DOD revises leave and liberty policies and programs

  • Published
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- --  There are significant changes being improvised to the leave and liberty policies.

For clarity and ease of use, the revision will incorporate all previous policy
changes since the last publication and should be published within the next few months. These changes must be implemented immediately to conform to the time-sensitive leave- and liberty-related provisions of the law.

The following four new leave policies are effective immediately, retroactive to the
date of National Defense Authorization Act of January 2008: 

(1) Annual leave accrual is temporarily (until December 31, 2010) increased from
60 to 75 days. Servicemembers may now carryover up to 75 days from fiscal year '08 fiscal year '09. In other words, a servicemember with 75 days of leave on September 30, 2008, will not lose that leave on October 1, 2008. 

(2) Special leave accrual (SLA) retention limits are increased. Under the new
limits, SLA earned in combat zones may now be kept for four fiscal years. SLA earned in support of operations may now be kept for two fiscal years. Absent further statutory
revisions, the higher combat zone retention limit applies only to SLA accumulated during the period of October 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010. 

(3) An additional one-time SLA sell back is authorized for enlisted servicemembers. Under this provision, an enlisted servicemember may sell back up to 30 days of
SLA. This does not apply to officers. Such a sell back counts towards the servicemember's cap of 60 days over a career. This provision has no termination date. 

(4) Authorized special rest and recuperation (SR&R) absence with transportation
benefit is increased from 15 to 20 days. This applies to personnel completing an overseas duty tour extension longer than 12 months. This SR&R authorization is distinct from and not to be confused with the rest and recuperation program.

As many Airmen can attest, lengthy respites from the work environment tend to have a beneficial effect on an individual's psychological and physical status. Therefore, an aggressive leave program is an essential military requirement. According to DoDD 1327.5, Leave and Liberty, all officers in command, major headquarters and the military departments shall ensure that secondary and nonessential efforts that may prevent aggressive leave program are not imposed. There are many types of leave available to Airmen; annual, advance, convalescent, emergency, en route, terminal, excess and environmental and morale. Airmen can find more detailed descriptions of the different types of leave in AFPAM 36-2241 Section 16D - Leave Management.

Some basic points to remember about leave include:
-- Leave accrues at the rate of 2.5 calendar days per month of active duty. Military requirements may prevent members from using planned leave. A recent policy change increased the number of days members may accrue from 60 to 75 days through Dec. 31, 2010 (the maximum that may be carried over into the next fiscal year). The expression "use or lose" means that leave in excess of 75 days is lost if not used by the end of the fiscal year, which is Sept. 30. 

-- Leave must begin and end in the local area. The term "local area" means the place of residence from which the member commutes to the duty station on a daily basis. 

-- A member who is unable to report to duty upon expiration of leave because of illness or injury must advise the leave approving authority. The next of kin, attending physician, representative at the Military Treatment Facility or American Red Cross representative may act on the member's behalf when the member is incapacitated and unable to provide notification. 

-- Airmen must ask, orally or in writing, for an extension of leave. The extension must be requested sufficiently in advance of expiration of leave authorized to permit the Airman to return to duty at the proper time if the approval authority disapproves the extension. 

LeaveWeb is an Air Force system that automates the method of requesting and processing leave in lieu of using the hard copy AF Form 988. The program uses email between the Airman, the supervisor, the unit leave monitor and finance to approve leave. This electronic process reduces waste in materials as well as man-hours. It is available on the Air Force Portal.