Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110

§1511 Return Alive of Person Declared Missing or Dead

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 76 — MISSING PERSONS › § 1511

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

If a person who was listed as missing or declared dead is found alive and returned to United States control, they must be paid for the whole time they were gone, unless they are later shown to have been absent without leave (AWOL) or a deserter. This does not cancel or reduce any death gratuity or other payment already given before February 10, 1996 on that person’s behalf.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1511

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Pay and Allowances.—
Any person (except for a person subsequently determined to have been absent without leave or a deserter) in a missing status or declared dead under subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5 or chapter 10 of title 37 or by a board appointed under this chapter who is found alive and returned to the control of the United States shall be paid for the full time of the absence of the person while given that status or declared dead under the law and regulations relating to the pay and allowances of persons returning from a missing status.
(b)Effect on Gratuities Paid as a Result of Status.—
Subsection (a) shall not be interpreted to invalidate or otherwise affect the receipt by any person of a death gratuity or other payment from the United States on behalf of a person referred to in subsection (a) before February 10, 1996.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2001—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–107 substituted “February 10, 1996” for “the date of the enactment of this chapter”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1511

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110