This bill helps military members who are stationed far away from their children. If an active-duty service member is assigned to a base more than 300 miles away from where their dependent child lives, they can request to be reassigned to a location closer to their child. The commanding officer has to make a decision on this request within five days.

If the request is denied, the service member can appeal to a higher-ranking officer (a general or admiral), who must review the decision within two weeks. The bill also protects service members from getting in trouble or facing any negative consequences for simply asking for this kind of reassignment. Essentially, it gives military families a formal process to try to reduce the distance between parents on active duty and their children, recognizing that long separations can be difficult for families.

Military FAMILY Dependents Act

Military Family’s Ability to Move In Line with Your Dependents Act or the Military FAMILY Dependents ActThis bill requires a commanding officer to determine, within five calendar days, whether to grant a request for the reassignment of certain members of the Armed Forces on the basis of the residence of a dependent child.Specifically, commanding officers must make such determinations for members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty and are assigned to a duty station located more than 300 miles from the residence of their dependent child who is registered under the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.If a commanding officer denies a reassignment request, the member may request review of such denial, and the first general officer or flag officer in the chain of command of the member must complete the review not later than two weeks after the request is made.The bill prohibits members from being subject to any adverse action for requesting a reassignment based on the residence of a dependent child.&nbsp;&nbsp;