Time off in the army

[dnt0711]

I've recently learned that when you're in the military you're required to stay within a very small radius of your base at all times, even when you're off for the weekend or the evening. And that if you want to go somewhere beyond this, like a weekend trip or something you have to use your vacation days and request leave. Is this something that applies to everyone army wide (dentists too), or is it more for the young enlisted people living in the barracks?
Obviously they probably wouldn't know if you're far away unless you do something wrong, miss a flight, get in an accident, etc. 30 vacation days initially seemed like a lot, but not if it includes weekend traveling days too.

And I'm sure it varies from base to base, but are people typically able to take their time off for vacations, etc as long as they give enough notice? I know I've worked places before where you practically had to get on your knees and beg..

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[vellnueve]

Depends on the base but it's usually anywhere from 150-300 mile radius. Applies to everyone.

 

[chompsss]

One is required to use a couple of vacation days if they do a weekend trip on Saturday and Sunday to somewhere that is, let's say, 400 miles away? Even though those days are outside of one's working hours anyway?

 

[gatorfan99]

One is required to use a couple of vacation days if they do a weekend trip on Saturday and Sunday to somewhere that is, let's say, 400 miles away? Even though those days are outside of one's working hours anyway?

The travel radius (which varies per post) applies to all services (not just Army). Its about accountability - your commander needs to know if you are far away in case there's a major emergency and he needs all of his/her personnel

If you are going to be away for just Saturday/Sunday/national holiday (max 3 days) you can put in for a PASS - same form as leave but it doesn't count towards you vacation days

 

[AirborneDentist]

You are only charged when you miss work. However, if you take off a Friday through Monday AND you are outside the radius, you will be charged for all 4 days.

If you fly 500 miles away on a Saturday and come back Sunday evening, you won't be charged anything. You just fill out paperwork that you will be outside the radius.

 

[NMC2010]

You are only charged when you miss work. However, if you take off a Friday through Monday AND you are outside the radius, you will be charged for all 4 days.

If you fly 500 miles away on a Saturday and come back Sunday evening, you won't be charged anything. You just fill out paperwork that you will be outside the radius.

Any idea if there's a way to make it so the Saturday and Sunday wouldn't count as vacation days (since you're not missing work)?

 

[agent2362]

Any idea if there's a way to make it so the Saturday and Sunday wouldn't count as vacation days (since you're not missing work)?

In the military you will have many '4 day weekends' from Friday to Monday for most of the major holidays. You can apply for a PASS so that you don't get charged any leave, as long as your travels are within those 4 or 4.5 days. Location/ command dependent, you can take a 1/2 day for travel. Example: you take leave for 4 days from Tuesday - Friday. You work at least the first half of the day and catch an afternoon flight to your destination on Monday evening. You can return on Saturday before 12 and not have it counted against you (since Saturday is a non-duty day). Similarly on a four day weekend, some commands may let you leave for an afternoon flight on Thursday, however you MUST return by Monday night. If you return on Tuesday (a duty/ work day) then the whole time is counted as leave against you. Now the early pass is command dependent, likely influenced by whatever mission (how busy it is in the clinics). My particular command has chosen to not count a day against you as a 'leave day' as long as you work the 1st half of the day. FYI, I almost never take leave over a weekend or in conjunction with a 4 day because I absolutely hate losing days to leave that I would otherwise get for free. I typically will take week day trips to maximize my leave time.

The four day weekends are a pretty big deal and add up to a lot of time off, so try to be at a base that's within driving distance of a few decent cities to make the most of those 4 day weekends-- i.e. a place like Ft. Hood or Campbell or Erwin are nothing special, but they are all relatively close to great cities, which adds to their value as decent places to be stationed (well Erwin is debatable from what I hear).

 

[ArmyDocLife]

Travel radius is 200 miles for us. Anything more than that and you have to fill out a DA31 and get command approval. I'm not sure if it's just my command, but I swear I get charged leave every time I fly some place that's more than 200 miles away on my 4 day weekends.

 

[CraigHack]

You are only charged when you miss work. However, if you take off a Friday through Monday AND you are outside the radius, you will be charged for all 4 days.

If you fly 500 miles away on a Saturday and come back Sunday evening, you won't be charged anything. You just fill out paperwork that you will be outside the radius.

While this is typically true, I have seen individuals be charged leave for travel out of bounds during the confines of normal liberty. It is command discretion, and not all commands are created equal.

Source: Admin Officer, USMC.

Edit: The first paragraph of the quote is an important distinction to make - I think a lot of junior service members miss this part when the recruiter sells them the "30 days of leave" line.

For example: if you want to take a week off for Christmas (say 22-29 Dec), you'd be charged 7 days, even though your command would probably have a 96 from 24-27 Dec. You can't take leave for just the days you'll miss work if you're travelling; your leave starts and ends in the local area. In other words, you're going to (probably) burn a decent amount of leave each year travelling during liberty periods.

Another example: I want to travel from 14-22 May to visit Yellowstone National Park. I'm only going to miss 5 work days (16-20 May). I have to take leave from 14-22 May (9 days charged).

Disclaimer: there are some nuances to this policy, and it can vary a bit depending on your command.

 

[AirborneDentist]

Travel radius is 200 miles for us. Anything more than that and you have to fill out a DA31 and get command approval. I'm not sure if it's just my command, but I swear I get charged leave every time I fly some place that's more than 200 miles away on my 4 day weekends.

You shouldn't get charged leave. You still fill out a DA31 and request a mileage pass. NO leave should be charged.