November 14, 2019
Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) is a military cemetery
on May 13, 1864, for Private William Henry Christman, 20,
administered by the Department of the Army. On June 15,
a Union soldier from Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania. Two
1864, the War Department appropriated the burial site as a
Unknown Union Soldiers were later interred on May 15,
military cemetery. Located in Arlington County, Virginia,
1864, the first of nearly 5,000 Unknowns now resting in
the cemetery was created in 1864 during the Civil War from
ANC. By the end of the Civil War, the grounds contained
200 acres of plantation land that once belonged to George
the graves of 6,000 Union soldiers. On March 3, 1883, the
Washington Parke Custis, step-grandson of the first U.S.
U.S. government purchased the property for $150,000 after
President. Custis bequeathed his estate to his daughter who
years of legal wrangling with the Custis Lee family.
had married U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Robert E. Lee in 1831. At
the start of the Civil War in 1861, the Custis Lee family
Current Eligibility
fled the property. The Union Army then occupied and
Eligibility criteria for burial at Arlington is in accordance
fortified the estate to help defend the nation’s capital. In
with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 32, Part
1863, the Freedman’s Village was established on the
553, Sections 12 and 13. In FY2018, ANC buried
southern portion of the property to assist former slaves
approximately 6,500 servicemembers, veterans and eligible
transitioning to freedom by providing shelter, medical care,
family members. See Table 1.
education and training. The first military burial took place
Table 1. Current Eligibility Requirements for Burial and Inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery
Inurnment in
Columbarium Court
In-ground burial
Servicemember with Honorable Discharge
or Niche Wall
(Casket or Urn)
Dies on Title 10 Federal Active Duty (other than for training)
Yes
Yes
Dies on Active Duty for training only under Title 10
Yes
No
Veteran – Retired from active duty; reserve retirees receiving retirement pay
Yes
Yes
Veteran – At least one day active duty other than for training
Yes
No
Veteran – Received Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross (Air Force
Yes
Yes
Cross, or Navy Cross), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, or
Purple Heart.
Any member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces, and any member
Yes
No
of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, whose death occurs
under honorable conditions while on active duty for training or performing
ful -time service.
Any former prisoner of war who, while a prisoner of war, served honorably in
Yes
Yes
the active military, naval, or air service; whose last period of service
terminated honorably; and who died on or after November 30, 1993.
Source: Arlington National Cemetery Eligibility Fact Sheet, as of July 1, 2017, at: https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Docs/Eligibilty-
Fact-Sheet-20170701.pdf and http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/FuneralInformation/EstablishServices.aspx.
Proposed Changes to Eligibility
The Acting Army Secretary suggested the following revised
eligibility criteria:
On September 25, 2019, the Army recommended changes
to the eligibility for in-ground burial and above-ground
Proposed Eligibility for In-Ground Interment:
inurnment at Arlington Cemetery, limiting it to certain
groups. Acting Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy,
Service members killed in action, to include repatriated
made the announcement indicating that the changes will
remains;
allow the cemetery to continue to function as an active
ANC to preserve 1,000 gravesites for current and future
burial ground “well into the future,” defined as 150 years.
MoH recipients;
Without the new eligibility restrictions, Arlington would
Award recipients of the Silver Star and above who also
reach capacity for new interment by 2050. Fewer than
served in combat;
95,000 burial spaces remain within the current cemetery.
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Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery
Recipients of the Purple Heart;
ground and the columbarium offers 16,400 above-ground
Combat-related service deaths while conducting
niches for cremated remains.
uniquely military activities;
Southern Expansion
Former POWs;
The Army plans to expand ANC southward starting in 2020
Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States; and
to envelop the site of the old Navy Annex building that was
Veterans with combat service who also served out of
demolished in 2013, adding 37 acres of burial space.
uniform as government officials and made significant
Section 2105 of the National Defense Authorization Act
contributions to the nation's security at the highest levels
(NDAA) for FY2019 increased the authorization from $30
of public service.
million to $60 million for Arlington extension projects. For
more, see “Arlington National Cemetery” in CRS Report
Proposed Eligibility for Above-Ground Inurnment:
R45343, FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act:
World War II-era veterans, to include legislated active
Selected Military Personnel Issues.
duty designees;
Retirees from the armed forces who are eligible to
Relevant Statutes
receive retired pay but are not otherwise eligible for
38 U.S.C. § 2410. Burial of cremated remains in Arlington
interment;
National Cemetery.
Veterans who have served a minimum of two years on
38 U.S.C. §2411. Prohibition against interment or
active duty and who have served in combat; and
memorialization in the National Cemetery Administration or
Veterans without combat service who also served out of
Arlington National Cemetery of persons committing Federal
uniform as government officials and made significant
or State capital crimes.
contributions to the nation's security at the highest levels
of public service.
The Department of the Army must publish a draft rule in
Related CRS Reports
the Federal Register for public comment, review the public
comments and publish the final rule. According to the
CRS Report R44426, Military Funeral Honors for Veterans. See
Army, revised eligibility at ANC will not affect previously
section “Military Funeral Honors at Arlington National
scheduled burial services. In addition, the proposed
Cemetery.”
revisions will not affect veterans’ burial benefits or veteran
CRS Report R41386, Veterans’ Benefits: Burial Benefits and
eligibility at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national
National Cemeteries.
cemeteries or state veterans cemeteries.
Expansion Plans
Sources
ANC occupies almost 625 acres of land in Arlington
County, Virginia, and is the final resting place of more than
Arlington National Cemetery. “Acting Secretary of the Army
400,000 servicemembers and their eligible family members.
announces proposed changes to eligibility criteria for burial at
Since its inception, ANC has expanded to meet the demand
Arlington National Cemetery,” Arlington News, 9/25/2019.
for more burial space. The latest expansions are the recently
Arlington National Cemetery. “Proposed Revised Eligibility
completed Millennium Project and the planned Southern
Criteria,” https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/About/Proposed-
Expansion project.
Revised-Eligibility-Criteria, and “Scheduling a Funeral Service”
at https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Funerals/Scheduling-a-
Millennium Project
Funeral.
The latest expansion has been termed the Millennium
Lopez, C. Todd. “Early Work on Arlington Cemetery
Project. Conceived in 1990s, the $81.7 million undertaking
Expansion Starts Next Year,” DOD News, March 13, 2019.
was the first geographic expansion of the cemetery in four
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “Arlington National Cemetery
decades. The 27 additional acres in the northwestern part of
Moves Forward with Cemetery Expansion Plan,” August 20,
the cemetery were allocated from a construction staging
2018, at https://www.nao.usace.army.mil/; and “Arlington
area for the cemetery, recreation land for nearby Fort Myer
National Cemetery Southern Expansion Project and
and National Park Service woodland. The U.S. Army Corps
Associated Roadway Realignment,” August 15, 2018, at
of Engineers and several contractors started construction in
https://www.nao.usace.army.mil/.
2013, and the completed project was dedicated on
September 7, 2018. Two unknown soldiers from the Civil
War were buried to mark the first in-ground burial at the
site. According to ANC, Millennium provides 27,282 new
Barbara Salazar Torreon, Senior Research Librarian
interment spaces that are located either above or below
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Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery
Disclaimer
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