1. May all Active Duty and Retired members of all the Uniformed Services fly Space-A?
Yes. All Active Duty and Retired members (as well as their eligible family members)
of all seven uniformed services (U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast
Guard, U.S. Public Health Service Officer Corps, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Officer Corps and U.S. Air Force) may fly Space-A as provided for
in DoDD 4515.13-R as revised.
Note: Department of Defense officials announced a one-year test to expand Space-A
travel privileges to family members of Active Duty and Retirees traveling with their
sponsor within the CONUS spanning from 1 April 03 to 31 March 04. As of 26 February
04, this expansion will be implemented on a permanent basis.
2. May National Guard and Reservists fly Space-A? National Guard members and Reservists
in an Active paid status may fly anywhere in CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Guard and Reserve members cannot
fly Space-A to a foreign country. Guard and Reserve members must have the ID Card,
DD Form 2, and DD Form 1853, Authentication of Reserve Status for Travel Eligibility
(authenticated by the Unit Commander within the last six months). The same is true
of Guard and Reserve personnel who have received official notification of retirement
eligibility but have not reached retirement age (60). This “gray area” retirement
eligible group must present their ID cards (Red) and retirement eligibility notices
(letters) or possess a red DD Form 2 which has been generated from the DEERS database.
3. When may National Guard and Reservist eligible family members fly Space-A? When
the sponsor retires and receives retired pay and full benefits at age 60, eligible
family members may then fly Space-A. Family members must be accompanied by their
sponsor when flying Space-A.
4. Is there any difference in Space-A rules regarding eligibility for Active Duty
versus Retired service members? Yes. First of all, Active Duty sponsors personnel
have priority (Categories I Emergency Leave (retirees may be added to this category
when approved under special circumstances), II EML, III Ordinary Leave, IV Unaccompanied
Dependents on EML and V Permissive TDY) on Space-A flights at all times. Other differences
include the fact that Active Duty personnel may take their “dependent” mothers and
fathers (who have ID Cards DD Form 1173), with them on Space-A trips. Dependent in-laws
are NOT included in this privilege. Retired members do not have this privilege, and
Retired members and their families travel in Category VI.
5. I am a 100% disabled American veteran (DAV). I've heard that some of us can fly
Space-A and some can't. Could you give me more information on 100% DAVs and Space-A?
Disabled American veterans must be RETIRED from a uniformed service to qualify for
Space-A travel. Those members who were separated in lieu of being retired are not
eligible. Here's an easy way to check your eligibility. If your monthly retired check
is paid by a uniformed services finance center, e.g., Defense Finance and Accounting
Service, Cleveland Center, and your ID card is DD Form 2 (old cards are gray in color;
new cards are blue), you can fly Space-A. If you are paid by the Veterans Administration
and your ID card is a DD Form 1173 (butterscotch in color) or the more recently issued
DD Form 2765, you cannot fly Space-A. The color of ID cards and their form numbers
are the key to being allowed to sign up for a Space-A flight. The DD Form 1173 is
the same ID form used by dependents. In any case, dependents are not generally allowed
to fly Space-A without their sponsors, so this butterscotch color card is a red flag
alerting the officials at the Space-A desk that the carrier of the DD Form 1173 is
not eligible to fly Space-A unaccompanied.
6. I am Retired military and disabled and carry a blue ID card. Can I have a brother,
sister, or friend accompany me to help me? The only persons permitted to accompany
you are your dependents or other persons eligible for Space-A travel. Every effort
shall be made to transport passengers with disabilities who are otherwise eligible
to travel. Passenger service personnel and crew members shall provide assistance
in boarding, seating, and deplaning passengers with special needs.
Please see note at #1 above.
7. May a Retired service member, who relies on a guide dog because of vision deficiency,
travel with the animal aboard military aircraft Space-A? Yes. This is allowed when
the dog is properly harnessed and muzzled and the animal does not obstruct the aisle.
Also, the dog may not occupy a seat in the aircraft, it must sit at the feet of the
service member.
