LEGADMINMAN Chapter 5 outlines the procedures for declaring a service member a deserter.  To submit a DD Form 553, email us at PSLCorrectionsHQMC@usmc.mil with the attachment or send us a fax at 1-703-604-6666.  A follow-up email is highly recommended.  The most recent edition DD Form 553 (MAR 2015) is required, as all previous editions are obsolete.  Annotate PENDING CHARGES from the command in the remarks section of the 553. 

DD Form 553 and instructions for completion can be downloaded here:
DD Form 553
Instructions for Completing DD Form 553.

Contact our office at 1-703-604-3667 or 0395. We will assist you or the member with returning to military custody.

Contact this office at 703-604-3667/0395 and the completion of DD Form 616 is required.  Use LEGADMINMAN Chapter 5 as a reference.

Once the Marine Corps Total Force System has been updated to Duty Status 'S', and a DD FORM 553 (Deserter/Absentee Wanted by the Armed Forces Form) is received (IAW LEGADMINMAN Chapter 5) at the Deserter Information Point, the member is entered into the National Crime Information Center database.  A federal warrant is issued for his/her arrest and will remain active until the deserter is arrested, returns to military control, or a confirmation of death is obtained.

IAW LEGADMINMAN Chapter 5, a person may be declared a deserter if:

1) the facts and circumstances of the Marines absence, without regard to the length, indicate the member committed the offense of desertion, as defined in Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ); or

2) if the Marine has been absent without authority for 30 consecutive days; or

3) immediately, if member is absent without authority, without regard to length of absence, and has gone to, or shown intention of going to any foreign country, or remains in any foreign country and requests or accepts any type of asylum or residence from that country or its governmental agencies.

You can contact our office at 1-703-604-0395/3667 or email at PSLCorrectionsHQMC@usmc.mil to inquire if a person is on the active Marine Corps desertion list.

Contact our office at 1-703-604-3667/0395 and we will assist you in returning to military control.

The parent command is responsible for declaring a deserter unless the member is in PCS status and then the gaining command must declare the member a deserter based on the failure to report.

We will stop investigating when the warrant for desertion is cleared.  If you believe you are already discharged from the Marine Corps, a certified copy of your DD-214 will need to be mailed to the Deserter Information Point.