Paying Back Leave

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builtgypsy

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You can sell up to 60 days of leave total in your military career. I believe you have the option to do so if you're reenlisting or getting out. Can sell it back even if you're being medically discharged?

The argument is you can take those 60 days as terminal leave, start another job, and have two paychecks coming in at once for a couple months. I would rather take the money and run, since I don't plan on starting another job immediately afterward. It's back to college for this kid.

My plan is to sell back the leave, which will give me two month's basic pay in one lump sum, sans whatever's taken in taxes, and use it as a supplement to the G.I. Bill until I find out if I'm eligable for Vocational Rehab through the VA.
 
Yes, you can sell back leave, and in most cases they will not hold up your separation do that you can take excess leave.

Much will depend on your transition point and your Commander's approval. I sure understand the desire to take the money. The counter-argument is that on leave you will still get BAS/BAH if otherwise eligible, so from a pure benefits point of view, you get more money if you take the leave as time. But like I said, the transition point/CDR will drive the train on if you even have the option.
 
Would your separation date be the same whether or not you took terminal leave?
 
I can tell you that in my case, I took the balance of regular leave and then asked for additional 15 days to "house-hunt" and move. I did this because my bosses completely screwed up my separation orders and I had two weeks notice after waiting for almost 10 months for approval to separate.

I was kicking myself after because it turned out that I could have gotten 30 days (so the Headquarter Company Commander said, after my leave form was processed). I think the terminal leave question is wide open to how it is implemented locally, though, so I wouldn't take my experience as gospel.

Anyone else who recently separated?
 
There are some areas where the wheels just tick slower for me than a lot of people. I had thought if the paperwork comes down and says you are to be separated by, say, 15MAR2008, then no matter what you're out by that date. Following along that idea, I figured if you get out by that date, you get paid until that date. So you would receive basic pay, BAH, the whole thing, right up until then.

I figured if you didn't take terminal leave, you'd be getting the same amount of money no matter what until you separated, whether you took terminal or not. If you were getting BAH or any other kind of additional pay, you'd be getting it right up until you separated if you were on leave or not. I figured if I sold back 60 days of leave, it would be like getting an additional 2 months of basic pay.

I could just be very confused. :o
 
What happens is the separation or retirement is approved on behalf of the Service Secretary, by personnel officials. They then notify the Command/Military Treatment Facility to cut separation orders. You then have to outprocess at your local transition point. Here is where there is a little play in the system. If your command is willing to give you extra time and let you take more leave, you will then go to transition with your leave form. Transition point will calculate and cut your DD214 effective the last day after your leave. But any "play" in the system will come from the command approving orders. I would also say that if you are assigned to an MTF when this goes through, probably you are out of luck. But this a possible scenario with taking leave. In my case, I had like 25 days of leave, where I just stayed at home, started process of selling house and getting transportation/movers lined up.

If you sell it, then they will likely just tell you start clearing and when you are mostly done, set up a final out appointment. If that is the case, when you show up to that appointment, they will have your DD214 cut for a few days later at the most.

Did that help any? Like I said, I think a lot will depend on local command and efficiency of transition point.
 
I think Jason is right about the local implementation, and about the BAH/BAS as well. There is a lot more money in using the leave. My case was different in that I resigned my AGR tour but the same scenario ensued. The only difference is that they would not grant me Permissive TDY to house hunt. I was able to get a final PCS move though. The only thing I did not get was DLA. However I had a ton of leave saved up. Last duty day was 12 Jan but went on leave until 1 April. I started school immediately on 15 Jan however. But it may be a different deal at your installation.

As far as college goes here's where our plans were similar but maybe I can save you a little bit of a break in pay. I waited until 1 April to file for my GI BIll. When it was finally approved in June I was back paid to the beginning of the semester (January 15). The only problem is that during the months that I was still on leave 15JAN-31MAR) they only paid the rate of what tuition costs. Not the full Ch 30 Rate. I had no idea that they were going to pay it back to that date but if the college verifies the enrollment, they will pay it. So it may not be a bad idea to go ahead and file for CH 30 immediately upon enrolling so there won't be a break in payment after you come off of active duty untill you recieve your first CH 30 check.

I also got approved for CH 31 (Voc Rehab) after being rated by the VA. It is a better benefit in my opinion than Ch 30 in that they pay for all of your tuition, supplies, and a stipend monthly. Also they are not as restricted in the number of months they can award. If you are assessed by the counselor as having a Serious Employment Handicap as I was (and have no idea what standards they apply), then they can even allow more than 48 months in some cases. Their goal is to get you back to work. A tip is, if you haven't already, decide on what you may want to go to college for, so that when they counsel you on your abilities and aptitudes, you can kind of nudge them through the process. If you have that kind of organization going in and are physically able to perform in the field you have chosen, they are a lot nicer to deal with. I was in and out in about 4 hours with approval to the school in hand. But I have heard of others who have waited months. Like everything else, Ch 31 requires preparation to navigate the system.

I know my posts seem to ramble but if you have any questions concerning what I'm talking about, please ask and I'll try to clear it up.
 
Jason, that cleared everything up quite nicely. You mentioned it earlier, but I didn't make the connection. It's a gamble, then, so I'll have to consider what I want to do with that much more carefully.

Bowiesoldier, I really wish I had a clue what I wanted to do with myself after I'm out. It would make choosing the degree that much easier. The first one I started was based off the plan of working in a nuclear plant after I got out several years down the line, but that's come to a screeching halt. I would love to get into finances, but that seems to be either doing taxes or selling people retirement accounts; neither appeal to me. Maybe I'll jump on the technology bandwagon and do the software engineering thing...or I'll just invest everything in lotto tickets and try to win it big in the redneck retirement fund. :rolleyes: I'll shoot you a PM if I come up with any specific questions. I probably will.
 
builtgypsy

I like the lotto ticket plan best. Simple and focused. Wouldn't worry then if you aren't ready to decide your fate. I was only speaking in the manner of time and effort through the CH 31 system. They offer career counseling, aptitude testing and other things of that nature to help you explore career fields. Maybe in this you can find something you never even thought of. Anyway they will help you with that because it is a big decision.
 
New question. We were told that Hubby can take 17 of Permissive TDY then 42 days of leave until his out date on Sept 26. He has 74.5 days of total leave, but we have to sell thirty-two becuase they have refused to cut new orders. The retirement office said since we have over 30 days of leave, that DFAS will pay us BAH for one month. We are in a WTU so I guess according to the earlier posts we have to sell the leave. Is it really true we get the BAH since they are refusing to let him take the leave?
 
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