8. Who may fly on National Guard and Reserve flights of the Military Services? All
uniformed services personnel and their eligible dependents may fly on most National
Guard and Reserve flights depending upon the mission. The National Guard and Reserve
have some of the best flights available. The catch is that many are not scheduled
flights. Many different types of flight missions are given to National Guard and
Reserve units; therefore, one can often find some very special flights to places
not normally seen on flight schedules. Most National Guard and Reserve departure
locations are listed in this book, Military Space-A Air Travel Guide.
9. Are Active Duty personnel in a leave or pass status traveling Space-A, always
required to wear the service uniform? No. All Active Duty members (except USMC personnel
flying on USMC aircraft) in a leave or pass status traveling Space-A on military
department owned and operated aircraft are not required to wear the class A or B
uniform of their service.
10. May an Active Duty service member use Space-A to take dependents to his/her unaccompanied
duty station overseas or back from overseas to CONUS after the unaccompanied duty
tour is completed? No. Family members may use Space-A only when they are with the
sponsor on an accompanied tour (on service orders) overseas. The Space-A privilege
is intended only for a visit to an overseas or CONUS area on a round-trip basis with
the sponsor. Also unaccompanied dependents with a command authorization letter may
travel in category V to Korea. Space-A cannot be used to establish a home for dependents
overseas or in CONUS.
11. May an Active Duty service member sign out on leave, sign up (register) for Space-A
and if there is a wait for the flight, go back to work to avoid loss of leave time?
When registering for Space-A travel, either by fax, mail/courier or in person, the
member must have an approved leave or pass authorization effective on or before the
date of registration for Space-A travel. You must show your approved leave with an
effective date on or before your sign-up date. If a member registers for Space-A
travel but voluntarily returns to work during the intervening days before the actual
flight departure, leave will be charged for those days. You must be on leave throughout
your entire Space-A leave travel period.
12. What does it mean to be “bumped?” The mission needs of space-required passengers
or cargo may require the removal of Space-A passengers at any point. If removed after
being manifested (approved for a particular flight) on a flight or en route, you
may re-register with the date and time adjusted to reflect the date and time of registration
at the point of origin. The Space-A passengers will be placed no higher than the
bottom of the category I on the Space-A register. Space-A passengers cannot be bumped
by other Space-A passengers.
13. What can service families do if they become extremely ill while overseas and
need to return to the United States? Air medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) through AMC
is available to Active Duty, Retired and their eligible family members. Space-A travelers
should get in touch with a U.S. military medical facility, preferably a hospital,
or the American Embassy or Consulate to be considered for this service. In a change
of military regulations, the remains of a retiree who died overseas may be returned
on AMC aircraft to the U.S. for burial.
14. What is “show time?” “Show time” is the time when a roll call of prospective
space-required and Space-A passengers, who are waiting for a specific flight, is
made. The total available seats are allocated to travelers based on priority category
and date/time of sign-up. Failure to make “show time” may result in not making the
flight and “show times” can be changed without notice depending on operational requirements.
15. Why can't passengers arriving at the terminal after “show time” for a flight
be processed for that flight? Passengers should realize that many tasks are performed
before a flight departs. Every possible effort will be made to process passengers
arriving after “show time” if it doesn't jeopardize the aircraft's departure time
or mission safety.
16. Are there special eligibility requirements for pregnant women and infants? Yes.
Children must be older than six weeks to fly on military aircraft. If the infant
is younger than six weeks old, there must be written permission from a physician
to fly for mother and child. Pregnant women may fly without approval until their
34th week of pregnancy. In a medical emergency, a pregnant woman of more than 34
weeks or a child younger than six weeks and the mother will be flown on a medical
evacuation (MEDEVAC) flight as patients.
17. What is the scope of the DoD student travel program? Dependent students who attend
school in the United States are authorized one round-trip Category V classification
travel per fiscal year from the school location to the parents' duty station overseas,
including U.S. possessions. The student travel program began in 1984 as a quality
of life initiative for service members stationed overseas who had children attending
secondary or undergraduate school in the United States. The plan has fluctuated over
the years. The rule for the travel program applies to service members permanently
assigned outside CONUS authorized to have family members reside with them. The student
dependent must be unmarried, under age 23, pursuing a secondary or undergraduate
education and possess a valid DD Form 1173 ID card.
