What happens IF you die while serving in a combat zone...

Once the word got out that I was a licensed attorney in the state of Michigan it seemed that I was appointed to any assignment that remotely dealt with law, investigations or legal matters. One such appointment dealt with being selected and appointed as a Casualty Officer. That required attendance to a week long training seminar located at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait were I learned the ends and outs of notification of the death of service members to families as well as the death benefits that are provided to the surviving family. During my deployment, I was was assigned to investigate the death of a soldier and make "a line of duty" or LOD determination as to cause of death. My investigation could have resulted in a recommendation that the deceased service member did not die "in the line of duty" and as such was not entitled to the benefits afforded to service members who are killed or die while serving. My findings could have resulted in the non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the surviving families. However, as a result of my investigation, I recommended and my recommendation was accepted that death benefits should be paid to the beneficiary.

So what happens if you die while serving in a combat zone? Well if that happens, all I can say is it sucks to be you! However, if you prepared adequately, your loved ones will be better prepared to move on with their lives. One of the first things you should be aware of is that within 72 hours of your death in a combat zone your family will receive check sent via electronic funds transfer to the their bank account in the amount of $100,000. That money should be used to take care of the survivors affairs until the Service Member's Group Life Insurance or SGLI is paid usually that take place within 30 days. Unless otherwise selected, the policy will pay $400,000. (This amount is in addition to the $100,000 already received in the first 24 hours) In addition to those money paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries, there are more entitlements that would be paid upon your death. In my book, I go into detail about those other death benefits.

Upon your death, your next of kin must be notified within within 24 hours of your death. The notification is made by someone of the same or higher rank and usually that person is accompanied with a Chaplin. The sole purpose of the notification is to inform the next of kin and let them know that a family military advisor will be appointed to assist with the rest of the process in addition to the explanation of other benefits to assist the family.

As it relates to the cause of death, there will be no speculation given. The lessons learned from the death of famed football player turned soldier Pat Tillman are many. Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. However, much of the information was put out early on was wrong and some have even claimed intentionally distorted to make the military "look good".

With regard to property, you should know that all of your property will inventoried and shipped to the next of kin. A little known fact, if you have a computer, that computer will be shipped to a location were it will be scanned for anything that may be offensive to the next of kin, such as a spouse. The rational for this is simple. If something like a love letter to anyone other then the spouse is discovered that letter will be deleted from the system. This is said to be done to protect the entrust of all concerned. For more information surrounding the events that take place upon your death in a combat zone refer to my new book. "The Service Member's Guide to Deployment."