Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery

Updated June 9, 2026

Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) is a military cemetery

administered by the Office of Army Cemeteries. Located in

Arlington County, Virginia, the cemetery was created in

1864 during the Civil War from 200 acres of plantation land

that once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis,

step-grandson of the first U.S. President. Custis bequeathed

his estate to his daughter, who had married U.S. Army 1st

Lieutenant Robert E. Lee in 1831. At the start of the Civil

War in 1861, the Custis Lee family fled the property. The

Union Army then occupied and fortified the estate to help

defend the nation’s capital. In 1863, Freedman’s Village

was established on the southern portion of the property to

assist formerly enslaved individuals in their transition to

freedom by providing shelter, medical care, education, and

training. On June 15, 1864, the War Department officially

designated the burial site as a military cemetery. The first

military burial took place on May 13, 1864, for Private

William Henry Christman, a Union soldier from

Pennsylvania. Since then, over 16,000 Civil War soldiers

have been laid to rest at ANC. This includes 2,111 Union

and Confederate soldiers who are buried underneath the

Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns in Section 26. In total,

ANC contains the remains of nearly 5,000 unknown

servicemembers.

After years of legal wrangling with the Custis Lee family,

the U.S. government officially purchased the property on

March 3, 1883, for $150,000 (over $4 million today).

According to ANC, there are now approximately 430,000

veterans and their eligible dependents buried there.

Current Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for burial at ANC is in accordance with

the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 32, Part 553,

Sections 12 and 13. See Table 1.

Table 1. Current Eligibility Requirements for Burial and Inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery

Inurnment in

Columbarium Court

or Niche Wall

In-Ground Burial

(Casket or Urn)

Dies on Title 10 federal active duty (other than for training)

Yes

Yes

Dies on active duty for training only under Title 10

Yes

No

Veteran—retired from active duty; reserve retirees receiving retirement pay

Yes

Yes

Veteran—at least one day active duty other than for training

Yes

No

Veteran—received Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross (Air Force or

Navy), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, or Purple Heart

Yes

Yes

Any member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces and any member

of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard whose death occurs

under honorable conditions while on active duty for training or performing

full-time service

Yes

No

Any former prisoner of war who, while a prisoner of war, served honorably in

the active military, naval, or air service; whose last period of service

terminated honorably; and who died on or after November 30, 1993

Yes

Yes

Servicemember with Honorable Discharge

Source: Arlington National Cemetery, “Establishing Eligibility,” https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Funerals/Eligibility; and in accordance with

32 C.F.R. Part 553, §§12 and 13. Table is as updated as of June 5, 2026.

Proposed Changes to Eligibility

Due to capacity concerns, in September 2020, the Army

proposed changes to the eligibility for in-ground burial and

above-ground inurnment at ANC. The proposed rule would

limit eligibility to certain groups and was issued in response

to requirements in Section 598 of P.L. 115-232, the John S.

McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for

FY2019. The Army indicated that the changes would allow

ANC to continue to function as an active burial ground

“well into the future,” defined as 150 years. Without new

eligibility restrictions, ANC states that it will run out of

space for new burials by 2041—or by the mid-2060s with

the eventual completion of the Southern Expansion project.

According to the Army, as of June 2026, approximately

67,200 burial spaces remain available within the current

cemetery,

The public comment period on the proposed rule closed

November 16, 2020. After considering public comments,

the Army planned to publish a final rule, which they

estimated would occur in August 2025, although the rule

has not been finalized as of June 5, 2026. According to

ANC, “implementation of revised eligibility will not affect

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Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery

previously scheduled services.” The proposed revisions are

not to affect veterans’ burial benefits or veteran eligibility

at Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery

Administration or state veterans’ cemeteries.

Proposed Eligibility for In-Ground Interment:

• Servicemembers killed in action, to include repatriated

remains

• Current and future Medal of Honor recipients (ANC to

reserve 1,000 gravesites)

• Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy

Cross, Air Force Cross, or Silver Star

• Recipients of the Purple Heart

• Those who died in combat-related service while

conducting uniquely military activities

• Former prisoners of war

• Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States

• Veterans with combat service who also served out of

uniform as government officials and made significant

contributions to the nation’s security at the highest

levels of public service

Proposed Eligibility for Above-Ground Inurnment:

• World War II–era veterans, to include legislated activeduty designees

• Retirees from the Armed Forces who are eligible to

receive retired pay but are not otherwise eligible for

interment

• Veterans who have served a minimum of two years on

active duty and who have served in combat

• Veterans without combat service who also served out of

uniform as government officials and made significant

contributions to the nation’s security at the highest

levels of public service

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On November 11, 2021, ANC marked the centennial

commemoration of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,

which was dedicated on November 11, 1921, to mark the

grave of an American unknown soldier from World War I.

In August 1956, President Eisenhower signed into law P.L.

84-975, approving the selection and interment of unknown

soldiers from both World War II and Korea, and in May

1984, President Reagan interred a Vietnam War unknown

soldier. In 1998, DNA testing confirmed that the unknown

soldier from the Vietnam War was Air Force 1 st Lieutenant

Michael Joseph Blassie, who was later reinterred at the

National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO. On September 17,

1999, the Vietnam tomb was rededicated to honor all

missing U.S. servicemembers from the Vietnam War.

Expansion Plans

ANC occupies 639 acres of land in Arlington County,

Virginia. Since its inception, ANC has expanded to meet

the demand for more burial space. The latest expansion is

the Southern Expansion Program, which includes the

Defense Access Roads (DAR) and Southern Expansion

projects.

Southern Expansion

What would become known as the Southern Expansion

program started in 1998 with the ANC Master Plan, which

identified a former Navy annex site as suitable interment

space. Through extensive public engagement and feedback

over the next two decades, these efforts to expand ANC

developed into two distinct but interconnected projects: the

Federal Highway Administration DAR and Southern

Expansion projects. The DAR project consists of roadway

realignments to increase safety and capacity of roadways in

the area and add “multimodal transportation capacity.”

Section 2105 of the NDAA for FY2019 authorized $60

million for ANC extension projects. The Southern

Expansion project, which aims to add 80,000 additional

internment and burial spaces, is split into several phases:

Phase I creates retaining walls for the site of the new

Operations Complex, Phase II constructs the Operations

Complex, and Phase III expands burial grounds and

columbaria. According to ANC, the DAR project and Phase

I are anticipated to be completed in September 2026. Phase

II is scheduled for completion in November 2026. The

contract for the construction of Phase III was awarded in

February 2026, and construction has since started.

Relevant Statutes and Regulations

32 C.F.R. §553.11. General rules governing eligibility for

interment, inurnment, and memorialization at Arlington

National Cemetery

85 Federal Register 57640 (Sept. 15, 2020). Proposed Rule on

Army Cemeteries

38 U.S.C. §2410. Burial of cremated remains in Arlington

National Cemetery

38 U.S.C. §2411. Prohibition against interment or

memorialization in the National Cemetery Administration or

Arlington National Cemetery of persons committing Federal

or State capital crimes

Related CRS Reports

CRS Report R44426, Military Funeral Honors for Veterans

CRS Report R41386, Veterans’ Benefits: Burial Benefits and

National Cemeteries

Selected Sources

ANC, “Proposed Revised Eligibility Criteria”

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Southern Expansion Project

website and ANC Project News and Information.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway

Administration, “Arlington National Cemetery Defense Access

Roads (DAR) Project”

Clayton M. Levy, Research Librarian

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Defense Primer: Arlington National Cemetery

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