18. What is the Environmental and Morale Leave (EML) Program? This program is designed
to provide environmental relief from a duty station which has some “drawbacks” and
to offer a source of affordable recreation otherwise not available. In simple terms,
it boils down to allowing Active Duty military personnel and their dependents to
fly Space-A on military aircraft. There are, however, a couple of big differences
in EML leave and regular Space-A leave. First, dependents are permitted to travel
accompanied or UNACCOMPANIED by their sponsor. They may utilize “suitably equipped
DoD logistic-type aircraft” as well as AMC channel and contract aircraft. Secondly,
EML has a Category II classification (for sponsors and their dependents traveling
together) which is higher than regular Active Duty, Category III and Retired Space-A
classification (Category VI). Dependents traveling on EML leave orders alone are
in Category IV. Military sponsors and/or dependents on EML revert to ordinary leave
status when they arrive in CONUS. They regain their EML status only when they depart
CONUS for their EML program area. A good bit of EML travel is utilized in the Middle
and Far East areas. This means that fewer flights may be available from this area
for lower category personnel. The EML program is a tremendous morale booster to those
assigned in far-off places and is very popular in these areas.
19. My husband was killed in Vietnam and is buried in the Punch Bowl (National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific) in Hawaii. The children and I would like to take a trip
to Hawaii to visit his grave. Can we fly in a Space-A status? No. Sorry, but widow/ers
are not afforded the privilege of Space-A air travel. The rules state that family
members must be accompanied by their military sponsor, so naturally this is impossible.
There have been proposals advanced, namely by the National Association of Uniformed
Services/Society of Military Widows (NAUS/SMW) (Tel: 1-800-842-3451) and others,
to support a change to the DoD Space-A Directive which does not provide for widow/ers
of uniformed personnel from using overseas (and any other) Space-A travel.
20. May I register (sign-up) by fax, e-mail, letter/courier or in person at the same
departure terminal more than one time for five different foreign countries in order
to improve my chances for selection to a particular country? Space-A passengers may
have only one registration (sign-up) record at a passenger terminal specifying a
maximum of five countries (the fifth country may be “ALL” in order to allow the widest
opportunity for Space-A air travel). This record may be changed at any time to include
adding or deleting countries to which a passenger desire to travel, but the Julian
date and time will be adjusted to the date of the latest change. No passenger may
have two or more records with separate information; however, you may sign up at several
departure terminals in order to improve your chances for selection for air travel.
This may change in the near future if “round-trip sign-up or one-time sign up” is
approved. For example, in the Mid-Atlantic States Area you can sign up at McGuire
AFB, Baltimore/Washington IAP, Andrews AFB and Dover AFB for air travel to Central
Europe and the Near East Area.
21. What happens to your sign-up records at a departure location when you fly from
that station? Note carefully that once passengers are selected for a flight, their
name will be removed from the station standby register for all destinations.
22. May pets be transported Space-A? Not by Space-A passengers. Active Duty personnel
may move pets Space-A on military contract flights when the sponsor is traveling
on a permanent change of station.
23. I am retired. When I was on active duty, my personnel officer issued me travel
and leave orders which specified travel documents and other requirements for visiting
foreign countries. Where can I now get that information? Appendix R: Personnel Entrance
Requirements in this book. You may also check the personnel entrance requirements
to foreign countries and the latest changes to the DoD Foreign Clearance Guides at
local personnel offices, AMC Space-A counters or most other air departure locations.
24. As a Space-A passenger, will I be subjected to security screening prior to boarding
a flight? Yes. In most cases you and your baggage will receive electronic and/or
personal security screening prior to boarding the flight or entering a secure area
for aircraft boarding.
25. May adult family members who are dependent children because of a handicap or
a permanent disability, and who have a valid DD Form 1173 military ID card, travel
with their sponsor regardless of age? Yes. They may travel on the same basis as any
other dependent. Documentation of the dependent's permanent disability may be required.
Please see note at #21 above.
