U.S. military personnel, dependents and all Defense civilian contractors and employees may not travel to France thanks to a newly instituted travel ban announced by the Defense Department today after a wave of terrorist attacks rocked the country last week leaving 129 people dead.
The ban prohibits all DoD personnel and their command-sponsored dependents and family from unofficial travel within the country. Any emergency leave to France requires approval from a general officer in the service member or employee's chain of command. Military family members who are not in the region on command-sponsored orders are not impacted by the ban.
The ban was announced today in a statement from U.S. European Command (EUCOM).
"This is a precautionary measure to keep our personnel and families safe in light of the recent attacks," the statement said. "This is also an effort to help minimize tourist traffic at the borders in France, and in [particular], in Paris as the French authorities continue their investigation."
The ban also impacts cruise ship shore excursions in France, but does not apply to personnel and families assigned to the country. It also does not impact those who have commercial airline connections through the country, provided they do not leave the secure portion of the airport, the announcement said.
The U.S. Navy had previously announced a travel ban Saturday for its personnel. It prohibited any sailor stationed in Europe, Africa and Bahrain from traveling to France for leave through November 27.
The EUCOM announcement contained no travel ban end-date.
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