IMPLEMENTING POLICY ON PRIORITIZING MILITARY EXCELLENCE AND READINESS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION, PROCESSING, AND INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION OF MARINES
MARADMIN 189/26 · April 23, 2026 · Source
Are You a Reserve Marine With a Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis? Here's What This Policy Means for You.
A new MARADMIN was signed in late April 2026.
It sets the formal process for identifying, processing, and involuntarily separating Marines with a current diagnosis, history of, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria.
If you are a Reserve Marine in the SMCR, IMA, or IRR, this policy applies to you. Read it carefully.
Reference: MARADMIN 189/26, signed 23 April 2026. Implements guidance flowing from ALNAV 011/26 and multiple OSD and SECNAV memoranda. Underlying separations authority is MCO 1900.16 (the Marine Corps Separations and Retirement Manual).
(Link to MCO 1900.16 not fabricated here. Ask your S-1 for the current version.)
The old problem
After earlier policy shifts on military service and gender dysphoria, there was no single Marine Corps document spelling out exactly how identification, referral, and separation would work step by step.
Commanders had questions. Marines had questions.
Who triggers the process? What forms go where? What happens to a Reserve Marine's drill pay while this is ongoing?
This MARADMIN answers those questions.
The new rule (in one line)
Marines with a diagnosis, history of, or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria are subject to involuntary separation, and this MARADMIN is the instruction manual for how that separation happens.
How the process actually works
Step 1. Identification
There are two ways a Marine gets identified under this policy.
Route A. Periodic Health Assessment (PHA)
✦ A Marine attests on the PHA self-assessment questionnaire to a diagnosis, history, or symptoms of gender dysphoria.
✦ That attestation triggers a medical evaluation through the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED).
✦ No one can order you to complete a PHA outside your normal scheduled cycle. The policy is explicit on this.
Route B. Commander's Awareness
A commander can initiate the process if they have direct knowledge from one of these specific sources:
✦ A prior ETP request allowing different sex-based standards.
✦ A prior request to change a sex marker in DEERS.
✦ A medical treatment plan, restricted duty status, or deployment waiver tied to a documented gender dysphoria diagnosis.
✦ A Marine's voluntary written self-identification to their chain of command.
✦ Other facts or circumstances not covered above. But in that case, the commander cannot act alone. They must bring those facts to the first general officer (GO) in the chain of command. The GO decides, in consultation with a judge advocate and BUMED, whether the process moves forward.
(Commanders cannot go on rumors or informal observations. The policy restricts "awareness" to those five specific sources.)
Step 2. Medical verification
Once a commander identifies a Marine, they contact the BUMED Deployability and Action Cell (BUMED DAC) to initiate a medical records review.
✦ BUMED DAC email: usn.ncr.bumedfchva.mbx.bumed-deployability-action-cell@health.mil
✦ The commander also notifies Manpower Military Policy (MPO) within 24 hours of requesting that review.
If BUMED confirms the Marine meets the medical criteria, BUMED documents the Marine as non-deployable and not medically ready, then notifies MPO.
Step 3. Referral package
The command submits a referral to MPO in naval letter format. That package must include:
- Marine's name.
- Assigned command.
- EDIPI (your DoD ID number).
- Whether the Marine receives special pay or a bonus, with a recommendation on debt recoupment if applicable.
The file is titled with the Marine's initials and last five digits of their EDIPI, saved as a PDF.
MPO reviews the package for completeness, then routes it to the Consolidated Disposition Authority (CDA).
Step 4. Administrative absence or excused drills
This is the step that looks different for Reserve Marines versus active-duty Marines.
For SMCR Marines specifically:
✦ Commanders should excuse the Marine from drill for the duration of the separation process.
✦ Excused Marines do not receive drill pay and do not earn retirement points for those excused drills.
✦ The unit diary entry code is "EA - OTHER."
✦ The history statement reads: "Excused absence in accordance with ALNAV 011/26 for the duration of the retirement/separation process."
✦ If a commander chooses not to excuse the Marine from drill, the command must notify MPO within 24 hours.
While in this status, Marines begin pre-separation requirements immediately, including the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Maximum flexibility is allowed to complete those requirements remotely or in civilian attire.
Step 5. Involuntary separation board proceedings
Within 30 calendar days of referral, the CDA notifies the Marine through their command that involuntary separation proceedings have begun.
✦ The CDA is the Commander, Navy Installations Command. They are the only authority that can initiate involuntary separation under this policy.
✦ The notification informs the Marine of their right to elect an administrative separation board (enlisted) or a board of inquiry (officer).
✦ The Secretary of the Navy is the final separation authority for both officers and enlisted Marines under this policy.
All documents and correspondence go through MPO.
Why this is a big deal
Before this MARADMIN, the policy direction existed at the ALNAV and OSD memo level. Clear. But the mechanical how-to was not written down for Marine Corps commanders.
Now it is.
This document closes the procedural gap. It names who identifies, who verifies, who refers, who decides, and who separates.
It also draws a firm line around what counts as "commander's awareness." That matters for Marines. A commander cannot initiate this process based on informal knowledge or third-party word. The source of that knowledge has to fit one of the defined categories, and anything outside those categories has to go to a GO before anything happens.
For Reserve Marines, the policy also answers a specific question that active-duty guidance could not cleanly answer: what happens to your drill status, your drill pay, and your retirement points while you are in this process. Now there is an answer in writing.
A smaller note for active-duty Marines
Active and Active Reserve Marines in this process are placed on administrative absence with a duty limitation code of E - ADMIN, NON-DEPLOY. You retain full pay and benefits during administrative absence, except that bonus, special, and incentive pays are suspended. Administrative absence is initiated through Marine Online (MOL) under the Leave and Liberty module.
The bottom line
This MARADMIN is the Marine Corps' step-by-step operating instruction for separating Marines with a gender dysphoria diagnosis, history, or symptoms. It covers how Marines are identified, how medical verification works, what the referral package looks like, and what happens to Reserve Marines' drill status during the process. The CDA initiates. SECNAV separates. MPO is the routing hub for everything.
What to do with this
If you are an SMCR Marine and this policy may apply to you:
✦ Talk to your command's S-1 and a military attorney before anything else.
✦ Know that you have a right to elect a board. That right is stated in the notification the CDA sends.
✦ Understand that excused drill status means no drill pay and no retirement points for those periods.
✦ Begin pre-separation requirements (including TAP) as soon as the process starts, not after it ends.
If you are an SMCR commander:
✦ Review what counts as "commander's awareness" under paragraph 2.b. precisely.
✦ Anything outside those defined categories goes to your first GO in the chain, not to you alone.
✦ You have 24 hours to notify MPO after requesting a BUMED DAC medical review.
✦ If you elect not to excuse a Marine from drill during processing, notify MPO within 24 hours.
✦ All referrals and correspondence route through MPO. Contact them early.
Questions on policy: SMB_HQMC_MPO@USMC.MIL or (703) 784-9632
Enlisted separations questions: SMB_MANPOWER_MMSR2E@USMC.MIL
Officer separations questions: SMB_MANPOWER_MMSR20@USMC.MIL
CDA questions: CDA_USMC@USMC.MIL
This is written by a reservist, for reservists. It is not an official publication of HQMC or MARFORRES. Always verify guidance with your command or unit S-1 before acting on any article or summary.
Want a shorter version of just the SMCR drill status rules, or a longer version walking through the board proceedings in more detail? Ask and I can build either.