I lost approximately one year's worth of leave entitlements due to S1s negligence. Should I contact IG, Congressional Inquiry, or Suck It Up?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 11:43:04 -0400

I accumulated approximately 110 days of leave which I planned to use towards finding a job and home after leaving active duty. I was in accordance with the commander's leave policy and DA regs, and everything went smoothly until it came to S1, who ultimately took 35 days to process my leave form. Consequently, the transitions office rejected my leave form. I can only sell back 60 days; the rest is forfeited. Please advice.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 16 at 2022 12:44 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 12:44:18 -0400

You've only ever been able to sell back 60 days. You can extend your ETS for up to three months for pending personnel action reason, reprocess your leave and take it. IG and Congress are not going to be able to change anything that happened

Response by COL Randall C. made Sep 16 at 2022 1:21 PM

COL Randall C. — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 13:21:58 -0400

As SFC Private RallyPoint Member stated, you can only sell back a max of 60 days. Is there a reason you didn't take the other 50 days as terminal leave? You stated up front that you were going to take the 110 days as transition leave (use it for job/home hunting).

Since the COVID-19 special leave accrual is in effect, you can retain up to 120 days until 30 SEP 23, so unless there's more to the story, you shouldn't have lost any and just had your transition date adjusted. Were you under a directive of "you must separate by such-and-such date" (for example, a reservist on active duty orders can't extend past the end date in order to take leave)?

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Sep 17 at 2022 12:22 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 12:22:20 -0400

No, you lost this yourself! The service has always had a max leave day policy at HRC and units. You either stay under the limit, or the extra leave is pulled away. This is not new, I know it has been around since 1970. As an NCO you should have known better and have displayed woeful education, Hope you didn't steer your troops into this as well.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 20 at 2022 4:11 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 16:11:46 -0400

I personally have zero patience with S1s when it comes to leave. I usually just submit my DA-31 and then disappear on the day my leave is supposed to start. Once they realize I'm out of state, they can either process the leave, or just sit on it until I return and not charge it as if I never left. Believe it or not, they've done the later!

Given where you are in the process, I would file an IG.

SSG/AGR
17 yrs of Service