MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- The Corps’ new leave and liberty order now limits who can begin and end their leave at noon, changing a practice established five years ago.
Marine Corps Order 1050.3J, signed and made effective May 19, 2009, clarified that only Marines traveling via privately owned vehicles out of the local area should be allowed to leave and return around noon.
Marines taking leave in the local area and those who aren’t driving to their leave location, such as passengers on airplanes or buses, may begin leave after the end of a full eight-hour work day and must return before the start of a work day in order to avoid dipping into their leave balance.
The order clarified that the local area pertains to the area between a Marine’s place of residence and his place of duty.
Drivers departing early aren’t charged for the half-days of work they miss, according to the order.
In November 2004, the Corps modified its leave policy to allow Marines to depart at 12:01 p.m. and return no later than noon but not be charged a full day of leave in an effort keep Marines safe by curbing nighttime or fatigued driving.
However, many commands adopted the noon-to-noon policy regardless of travel method. The practice, in essence, gave Marines a free day of leave, while the Corps lost
approximately eight hours of work every time someone took leave.
According to the new order, the safety of the Marines is still the primary consideration.
Therefore, commanders can adjust departure and return times to ensure Marines drive during daylight. The order also “strongly encouraged” commanders to apply these principles to periods of special liberty, such as long holiday weekends, which many commands also sandwich with a half-day buffer.
Currently, leave requests in Marine Online automatically insert “1201” and “1200” as departure and return times on the first and last leave days selected. However, Marines can manually change the times to reflect their travel methods.
Changing the times by one minute longer on either day will charge an additional day of leave.
“Leave granting authorities shall use internal control procedures to ensure all periods on leave are charged to the Marine’s leave account and to ensure personnel accountability,” the order reads.
Every Marine earns 2.5 days of paid leave per month, or 30 days per year.