§ 553.25 Disinterments and disinurnments of remains. ( a ) Interments and inurnments in Army National Military Cemeteries are considered permanent.
( b ) Requests for disinterment or disinurnment of individually buried or inurned remains are considered requests for exceptions to this policy, and must be addressed to the Executive Director for decision. The request must include: ( 1 ) A full statement of the reasons for the disinterment or disinurnment of the remains from the personal representative or primary next of kin who directed the original interment or inurnment if still living, or if not, the current personal representative or primary next of kin;
( 2 ) A notarized statement from each living close relative of the decedent that he or she does not object to the proposed disinterment or disinurnment; and
( 3 ) A notarized statement by a person who has personal knowledge of the decedent's relatives stating that the persons giving statements comprise all of the decedent's living close relatives.
( 4 ) An appropriate funding source for the disinterment or disinurnment, as disinterments and disinurnments of individually buried or inurned remains must be accomplished without expense to the Government.
( c ) The Executive Director shall carry out disinterments and disinurnments directed by a court of competent jurisdiction upon presentation of a lawful, original court order and after consulting with the Army General Counsel or his or her designee.
( d ) Remains interred in a group burial may be disinterred only if, after the completion of identification processing of any subsequently recovered remains, each decedent's remains have not been individually identified and it is determined that available technology is likely to assist in the identification process of the previously interred group remains. Requests for disinterment of group remains must be addressed to the Executive Director by the appropriate Military Department's Secretary or his or her designee for decision. The request must include: ( 1 ) A statement from the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command certifying that subsequent to the interment or inurnment of the decedents, remains have been recovered from the site of the casualty incident, and that the remains of each individual U.S. citizen, legal resident, or former service member have not been previously identified from either the remains originally recovered or from the subsequently recovered portions.
( 2 ) Sufficient circumstantial and anatomical evidence from the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command, which when combined with contemporary forensic or other scientific techniques, would lead to a high probability of individual identification of the interred group remains.
( 3 ) Copies of the Military Department's notification to all the living close relatives of the decedents advising them of the proposed disinterment.
( 4 ) A time period identified by the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command during which it proposes to perform forensic or scientific techniques for individual identification processing.
( 5 ) An anticipated time period as to when the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command will return any unidentified remains to Arlington National Cemetery or will notify the cemetery that individual identifications of the group remains are complete and no remains will be returned.
( e ) Disinterment or disinurnment is not permitted for the sole purpose of splitting remains or permanently keeping any portion of the remains in a location other than Arlington National Cemetery.
( f ) Disinterment of previously designated group remains for the sole purpose of individually segregating the group remains is not permitted unless the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section are met.