Leave vs. Liberty

[FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW]

Here is the link to the blog if you want to go and read the comments:

http://www.navyformoms.com/profiles/blogs/leave-vs-liberty

this is the main body of the post:

Anti M is former Navy. Thank you Anti M!

• Posted by Anti M on October 27, 2009 at 8:21pm

With the holidays fast approaching, I see more and more moms who are stressed about whether they can see their sailor or not. Entirely understandable! But I know that the recruits in boot camp are quite confused also, many of them are new to all of this Navy stuff too, and haven't got the hang of the lingo, the paperwork and the inevitable Hurry Up and Wait and No Matter What You Plan, the Navy Will Change it.

Leave is earned time off. Every sailor earns 2.5 days a month, which adds up to 30 days a year. To take leave, the sailor puts in a special request form, aka a chit, and has it signed off by his immediate chain of command. Once the sailor receives leave papers from Personnel, he then can travel out of the immediate area. SOMETIMES, sometimes a sailor can borrow forward on his unearned leave. This is called "going in the hole". Most commands frown on this, as the sailor won't have leave on the books later. The sailor then has to decide when taking leave is going to be to his best advantage.

Liberty is regular time off. This is normally weekends and holidays, not to exceed 72 hours. Four day weekends are 96 hours, the sailor must have special permission to take all four days depending on their command and duty rotation. Sailors cannot leave the immediate area while on liberty. Each base/school/ship sets different definitions of local area. I've seen as low as 50 miles and as high as 400. Plane trips on liberty are a big no-no. The sailor must be able to return to their command if recalled during that time.

Leave and Liberty CANNOT be combined. You get one or the other; you can't take that three day liberty weekend and stretch it into leave on Tuesday through Friday after. Nope, leave would start on the Friday before.

Boot camp ... there is no liberty or leave DURING boot camp. At PIR that's different, SOME sailors must go check in or get on a plane to their new command immediately, others have Cinderella Liberty where they must check back in at a certain time, others have unrestricted liberty and can stay off base for the entire three days. Generally, boot camp CANNOT grant leave, that's done by the A school the sailors report to. I do not know how that works for Christmas Eve graduations, I hope after the holidays someone can provide first hand information. And even then, it might only be true for that one sailor!

I do have this from the General Discussion forum on holiday graduation from Navy for Moms Admin:

***I have some updated info for Sailors who will have PIR and than coming to GL "A" schools during Nov and Dec time frame:

The Sailors will be allowed to take the holiday leave, they will fill out a leave chit and sign a pg13,
stating they understand that they will go in the hole with leave day's. When a Sailor goes in the hole with leave days, if something happens latter on (before they earn the leave days back) it will be hard to go on leave. Also if the Sailor does not earn the leave days back prior to transferring to their next command they will NOT be allowed to go on leave between "A" school and their fist duty station.


A school ... generally, NO leave is granted during A school, except during holiday stand downs. There is sometimes leave after A school, which depends on the next reporting date for C school or the new PCS orders. This is often a time when if a sailor has gone in the hole on holiday leave, they will not get this leave granted. Liberty is subject to duty status, if a sailor is on duty, they must remain on base and must muster (roll call) several times a day, and possibly stand watches (think guard duty on the quarterdeck). As a sailor goes through A school, they may earn more privileges and have more liberal liberty policies, such as civilian clothes. As I understand it, sailors must have a liberty buddy (a group of three is the latest I have heard) to leave the base at Great Lakes, or be checked out by immediate family. Married sailors may put in a "live ashore" packet requesting to live off base with their spouse.

C school ... same as A school, basically. Not during except for that holiday stand down, but possible before or after. Don't think the liberty buddy is in effect, but it may depend on rank.

The fleet ... all depends on operational needs of the Navy. A sailor may have leave on the books, up to 60 days, but if the ship needs him, he can't take leave. MOST of the time, sailors are encouraged to use their 30 days... some times in two week blocks, sometimes longer. The command doesn't want their sailors to lose their leave by not using it and will provide options and times when leave would work best for the ship/command. The more senior sailors may get the better dates. When a sailor changes commands, a PCS move, that is generally when leave can be taken also. If stationed overseas, the sailor will get a plane ride home to the home of record between duty stations. Holiday leave in the fleet? That varies by ship and command. They do not stand down like the schools, although they may have a relaxed liberty policy during that time. Who gets to take leave? It depends, the chain of command looks at which jobs must be covered, operational needs, who went on leave last holiday period, who has leave which needs to be used or lost. The new guy often gets the leftovers, as do the ... let us say the sailors who don't shine.

I'm not even going to touch emergency leave (death in the family) or convalescent leave (after surgery) or any of the other special leaves. There is even paternity leave now! Do note all the terms I used ... sometimes, usually or generally. Every situation can vary for every sailor!

Do let me know if this was at all helpful or if it was simply more confusing.

http://www.navyleave.com/files/dod_leave_and_lib.pdf