Arlington Cemetery Changing Burial Rules Due to Space

Arlington National Cemetery, at its current rate, will be full by the mid-2050s, the Army says. In order to extend the life of the cemetery, the Army has decided to make the rules of who can get buried there a little more strict.

The United States Army has proposed a few restrictions to the cemetery in order to extend the space by 150 years, according to NewsChannel 13. As the current rules stand, the Army states that "Soldiers who die while on active duty, retired members of the Armed Forces, and certain Veterans and Family members are eligible for burial" in the National Cemetery. Now, they're proposing to limit who exactly can end up there.

Under the proposals, veterans who "retired from active duty and were eligible for retirement pay would no longer be automatically eligible for in-ground burial" but the option for cremation is still available and those rules will remain the same. Those who would still be eligible include "those who were killed in action or received awards such as the Purple Heart or Silver Star, " those who "served out of uniform as a government official and made significant contributions to the nation's security at the highest levels of public service," as well as former U.S. presidents and vice presidents.

These rules are only up for debate at the moment and are published in the Federal Register. This allows the public the ability to leave comments about the new proposals. No word on when the official decision will be made.