Title 32—National Defense--Volume 1
PART 735—REPORTING BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES
§ 735.1   Purpose.
To promulgate latest guidance on reporting births and deaths, including births to which part 138 of this title is applicable.
§ 735.2   Background.
For Armed Forces members and their dependents on duty overseas, registration of vital statistics with an appropriate foreign government may be a distinct advantage should documentary evidence, acceptable in all courts, be required at any future time. Department of Defense (DOD) policy is that military services will require their members to make official record of births, deaths, marriages, etc., with local civil authorities in whose jurisdiction such events occur.
§ 735.3   Action.
When a medical officer has knowledge of a birth or death occurring under the following conditions, he or she shall refer the matter to the commanding officer for assurance of compliance with DOD policy.
(a) Births. (1) In accordance with local health laws and regulations, the commanding officer of a naval hospital in the United States (U.S.) shall report to proper civil authorities all births, including stillbirths, occurring at the hospital. Medical officers on ships and aircraft operating within U.S. political boundaries, or at stations other than naval hospitals in the U.S., shall report all births occurring within their professional cognizance. It shall be the duty of the medical officer to determine the requirements of local civil authorities for these reports.
(2) When births occur on aircraft or ships operating beyond U.S. political boundaries, the medical officer responsible for delivery shall make a report to the commanding officer, master of the ship, or to the officer in command of any aircraft, in every case to be recorded in the ship or aircraft log. A report shall also be made to local civil authorities in the first port of entry if required by law and regulation of such authorities when births occur on a course inbound to the U.S. Additionally, the medical officer shall:
(i) Furnish the parents with appropriate certificates and shall, if the report is not accepted by the local registrar of vital statistics or other civil authority, or in any case in which local authority has indicated in writing that such a report will not be accepted,
(ii) Advise the parents to seek the advice of the nearest office of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (USINS), at the earliest practicable time. USINS offices are located in ports of entry and in major cities of the United States.
(iii) For births occurring on courses out-bound and beyond the continental limits of the U.S., report to the U.S. consular representative at the next appropriate foreign port. When the aircraft or ship does not enter a foreign port, procedures described in § 735.3(a)(2)(ii) shall be followed.
(3) Attention is invited to the fact that reports of birth may be forwarded to the Bureau of Health Statistics, Department of Health, Honolulu, Hawaii for any births occurring on courses destined for islands in the Pacific Ocean over which the United States has jurisdiction as well as for those births which are otherwise accepted by civil authorities for Hawaii.
(4) Part 138 of this title prescribes policy, responsibilities, and procedures on birth registration of infants born to U.S. citizens, in military medical facilities outside the United States and its possessions.
(b) Deaths. When a death occurs at a naval activity in any State, Territory, or insular possession of the United States, the commanding officer or designated representative shall report the death promptly to proper civil authorities in accordance with Naval Medical Command directives. If requested by these civil authorities, the civil death certificate may be prepared and signed by the cognizant naval medical officer. Local agreements concerning reporting and preparation of death certificates should be made between the naval facility and local civil authorities.