Who tells the spouse a soldier has died?

September 19, 2009 5:20 PM

Writing filter: In the USA, who tells the spouse that a member of the military has died, and what is that job or role called?
posted by joannemerriam to law & government (7 comments total)

One person who might get that job is a casualty notification officer.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:23 PM on September 19 [1 favorite]

Thanks!
posted by joannemerriam at 5:29 PM on September 19

You may find this handy: NPR's Terry Gross interviews journalist Jim Sheeler and Major Steve Beck. Sheeler shadowed casualty notification officer Beck for two years while researching the series of newspaper articles that eventually became the book, Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:38 PM on September 19

The Navy and Marine Corps call them Casualty Assistance Calls Officers.
posted by haltingproblemsolved at 5:43 PM on September 19

This abridged set of FAQs and checklists for Navy CACOs (pronounced \ˈkā-kōz\) may also be useful, depending on the branch of the military your dead character is in.
posted by haltingproblemsolved at 5:53 PM on September 19

Also a bit of lingo for you, my aunt (Air Force) rotated the role of CACO within her office with the "death beeper". When the beeper went off, someone had died based out of that city/AFB.

With the stress inherent in the job, it was rotated frequently, and she was always glad to be relieved of the "death beeper"
posted by fontophilic at 6:36 PM on September 19

It's an unexpected source, but here's a thorough history of the US military's casualty notification process and how it evolved post-WWII from the telegram to the personal visit.
Start at US Army Casualty Operations: An Overview halfway down.
posted by dhartung at 10:17 PM on September 19