Posted on Feb 25, 2022
What are the procedures for army soldiers requesting leave?
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This is part rant and question. Quick back story. My son went to basic in late summer 2020. Due to covid, no family day or graduation for him, but we were allowed to pick him up for Christmas and spent about 10 days before he had to knave and report for ait. After ait, he left straight for South Korea. In December 2021 he put in a request for leave in March 2022. His packet made it to battalion where it sat until 10 days ago. Battalion sent it back to company level to be updated since it had sat so long. Company 1st Sgt has sat on it since then. My son talked to his platoon sgt who said he would get back to him. Now my son is being told he needs to revise his leave date by 7 or 14 days. I'm sorry thats bs. My wife and I both took off 3 weeks to be able to visit, my oldest son is in the Army too and was able to get leave for the same time as well. I know this is the army. I know how their stupidity works. But how the heck is 7 days or 14 days going to make a difference to them when it makes a huge difference to my son. To me it sounds like pure laziness on the senior enlisted leadership to me.
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Leave requests over 2 weeks get scrutinized a lot and take a while to process because the Unit is looking at unit strength. Squeaky wheels get the grease but even then over 2 weeks is a big ask. I can't speak to the delay but the first line leadership should have been pushing it more. But the warning that a 30 day request may get reduced or denied outright is a conversation that should have occurred.
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PFC Duane Snell
He was told he would still get the 30 days, but that he had to adjust his departure date by either a week or 14 days.
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SSgt Christophe Murphy
PFC Duane Snell ok, with that being the case it is most likely a manning issue. Taking leave isn’t always an exact science
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Leave is at the discretion of the Commander. The Commander has to look at personnel taking/requesting Leave and when they want it. They then have to compare that to mission requirements for manning. If your son was wanting more than 2 weeks, but if the Command Policy for S. Korea is no more than 2 weeks, then that is why your son is being told (more than likely) he needs to adjust his Leave days. I have no answer as to why folks sat on his Leave request for so long, however.
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PFC Duane Snell
He was told he could take 30 days....I do understand commanders discretion. He is going to get to come home, it just sucks that his leadership took so long that he now has to adjust his leave dates. Thanks for thr input Sgt Livingston.
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SSgt Christophe Murphy
PFC Duane Snell - Anything over two weeks gets a lot of scrutiny. That could be part of the reason the request sat for so long. If he is being forced to reduce that number down to 1-2 weeks it makes me think he never actually had permission to take 30 days from the people who make the decision.
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PFC Duane Snell
SSgt Christophe Murphy I wasn't able to edit the original post, but this is what happened. He asked is platoon sgt about leave, how long he could take and when it would be possible to go. His platoon sgt told him he would look into it. He said he asked the first sgt and was waiting for a response . First sgt got back to them and said he could request up to 30 days. My son asked if March was ok and was told to put the request in. From what I understand, battalion had the request for so long because in December and January, covid was real bad with the new variant, and battalion wasn't surenif any leave would be approves. Once things started settling down with covid, battalionnsent his packet back down to company level to update his counseling and quarantine information. This is where the delay happened. He was told.today that he will still get 30 days, but he should change his start date from the 5th to either the the 12th or 19th. He is going to get to come home and we will make the best of it. We haven't seen him in 15 months, so are looking forward to the visit.
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Sone of this sounds like your Son dropped the ball on the leave timing. As for taking more than two weeks that is a readiness issue for All organizations, let alone overseas. While it is not unheard of, it is unusual to take more than two weeks leave without a special circumstance.
I will also say that there are policies, not stupidity. Why on earth would anyone spend money on something before they knew that the leave was approved.
Since you brought up COVID, that too has crimped readiness for units. These are tough times and your Son is forward deployed.
I will also say that there are policies, not stupidity. Why on earth would anyone spend money on something before they knew that the leave was approved.
Since you brought up COVID, that too has crimped readiness for units. These are tough times and your Son is forward deployed.
