As part of the military pay and benefits package, military service members earn 30 days of paid leave per year. You start at zero and for every month of military service, 2.5 days of leave get added to your leave account. It doesn’t stop, but the most you can carry over from one fiscal year to the next fiscal year is 60 days, except in certain, very limited situations where you can carry over more

Special Leave Accrual:

Soldiers serving in hostile fire or imminent danger pay areas (combat zone) for 120 days or more can accumulate and carry over up to 120 days of leave (60 days of ordinary leave, plus 60 days of SLA) into the next fiscal year. SLA-protected leave appears in the Remarks section of Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) as "Combat Zone LV Carryover Bal" along with the expiration date. SLA protection ends either on the expiration date or when a Soldier's current leave balance (Cr Bal) drops to 60 days or less. SLA days cannot be sold and are lost if not used before their expiration date. By law, 120 days is the maximum leave that can be carried over into a new fiscal year with SLA protection. SLA is the only mechanism by which more than 60 days can be carried over into a new fiscal year

Leave For Active Duty Family Member Or Relative

Family and relatives are allows to request for leave on behalf of deployed active soldier's provided they are eligible for leave.

Army Revamps Leave And Pass Regulation

CANBERRA -- The June 3 revision of Army Regulation 600-8-10, which covers leaves and passes, is part of the largest update to Army military leave policy in more than a decade, said Larry Lock, chief of Compensation and Entitlements for the Army’s G-1 office.

“The new regulation encompasses recent changes in leave and passes, rearranges the sections to make it more user friendly, clarifies policy that covers the new leave forms,” he said. “It also aligns the terminology more closely with” Defense Department Instruction 1327.06, or Leave and Liberty Policy and Procedures.

COVID-19 Special Leave Accrual Update

The Department of Defense recognizes that the COVID-19 national emergency has significantly limited service members’ ability to take leave. The department also recognizes that leave is vital to health and welfare. That’s why Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew Donovan signed a department-wide authorization on April 16, 2020, for service members to accrue and retain an additional leave balance of up to 120 days. Members performing active service from March 11, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2020, can accrue leave up to 120 days and retain unused leave until Sept. 30, 2023.

Selling Back Leave

Service members may sell back leave when they reenlist, when they extend an enlistment or when they separate from the military. You may sell back a maximum of 60 days of leave over the course of your military career. Military leave is sold back at your base pay rate and does not include any special pays or allowances.