Military Not Allowed to travel to Mexico ports??

[WI-Cruiser]

It is essentially the call of his or her chain of command.

[Scootch]

My son in law is in the Marines. We are booked on Freedom Eastern Itinerary Jan 5th. We picked Eastern because my daughter said the Marines are not allowed to travel to ports in Mexico. I told my daughter I am pretty confident our ports will get changed.

 

Has anyone heard of this restriction for military personnel?

 

I am really torn because my family does not want me to cancel the cruise. I have less than 2 weeks from final payment. As another thought, I also think prices will drop after final payment.

 

My DH is in the USAF (former Marine) and we too have been told this. He has also been told that he can request permission. This is due to the high crime in Mexico.

[BND]

That is funny.

 

Oh, and for what it's worth, having a high security clearance is a curse.

 

You get stuck on jobs in a windowless room, with secure computers, phone lines, and never get to work from home. :eek:

 

Kind of like staying indoors when all the other kids are at recess. ;)

 

Not true about windowless offices.

[jamesr3939]

Wow, so much miss-information. I am a civilian contractor with a SSBI and do clearance investigations for a number of government agencies. I have a son in the Army and have taken him and his family to Mexico both cruise and land vacations.

 

Military personal do have to get leave approved, that's any leave not just to a foreign country.

 

Mexico is not automatically banned. The base CO at Ft Bliss did put it off limits for a while to his personnel. But that was for a specific reason and only applied to military personnel under his command.

 

Advanced approval of foreign travel is only required to State Department designated "hostile countries". However, you do have to report foreign travel to other countries. You only have to notify your security officer not get approval. I have never gotten an "OK, you can go" for any foreign travel. There is only one agency (who shall remain nameless) I know of, that you have to tell in advance and could deny your travel, even to non-hostile countries.

 

Anybody with a clearance has to complete a yearly security brief outlining all your reporting requirements. You don't get advance briefings or interviews if you are not going to a hostile country. You will get a debrief if you go to a hostile country or return and think something suspicious happened.

 

Generally, nobody cares if you go to Mexico. Except there have recently been several restrictions put on active government employees working in Mexico and where they can go during certian hours.

 

If the OP got leave approved then your foreign travel is good to go. If it makes you feel better tell him to check with his 1stSGT (my son's rank) or the Sergeant Major.

 

If your son has a security clearance, make sure he reports his foreign travel on his next SF86.

Edited September 29, 2017 by jamesr3939

[11madmic]

Stationed at Ft Bliss, can confirm we were banned from mexico unless you had a very good reason like family reasons to go. and a BUNCH of briefs to go (safety)

[Cruzaholic41]

Thank you jamesr, SRF and Aqua for posting the correct answers.

[jamesr3939]

Stationed at Ft Bliss, can confirm we were banned from mexico unless you had a very good reason like family reasons to go. and a BUNCH of briefs to go (safety)

 

As I recall the ban was more due to conduct by Ft Bliss soldiers than Mexico. Ft Bliss was the last base to raise the on base drinking age from 18 to 21. So all the 18-21 year olds were going to Mexico and getting S#$% faced. So the CO put travel to Mexico off limits to his personnel.

 

That sound about right?

[taylortime05]

Thank you for all the feedback. My SIl is putting in his request. But I think I will have my DD check into insurance with USAA since I can still cancel our current policy.

[11madmic]

As I recall the ban was more due to conduct by Ft Bliss soldiers than Mexico. Ft Bliss was the last base to raise the on base drinking age from 18 to 21. So all the 18-21 year olds were going to Mexico and getting S#$% faced. So the CO put travel to Mexico off limits to his personnel.

 

That sound about right?

Sounds about right, I was in 1-1AD and i remember one month we went "Sober" due to too many incidences, that didnt go very well.

[Sh1035]

wrong. not rubbish at all. service members are being targeted for robbery and worse. the drug cartels are getting bolder in a few areas.

 

That's BS I live one island away from Cozumel and we had one murder in 5 years and it involved drugs.

Stay away from the drugs and border towns and you are fine. Mexico is larger then Texas, California, and Alaska combined. So if there a shootout, earthquake or a hurricane it usually 1000 miles away.

 

But they say it still safe to visit Chicago where 100 get shot a week. Open a map before you spread garbage.

[Sh1035]

Not in all cases.

Agree my gf can't visit me this year in Cancun because of her clearance. Two drug dealers had a shot out. But she can go to work in D.C. Where there were 11 shout outs.