SPECIAL TYPES OF LEAVE
If you spend leave like my family, then planning time off involves a lot of math. But that only applies to traditional leave that our service members accrue. Some special kinds of leave may be available to your family depending on the circumstances you find yourself in.
1. Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY)
This leave becomes eligible when someone is nearing the point of military separation. It is designed to help families transition from military to civilian life by giving them additional time to look for housing or work in whatever area they will be going to after leaving the military. It only applies to military members retiring or involuntarily separating under honorable status.
If you are involuntarily separated under honorable status (meaning leaving the military against your will while being a quality worker), you are granted 30 days of leave or PTDY for up to 10 days, depending on where you are heading versus where you are located now. Military members getting out at the end of their contract are not eligible.
2. Bereavement Leave
This is authorized on a case-by-case basis based on command approval. Generally speaking, it is up to 14 days of leave that can be used outside of personal leave in the loss of a spouse or child. This leave also only applies if a service member has less than 30 days in their leave account. If they have 35, they must use six personal days before accessing the 14 days. This is one of the leave policies that frustrates me the most because of how limited the circumstances are that people can access it, but it is there for those who fit the criteria with their loss and leave eligibility.
3. Emergency Leave
Emergency leave is generally considered leave taken at the last minute in response to a family or other urgent situation. It is approved on a case-by-case basis but is still charged from your traditional leave account. Emergency leave is there to expedite approval, but if we don’t have any leave available, we don’t have emergency leave.
4. Convalescent Leave
This leave covers short-term medical illnesses or injuries. It is typically 30 days or less, and the medical center and a commander determine that length of time. This is a separate type of leave from being placed on “quarters.” If a service member has a short-term illness like a cold or flu, they will go to medical and be placed on quarters, meaning they must remain home for a certain period, usually no more than 72 hours. Then, the servicemember reports back to medical and is either cleared for regular duty or placed on quarters for another period. Convalescent leave kicks in when it will be a more extended recovery, such as childbirth, a broken bone that affects their ability to work, or a medical condition requiring extended treatment that doesn’t affect long-term military service.
5. Parental Leave
They just extended this program within the past two years (we missed the extension by three days when our son was born), but now parents, no matter their gender, are given 12 weeks to use during the first year of a child arriving in the family. In my opinion, this is one of the most inclusive policies the military has. Parental leave not only applies when someone biologically has a child, but it also applies when the family adopts a minor or becomes long-term foster parents to a child. The 12 weeks are on top of any convalescent leave the person delivering the child would receive. One of the most significant benefits of this policy is that the 12 weeks don’t have to be taken all at once. In fact, it may be difficult to get approval for all 12 weeks at once. I’ve seen a lot of families take 3-6 weeks when a child is born and then take the other six weeks spread out over the year. But this policy has a lot of flexibility based on your family’s needs and the commander's approval.
6. Terminal Leave
I am very confident this is the worst name they could have come up with for this leave, but it is leave used prior to separation or retirement. Instead of selling leave back to the military, you can choose to use it. This usually looks like leaving work one day while technically retiring or separating a while later. The most anyone would have of this leave is 90 days (if they had any special leave accrued from combat). But you could see someone have their last day of work in May and then not technically separating until August. The “use it or lose it" principle is in play. You earned it, so you might as well use it, but selling back leave may be a better option for some families.
The military leave policy is very generous compared to the civilian world. And there are exceptions to access “bonus” leave. But most of those policies kick in when difficult things happen in our lives. I hope that we only have to use our leave when fun and wonderful things happen. Military life is hard enough, so hopefully, using leave is good. My family certainly makes the most of ours.