The U.S. Embassy has no direct means of locating or contacting U.S. active duty U.S. military service personnel, regardless of citizenship, nor does the Embassy have access to U.S. military personnel lists and duty stations.

For family emergencies, such as deaths or very serious illnesses of immediate family members, family members of service members may directly contact The American Red Cross Emergency Communications Service to request assistance in passing a message to the service member.  If family members are unable for some valid reason to telephone the emergency number themselves, the Embassy may assist them.  However, this offer applies only to verifiable family emergency situations.

The RMI has an established Red Cross Chapter, and family members may be able to use the local Red Cross chapter for this emergency communications service.

Local Red Cross Chapter can be contacted at +1-692-625-0340 and they also have a Facebook page.

If a military service member has his/her own serious emergency, that service member’s commander will attempt to contact one or more immediate family members.  The family members’ names and contact information are provided by the service member at the time of his/her enlistment and must be updated periodically and as needed by each service member.

Military service members are encouraged by their commanders to regularly communicate with members of their immediate family.  However, they are not, and cannot be, required to do this.  As adults of legal age, they are entitled to make their own personal decisions regarding communication with family members.

As a U.S. government agency, the U.S. Embassy is bound by the legal provisions of the U.S. Privacy Act.  The Privacy Act states in part: No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains.

American Red Cross Emergency Communications Services

American Red Cross communication services keep military personnel in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of a family member or other important events, such as the birth of a child. The Red Cross quickly sends these communications on behalf of the family to members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving anywhere in the world, including ships at sea, embassies and isolated military units. The information or verification in a message assists the service member’s commanding officer with making a decision regarding emergency leave.

How to Contact the Red Cross to Send an Emergency Message

• Active duty service members stationed in the United States and their immediate family members may call the Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Service Centers for help 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The toll-free telephone number is available through base or installation operators and from local on-base Red Cross offices. http://www.redcross.org/find-help/military-families/emergency-communication-services
• Other family members who do not reside in the service members’ household, members of the National Guard and Reserves, retirees and civilians may access Red Cross services through their local Red Cross chapter, which is listed in local telephone books and at http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html.
• Overseas personnel stationed on military installations should call base or installation operators or the on-base Red Cross offices.
• At overseas deployment sites, contact the American Red Cross deployed staff.

When calling the Red Cross to send an emergency message to a family member, it is helpful to have the following information:

Service member’s:

• Full Name
• Rank/Rating
• Branch of Service
• Social Security Number
• Military Address
• Information about the deployed unit and the home base unit (for deployed service members only)

U.S. Toll Free Phone Number:+1-877-272-7337    Fax: 580-442-7717/7715