Military Leave: Accrual Rates and Types

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Taking time away from duty is crucial for the well-being, morale, and readiness of U.S. military service members. Military leave is an earned benefit that provides opportunities for rest, personal needs, and family time. This guide covers how military leave is earned, available types, carryover rules, and management practices based on Department of Defense policies and service regulations.

Leave Accrual

Standard Rate

Service members on active duty earn paid leave at a standard rate. For each full month of active service, members accrue 2.5 days of leave, totaling 30 days of paid leave per year. This rate is consistent across all services, including Army, Air Force, Space Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. Leave balances start at zero upon entering service and build monthly.

DoD Regulations

The foundation for all branch leave policies is DoD Instruction 1327.06, “Leave and Liberty Policy and Procedures” (DoD Leave Policy). This instruction creates uniform leave policies across the Armed Forces as required by federal law (10 U.S.C. § 704).

While DoDI 1327.06 promotes consistency, each service branch maintains specific implementation details through their regulations:

• Army: Army Regulation 600-8-10
• Air Force/Space Force: Department of the Air Force Instruction 36-3003
• Marines: Marine Corps Order 1050.3J
• Navy: Military Personnel Manual articles
• Coast Guard: Commandant Instructions

Carryover Limits

The 60-Day Rule

Military leave accrues throughout a service member’s career, but there’s a limit on unused leave carried over from one fiscal year to the next. The government’s fiscal year runs from October 1st to September 30th.

Under normal circumstances, service members can carry forward a maximum of 60 days of accrued leave into the new fiscal year. Any leave balance exceeding this limit at the end of September 30th is typically forfeited. This policy is commonly known as the “use or lose” rule.

Commanders should establish leave programs that allow members to use earned leave and minimize forfeiture, but service members are also responsible for monitoring their leave balances.

Special Leave Accrual (SLA)

An exception to the 60-day carryover limit exists under the Special Leave Accrual policy. SLA provides relief for service members prevented from using earned leave due to operational requirements, allowing them to retain a balance greater than 60 days at fiscal year-end.

SLA Eligibility

Eligibility for SLA is typically based on service under specific conditions:

• Continuous service (often 120+ days) in an area designated for Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay
• Assignment to designated deployable ships, mobile units, or similar duties where operational requirements prevent leave usage
• Performing specific duties where leave use is restricted due to circumstances such as catastrophes, national emergencies, or operations in defense of national security

Effective January 1, 2023, duty assignment solely supporting a designated contingency operation is no longer sufficient to qualify for SLA.

90-Day Cap (Post-Jan 1, 2023)

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 mandated changes to SLA policy. Effective January 1, 2023, the maximum leave balance a service member can carry over with SLA protection is 90 days. This consists of the standard 60 days plus up to 30 days of SLA-protected leave, replacing the previous maximum of 120 days.

SLA Retention Period

The portion of leave protected by SLA is shielded from forfeiture for a limited time. Under the policy effective January 1, 2023, SLA-protected leave must be used before the end of the second fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the qualifying duty ended.

For instance, SLA approved based on qualifying duty in FY2023 will expire if not used by September 30, 2025. This two-year retention period is shorter than the previous three-year period.

SLA protection also ends if the service member’s total current leave balance drops to 60 days or less at any point. SLA days cannot be sold (except under the one-time forfeiture sell-back provision) and must be used before expiration.

Transition Rules

The 90-day SLA cap was first applied at the end of FY2023. To manage the transition:

• Members whose total SLA-protected balance was 90 days or less as of December 31, 2022, became subject to the new 90-day cap starting at the end of FY24
• Members whose SLA-protected balance was 90.5+ days as of December 31, 2022 could retain their higher balance (up to 120 days) according to original expiration dates or until September 30, 2026, whichever came first
• SLA accumulated due to COVID-19 or for other reasons prior to FY2023 generally retained its previously established expiration timeline

Selling Back Excess Leave (Enlisted Only)

Recognizing that the new 90-day cap could cause some members to forfeit leave, a special provision allows enlisted service members to elect a one-time lump-sum payment for SLA leave that would be lost due to exceeding the 90-day limit.

• Maximum payment for 30 days of forfeited SLA leave
• Can only be made once during an enlisted member’s career
• Counts against the 60-day lifetime limit that enlisted members can sell back throughout their career
• Not available to commissioned officers

SLA on Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)

Service members should regularly check their LES to monitor SLA status:

• SLA-protected leave balances and expiration dates appear in the Remarks section at the bottom of the LES
• The expiration date is critical to know to avoid forfeiting protected leave
• SLA days are included within the total “Current Balance” shown on the LES
• The “Use/Lose” field indicates the amount of ordinary leave projected to be forfeited at fiscal year-end if not used

Leave Types

Understanding the distinction between chargeable and non-chargeable leave is fundamental to managing time off effectively.

