Sole Survivor Policy

The Sole Survivor Policy or DoD Directive 1315.15 "Special Separation Policies for Survivorship" describes a set of regulations in the U.S. military that are designed to protect members of a family from the draft or from combat duty if they have already lost family members in military service.

History
The need for the regulations first caught public attention after the five Sullivan brothers were all killed when the USS Juneau (CL-52) was sunk during World War II, and was enacted as law in 1948. No peacetime restriction was in place until 1964 during the Vietnam War; in 1971, Congress amended the law to include not only the sole surviving son or daughter but also any son or daughter who had a combat related death in the family. Since then, each branch of the military has made its own policies with regard to separating immediate family members.

Examples
Before the Sole Survivor Policy was officially implemented in 1948, there were several occasions when sole survivors were excused from active service.

In World War II the Borgstrom brothers, Elmer, Clyde and twins Rolon and Rulon, were killed within a few months of each other in 1944. Their parents then petitioned for their son Boyd, who was also on active duty, to be released from service. Their sixth son, Elton, who had not yet reached conscription age was exempted from military service.

The three Butehorn Brothers of Bethpage, NY, Charles, Joseph and Henry, all went off to fight during World War II. After Charles was killed in action in France in 1944 and Joseph was killed in action in the Pacific in 1945, Henry, who was serving with the Army Air Forces in Italy, was ordered home by the War Department. The VFW post in Bethpage, NY is named after their sacrifice.

In the case of the Niland brothers, U.S. intelligence believed that all but one of four siblings were killed in action. It was later discovered that the eldest brother, Technical Sergeant Edward Niland, of the U.S. Army Air Forces, had been held in a prisoner of war camp in Burma.

Both the Borgstrom and Butehorn tragedies occurred before the Sole Survivor Policy was put into effect in 1948, but they, along with the deaths of all of the Sullivan brothers in 1942, helped lead to it. (The film Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, was loosely based on the Niland brothers' story.)

Jason and Nathan Hubbard joined the army after their brother Jared had died in Iraq in 2004. In 2007, Nathan died in a helicopter crash. Military officials ordered Jason home shortly after.

A recent case occurred in 2011. Jeremy, Beau and Ben Wise served in active combat roles in the Afghan War. Jeremy, a former Navy SEAL, was at a CIA base as a military contractor and was killed when a suicide bomber attacked the base. Later in 2011, Ben died of injuries while at a hospital. Beau was taken out of active military service shortly afterwards.

Regulations
It is widely thought that this policy protects "only sons", "the last son to carry the family name", and "sole surviving sons" of a family from them are protected from draft only during peacetime. In times of war or national emergency as declared by Congress, this provision does not apply to any of the above. Also, this provision is voluntary, meaning that the member wishing to be sent home has to apply for the policy and get the application approved. Furthermore, it does not apply strictly to the sole surviving son but also to all surviving sons.

Members of the Armed Forces that are not eligible for Department of Defense Directive 1315.15, "Special Separation Policies for Survivorship" include those that currently have court-martial charges pending against them or those that have been convicted by court-martial. This policy does not protect children without siblings. Furthermore, commissioned officers and warrant officers are not eligible for this policy either. If a member of the Armed Forces re-enlists or voluntarily extends their active duty beyond the requirement after having been notified of a death in the family, that member becomes automatically ineligible as well.