passport trouble

[cyranoslave]

i am in the military and curently deployed to iraq i had planed to go back hometo the u.s. for mid tour leave but plans change and i have to go to the philipenes now some of the soldiers i work with from the philipenes tell me i need a passport to go there on leave and others from there say all i need is my leave orders and a curent military i.d. card so im trying to find out if i need a pass port to the philipenes or not?

[AllYourBase]

Surely someone on the military logisitcs could tell you? What about your CO?

[stanleyman]

I'm surprised you don't already have a passport, saves a lot of trouble. It will depend on where you go and if there is a U.S. military presence there and if you are travelling with the military. Look at it this way, if you went on vacation from the U.S. to a foreign country you would need to take a passport!

It isn't always necessary however if you are on military service, I can remember when on tour in Canada from the UK being allowed into the U.S. with just an I.D. card but I always had a passport. Best check with your unit.

[stanleyman]

Something that has been bothering me about your post is that you have advertised to the world where you go on leave. It maybe wise to be more security conscious. Good luck.

[cyranoslave]

it says where but not when i am going

[stanleyman]

It wasn't just you that I was concerned about!

[johnlambert]

Try a NATO Travel Order, it helps us Brits out and could help our gallant American allies

Good luck, God bless and stay safe

[dzug]

I seem to recall some trouble with US soldiers in the Phillipines recently - it MAY be that the Philippine authorities have restricted passportless travel to duty only or have asked for military personnel to be confined to base.

You'd be much better off asking this through official US channels than on a UK travel board where passportless travel is a contradiction in terms.