Millington, Tennessee - In an effort to increase the safety of service members who have been the victims of certain crimes, the Navy has expanded Expedited Transfers to include more cases, the Navy announced in a message released May 7.

With these changes comes a revised and a new Military Personnel Manual (MPM) article, according to NAVADMIN 102/19. The revised Safety Transfers article is MPM 1300-1200 and the new Expedited Transfers article is MPM 1300-1205.

What is an expedited transfer?  

Service members who are the victims of certain criminal offenses may request an expedited transfer for temporary reassignment within or outside their unit or a permanent change of station (PCS) prior to their normal projected rotation date. The eligible offenses for an expedited transfer include only the following:
•    Sexual assault
•    Stalking
•    Other sexual misconduct
•    Wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images

The intent behind expedited transfers is to address situations in which a service member feels safe, but uncomfortable and to assist in the victim's recovery by moving them to a new location.

What is a safety transfer?  

When there are concerns for the safety and well-being of service members or their dependents, safety transfers are used. These transfers can include temporary duty, permanent change of activity or PCS. Reservists have provisions to perform their inactive duty training on different weekends than their alleged offender or to perform inactive duty with a different unit in the home drilling location.

Situations where a safety transfer would be considered include:
•    Victims or witnesses of offenses covered under SECNAVINST 5800.11B
•    Family Advocacy Program cases covered under OPNAVINST 1752.2B
•    Victims of violent crimes
•    Instances in which threats have been made against a service member, the service member's military spouse or dependents as covered under DoD Instruction 1315.18

The MPM articles contain detailed instructions regarding how to file an expedited or safety transfer.

For more information, reference the new MPM articles at https://www.mnp.navy.mil/documents/34074/806924/NAVPERS_15560D_Naval_Military_Personnel_Manual.pdf .