• Chargeable Leave: Any authorized absence subtracted from a service member’s accrued leave balance
• Non-Chargeable Leave: Authorized absence for specific purposes not subtracted from the accrued leave balance

Using non-chargeable leave when eligible preserves accrued ordinary leave for vacations and personal uses.

Chargeable Leave Types

Ordinary Leave

This is the standard leave earned at 2.5 days per month, used for vacations, personal errands, family care, rest and relaxation, travel during a Permanent Change of Station, or any other personal reason.

Emergency Leave

This is chargeable leave granted on an expedited basis for urgent personal or family emergencies, such as death or serious illness/injury of an immediate family member. While approval is typically fast due to circumstances, days taken are deducted from the member’s leave balance.

An exception exists where time spent in government-funded travel related to emergency leave may not be charged as leave.

Terminal Leave

This is ordinary leave taken immediately preceding retirement, separation from active duty, or transfer to the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve. It allows members to use their accrued leave balance for their transition period instead of selling it back.

The key feature is that members do not return to their duty station after terminal leave; their last day of leave coincides with their official last day of active duty.

Non-Chargeable Leave Types

Convalescent Leave

• Purpose: To provide recovery time following illness, injury, surgery, or childbirth when a medical provider determines the member is not yet fit for duty
• Eligibility: Based on written recommendation from an attending physician or healthcare provider
• Duration: Granted for minimum time essential for recovery; initial periods often limited to 30 days with extensions requiring higher-level approval
• Approval: Granted by unit commander (based on medical recommendation) or commander of the hospital/medical treatment facility

Convalescent leave differs from “sick-in-quarters,” which is for minor illnesses, doesn’t require hospitalization, involves staying at home for a short period (generally under 72 hours), and doesn’t require formal leave processing.

Parental Leave

• Purpose: To allow covered service members time to bond with and care for a new child following birth, adoption, or placement for long-term foster care
• Eligibility: Applies to Active Component members and certain Reserve Component members
• Duration: As of January 4, 2023, eligible members receive 12 weeks of non-chargeable parental leave for each qualifying event
• Usage: Must be taken within one year of the qualifying event; can be continuous or in increments (minimum 7 days each)

For birth parents, the 12 weeks of parental leave is in addition to maternity convalescent leave. This expanded benefit replaced the previous system that designated “primary” and “secondary” caregivers with different leave amounts.

Bereavement Leave

• Purpose: To provide non-chargeable leave for coping with and attending funeral services following death of a spouse or child
• Eligibility: For Active Component members and Reserve Component members on extended active duty orders who have fewer than 30 days of accrued ordinary leave on the date of death
• Duration: Up to 14 consecutive days per qualifying death
• Timeline: Applies to deaths occurring on or after June 25, 2022

Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY) / Administrative Absence

PTDY is an authorized administrative absence for specific purposes deemed beneficial to the service member or DoD. Key characteristics:

• Travel, per diem, and associated costs are generally not paid by the government
• Time off is non-chargeable against leave balance
• Requires command approval, often at the O-5 or O-6 level

Common PTDY purposes include:

• House hunting related to PCS (typically 8-10 days)
• Transition job/house hunting for involuntary separation or retirement (10-30 days depending on service and location)
• Attending professional/technical meetings beneficial to the service
• Participating in official events like DoD-sponsored sporting events or recruiting activities
• Non-covered reproductive healthcare (Air Force/Space Force: up to 21 days)
• Other specific purposes like naturalization, official retirement ceremonies, or obtaining legal marriage overseas

Liberty, Weekends, and Holidays

• Liberty: Authorized time off from duty, typically under 72 hours (or 96 hours over designated holiday weekends), for rest within the local area; generally non-chargeable
• Weekends and Holidays: When taking chargeable leave, weekends and public holidays within the approved period count against leave balance; however, if leave begins or ends on a non-duty day, that day is generally not charged

Leave Management

• Electronic Systems: Most services use electronic systems for leave requests and tracking (Air Force/Space Force: LeaveWeb; Navy: eLeave via NSIPS; Army: IPPS-A)
• Command Approval: All leave requires approval from the appropriate level in the chain of command, contingent upon mission requirements and unit readiness
• LES Verification: Regularly checking the Leave and Earnings Statement via myPay is crucial for tracking leave balances, accrual, use/lose projections, and SLA details

Summary of Non-Chargeable Leave Types

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