Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn't want you to read

[Farmer-Rick]

6. Yeah, the financial department of the Navy needs that determination

To know if the family or the injured person is eligible for benefits.

For example: if a sailor gets injured while committing a crime, they would not be eligible for benefits. But, and here is catch 22, if a sailor dies, they almost always get a line of duty determination. The unfortunate sailor would have to be doing something really awful for the investigating officer to make a determination that the death occurred while Not in the line of duty.

We had an office on vacation, on leave, in Puerto Rico died while using jet skies. It was considered in line of duty. The theory is that the Navy pays you for 24 hours, 7 days a week, even on leave they can recall you, so you're still on duty.