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PFC Duane Snell
Actually no, my son did not drop the ball. He talked to his platoon sgt and inquired about leave. He asked when he could take.it, how long they would let.him take. His platoon sgt is the one that told him to put in for March, and that he could take 30 days. It is both as far as I am concerned the company 1st sgt who sat on his ass on this. The battalion held it so long because they weren't sure at the time if they would approve any leave due to covid. Once it was decided that leave would be approved, his packet was sent back down to company level. He also never bought anything.....he is waiting till he has paperwork in hand. We had no choice but to put.in our vacation time hoping his would be approved.
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SFC Casey O'Mally
PFC Duane Snell - IMHO, this is a failure at many levels, to include your son.
The person I would be putting the *most* blame on, however, is the PSG. This is STRAIGHT down PSG's lane. Once the leave request is submitted, PSG should be following up periodically (like at a weekly PSG meeting or Company Training meeting) to inquire as to status. Which would then prompt the O-Room to inquire at S1. Which would then prompt S1 to find the doggone leave form - or tell the Company to re-submit If PSG was on the ball, this would have been up at BN and SEEN not later than early January. And if 1SG was "just being lazy" as you believe, and PSG was asking every week about it - in front of the Commander - the 1SG would get real motivated real quick.
Bottom line is that when PSGs are active in tracking and following up on actions for their Soldiers, it is *very* rare that actions stagnate. THey may get kicked back a ton of times, but they don't sit around for months waiting for someone to decide to do something about it.
So... primary responsibility: PSG. But, ALSO to blame, 1SG for not following up with BN and for sitting on it once on his desk. O-Room for not following up on it (they should have a tracker). S1 for allowing it to sit at BN forever (either in the S1 inbox or on CSM / BC's desk, either way). And your son. Yep, him, too. Because submitting an action and waiting is a good way to learn patience. Because it is *also* a good way to make sure your actions take WAY longer than necessary. If the PSG was failing to follow up, it is almost a certainty that your son was failing to follow up, as well. Just as the PSG nagging the 1SG and/or S1 makes sure the action isn't lost or forgotten, your son nagging the PSG makes sure the PSG doesn't forget to nag others.
No one takes care of you better than you. We should be able to trust our leaders to take care of us. But never so much so that we stop taking care of ourselves.
The person I would be putting the *most* blame on, however, is the PSG. This is STRAIGHT down PSG's lane. Once the leave request is submitted, PSG should be following up periodically (like at a weekly PSG meeting or Company Training meeting) to inquire as to status. Which would then prompt the O-Room to inquire at S1. Which would then prompt S1 to find the doggone leave form - or tell the Company to re-submit If PSG was on the ball, this would have been up at BN and SEEN not later than early January. And if 1SG was "just being lazy" as you believe, and PSG was asking every week about it - in front of the Commander - the 1SG would get real motivated real quick.
Bottom line is that when PSGs are active in tracking and following up on actions for their Soldiers, it is *very* rare that actions stagnate. THey may get kicked back a ton of times, but they don't sit around for months waiting for someone to decide to do something about it.
So... primary responsibility: PSG. But, ALSO to blame, 1SG for not following up with BN and for sitting on it once on his desk. O-Room for not following up on it (they should have a tracker). S1 for allowing it to sit at BN forever (either in the S1 inbox or on CSM / BC's desk, either way). And your son. Yep, him, too. Because submitting an action and waiting is a good way to learn patience. Because it is *also* a good way to make sure your actions take WAY longer than necessary. If the PSG was failing to follow up, it is almost a certainty that your son was failing to follow up, as well. Just as the PSG nagging the 1SG and/or S1 makes sure the action isn't lost or forgotten, your son nagging the PSG makes sure the PSG doesn't forget to nag others.
No one takes care of you better than you. We should be able to trust our leaders to take care of us. But never so much so that we stop taking care of ourselves.
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