resolution process for instances in which members of one of the Armed Forces inflict casualties on members of another of the Armed Forces. (B) Whether existing combat fatality report forms should be modified to include a block or blocks with which to identify the cause of death as "friendly fire", "U.S. ordnance", or "unknown". (C) Whether the existing "Emergency Data" form prepared by members of the Armed Forces should be revised to allow members to specify provision for notification of additional family members in cases such as the case of a divorced service member who leaves children with both a current and a former spouse. (D) Whether the military departments should, in all cases, provide family members of a service member who died as a result of injuries sustained in combat with full and complete details of the death of the service member, regardless of whether such details may be graphic, embarrassing to the family members, or reflect negatively on the military department concerned. (E) Whether, and when, the military departments should inform famihr members of a service member who died as a result of injuries sustained in combat about

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