Military Offers Hot Lines
The Defense Department has established 24-hour telephone numbers for each military branch to provide information and counseling to relatives and friends of service personnel in the Persian Gulf. Local military Family Service Centers also have 24-hour counseling and information hot lines.
Casualty information will not be provided by phone, a Navy spokesman said. Longstanding military practice calls for the next of kin to be notified in person if someone is killed in combat.
To speed requests for information, callers should be prepared to provide the service member’s name, and as much information as possible about rank, social security number and military unit.
The 24-Hour information lines:
Navy:
Immediate family: 1-800-255-3808
General information: 1-800-732-1206
Family Service Center, San Diego Naval Station: 556-9396
Family Service Center, North Island Naval Air Station: 545-6071
Marine Corps:
Immediate family: 1-800-523-2694
Family Service Center, Marine Corps Recruit Depot: 524-5728
Family Service Center, Camp Pendleton: 725-5361
Coast Guard: 1-800-283-8724
Army: 1-800-626-1440
Air Force: 1-800-253-9276
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