Arguing for real time off after a deployment

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More than 230 airmen return home Oct. 9 to Aviano Air Base, Italy, from a four-month deployment at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. Airmen returning from an overseas tour are granted a week or two of time off - but some say travel restrictions on this time make it useless.


Arguing for real time off after a deployment
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 24, 2007 6:39:17 EST

When airmen come home from overseas deployments, they are told to take some time off — a week or two to turn in gear, relax, see the doc — but they can’t stray too far from the base. They need to be on call in case something urgent comes up.

Airmen can, with their commander’s approval, get a four-day pass to go anywhere they want. Or they can take annual leave and do whatever they want, but they’ll forfeit the deployment leave they have earned. To take advantage of the post-deployment time off, they have to stick around — just how close depends on limits set by individual wing commanders.

So what kind of vacation is this? It’s not — not really.

It’s more like “limited duty,” said Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, who oversees many deployment policies as deputy chief of staff for personnel.

The time off should not be confused with leave. “It means if I call you, I have a reasonable expectation that you can get down here,” Brady said. “It may have been mischaracterized as family time off. But that’s not what it is.”

Confused? You’re not alone.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/11/airforce_timeoff_071124w/