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Fraternization & relationships: the controlling regulation in every branch

Officer/enlisted relationships and the line between mentorship and misconduct — policies differ more between branches than most people expect.

BranchControlling publication
ArmyAR 600-20 — ARMY COMMAND POLICY
Current dated 2026-04-15
Army Command Policy, relationships chapter
NavyOPNAVINST 5370.2E — NAVY FRATERNIZATION POLICY
Current dated 2020-11-04
Marine CorpsMCO 5370.7 — on MCPEL (not in our index)
Coast GuardCOMDTINST M1600.2 — DISCIPLINE AND CONDUCT
Current dated 2020-10-22
Discipline and Conduct manual
Air ForceDAFI 36-2909 — on AF e-Publishing (not in our index)
Publication numbers, dates, and statuses in this table resolve live against each branch's official catalog index — when a service revises its reg, this page follows automatically. Verify the controlling copy on the official portal before citing it.

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