How many days can I take for terminal leave?

2019-05-25T11:38:54-04:00

I will be ETS from the army in July 2020 and I will have 95 days of leave if I don't take any between now and my ETS date. how far in advance can I put in for terminal leave on the DA31. I have never herd of anyone in my unit putting in that much leave so i asked S1 and they told me to put in the request and hope for the best

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 25 at 2019 11:46 AM

2019-05-25T11:46:13-04:00

What they failed to tell you at S1 is that you will lose your Use or Lose days in October. In October, your leave in excess of 60 days will get reset back to 60, so what you'll really have is 77.5 days at your ETS.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made May 25 at 2019 2:57 PM

2019-05-25T14:57:21-04:00

That won’t work, anything above 60 days will be gone comes 01 OCT! New FY so start crunching number and develop a new strategy!

Response by SFC Marc W. made May 26 at 2019 8:43 AM

2019-05-26T08:43:39-04:00

With your SLA, the reality is that you can take as much as you want, but make sure your commanders will sign off on it. I know in previous units, anything over 60 days had to go to the Brigade Commander and he always wanted to know why people weren't taking leave for 3 years.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2019 1:10 PM

2019-06-01T13:10:13-04:00

Have you factored in use/lose days for October 2019? When I do the Math, from October 2019 to July 2020 is 10 months. That equals 25 days. You will have to add this to whatever your days are on the 1st of October. This will give you your total number of days for terminal leave. If you're overseas the battalion commander can authorize you 30-days PTDY and up to 10-days if you're stateside. Just remember, all PTDY is totally up to the commander. They are not obligated by regulation to give it to you. You should also make sure your company commander knows your intent for taking so much leave. For instance, are you ETSing with a family and need to find housing in a new area? Do you have a job lined up that requires you to report within a certain time period? These are tidbits of information that will help the commander make a decision on PTDY. I retired from the Army a year ago from Germany and was given 115 days of terminal leave. I calculated my days backward from my ETS day which gave me the exact day that I would start my terminal leave. Once I had this date, I submitted my leave form 6 months from out from that start date. Barring any emergencies that require you to take leave, you should be able to do the same. I hope this helps you and good luck with your ETS.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2019 1:19 PM

2019-06-01T13:19:38-04:00

I just saw that you have SLA leave. You can carry up to 120 days (60-days ordinary leave and 60-days special leave accrued). You should have no problems but, make sure your commander knows your intent and get the leave in ASAP.