If you are
active duty in any of the five branches of the armed forces
or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
you earn 30 days of leave (paid vacation) every year. Leave
is paid vacation from duty for recreation and relief (R&R).
This includes the Army National Guard, and the U.S. Army
Reserve that are serving on active duty or initial active
duty for training or active duty for training for a period
of 30 or more consecutive days for which they are entitled
to pay may accrue paid leave time.
Congress under
Federal Law mandates leave however, when you take it is contingent
on a number or variables. You must get approval before taking
leave and if you are needed for military operations your may
be denied. You may also take leave for personal reasons and
emergency situations.
How is Leave
accrued?
Leave is earned at a rate of 2.5 days for each month of service.
Individuals can accrue (save) up to 60 days of leave over
a two-year period of time. Leave balances are evaluated on
October 1 (the first day of the fiscal year). Prior to September
11, 2001 if a service member had leave in access of 60 days
they would forfeit the excess on October 1. After September
11, 2001 Congress pas a law that changed this policy to allow
Special Leave Accrual. Under Special Leave Accruel the Armed
Forces are now authorized to allow service members that would
otherwise lose their leave on October 1 to carry up to 90
days into the next fiscal year. In order to evoke this special
leave policy the service member must be:
deployment
to an operational mission at the national level for at
least 60 consecutive days.
Assignment
or deployment for at least 60 consecutive days to unit,
headquarters, and supporting staffs when their involvement
supporting a designated operational mission prohibits
them from taking leave.
Deployment
to a hostile-fire or imminent danger pay area for 120 or
more consecutive days and receive this special pay for 4
or more consecutive months. In this situation, Defense Finance
and Accounting Service (DFAS)- Denver will automatically
carry over up to 30 days of leave. NOTE: In some instances,
the deployment may overlap 2 Fiscal Years, for example,
a deployment from 15 September until 14 November.
Leave must begin and end in place of residence from which
the member commutes to the duty station on a daily basis.
For example, if you are stationed at Fort Rucker in Georgia
but live in Washington your leave begins at Fort Rucker, not
when you arrive in your home state. This also applies to leave
en route to a PCS or TDY assignment. In this case, the local
area, as defined at the old and new permanent duty station
(PDS), applies. The old PDS is for beginning leave; the new
PDS is for ending leave. Making a false statement of leave
taken may result in punitive action under the UCMJ.
