Leave from the Military

Sea Witch · Feb 3, 2012

Question:

During the early 1960's when the US was not at war (as far as I know), if an Air Force Captain was stationed overseas, would he have been given leave if he had a nephew that was killed at home in the states? If so, how much time would he have gotten off to go home?

thanks

Williebee · Feb 3, 2012

The "where" plays a part, as does his duty assignment. Average situation, he would not be granted emergency family leave. If he had leave on the books he might have been able to take leave with very little notice.

If it was just him, he may well have been able to "catch a hop" on a military flight going back stateside. Look for an Air Force Base, with actual air traffic, near your story's setting. You might legitimately be able to say he hopped into there. Forex: in the 70's you could catch a hop from several bases in the Far East to Tinker in Oklahoma, Offutt in Nebraska, Travis or Norton in California....

Don't forget that travel times, and wait for travel, were often a lot longer from overseas back then.

Drachen Jager · Feb 3, 2012

Absolutely he would get leave. The time depends a little on the circumstances, how critical he is in his role, how close he was with the nephew etc. Probably a week, but could be more or less depending on those factors.

Padres have the power to make that sort of thing happen, but he might also go to his immediate superior with the request depending on how religious he was and his relationship with the superior.

Duncan J Macdonald · Feb 3, 2012

Drachen Jager said:
Absolutely he would get leave. The time depends a little on the circumstances, how critical he is in his role, how close he was with the nephew etc. Probably a week, but could be more or less depending on those factors.

Padres have the power to make that sort of thing happen, but he might also go to his immediate superior with the request depending on how religious he was and his relationship with the superior.

It depends.

No really, it does depend.

In the US (at least when I was active duty) Emergency Leave for a death in the family would be limited to 'immediate family' members. A nephew doesn't count as immediate, unless the service member can prove that he was acting as the nephew's primary care-giver. For example, when my father-in-law was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma, I wasn't eligible for Emergency Leave, because he wasn't immediate family. Chaplains can strongly recommend for emergency leave, but they can't grant it.

Of course, he could always ask for leave, and generally it would be granted depending (there's that word again) on what his duties and responsibilities are. If he's a critical point of failure for anything remotely important, then he'd have to get a replacement.

Getting back to the States would be easy. The Air Force ran cargo flights to/from Japan daily, and he'd be able to fly what's called 'Space A' or Space Avaialble. If his command cut him orders, he could get a seat faster.

Suffice it to say, if you want him to get home, or not get home, there are valid military reasons for both.

Sea Witch · Feb 3, 2012

Thanks very much, folks.

Duncan J Macdonald said:
Of course, he could always ask for leave, and generally it would be granted depending (there's that word again) on what his duties and responsibilities are. If he's a critical point of failure for anything remotely important, then he'd have to get a replacement.

If he needed a replacement, it would up to him to find the replacement? How would he do that? Or could his superior find a replacement for him?

Snowstorm · Feb 3, 2012

Duncan J Macdonald said exactly what I was going to say reading through the thread. A nephew isn't regarded as "immediate" unless the member acted as the nephew's guardian/parent. Circumstances (military exercises, deployments, etc.) and the member's position also played a part in whether he'd be granted leave.

Snowstorm · Feb 3, 2012

Sea Witch said:
If he needed a replacement, it would up to him to find the replacement? How would he do that? Or could his superior find a replacement for him?

Again, it depends on his position. If he were a commander, he might have a number two who would step in.

Bottom line, it sounds like you have a lot of leeway in how you want the storyline to go. Like Duncan J. Macdonald said: Suffice it to say, if you want him to get home, or not get home, there are valid military reasons for both."

Sea Witch · Feb 3, 2012

Thank you very much :Thumbs:

Williebee · Feb 3, 2012

+1 on Duncan's advice. He expanded and filled in the pieces I missed very nicely.

Sidenote, as a high school kid living on Okinawa, we used to fly "Space A" on hops to the Phillipines and Mainland Japan for fun. If you were flexible on time (and flexible of back - to be able to hang out in the MAC [ETA - Military Airlift Command] Terminal lounge for hours waiting for an empty seat) you could vacation for about $20-$40.

shaldna · Feb 3, 2012

Drachen Jager said:
Absolutely he would get leave.

I'm not so sure.

I mean, if it were an immediate family member then sure, but nephew wouldn't necessarily come under that.

Even in today's society leave is granted for immediate family or family who raised you as immediate. I only speak from my own personnel experience here.

I'd echo what Duncan said here in that you can ask for leave, and it can be recommended, but sadly often the blood connection is considered above any emotional connection.

Lenny Jennison · Feb 3, 2012

Sea Witch said:
Question:

During the early 1960's when the US was not at war (as far as I know), if an Air Force Captain was stationed overseas, would he have been given leave if he had a nephew that was killed at home in the states? If so, how much time would he have gotten off to go home?

thanks

I think the rules of leave have not changed much since that time. If had had "leave" on the books, i could leave for whatever reason as long as the command was not on deployment or in a conflict.

he could have gotten an "ombudsman leave" if he could demonstrate he was close to the child.

The first step would have been the family calling the local red cross and them contacting the command. At that point, the command chaplain would contact the commanding officer. This leave could be granted even if there was no leave on the books.

hope this helps.

Duncan J Macdonald · Feb 3, 2012

Sea Witch said:
Thanks very much, folks.
If he needed a replacement, it would up to him to find the replacement? How would he do that? Or could his superior find a replacement for him?

You said he was a Captain in the Air Force, stationed overseas. He's not senior enough to be flying a desk, so he's likely a pilot. He's not going to be able to find his own replacement, or not a permanent replacement at least. Say he's one of six pilots who fly regular air patrols along the East German border. If he's going to be gone for only a week, then his boss might just shuffle the assignments around or 'borrow' a pilot from a nearby squadron.

But -- if our intrepid young officer is the collateral atomic ordnance cipher key officer, he ain't going anywhere until a properly cleared and certified replacement can be assigned and a complete inventory of all cipher devices is held and itself certified.

Again but -- if our lazy, no-goodski goldbricking post movie officer wants to go home, his peers might pony up the cash for a commercial flight just so they can get a film newer than the Bridges of Tokyo-Ri.

Lenny Jennison · Feb 3, 2012

Duncan J Macdonald said:
You said he was a Captain in the Air Force, stationed overseas. He's not senior enough to be flying a desk, so he's likely a pilot.

This is not necessarily true, if he was injured and could not perform his normal duties, he could be placed on desk duty. often times, i had seen people who were "unfit for duty" that had to work a desk job. This could be anywhere from a couple days to a year while the injury healed. Though, if this was the case, he would have had no trouble getting leave at any point during that time. "unfit for duty" because alcohol is a completely different matter. Just wanted to state that before someone else pointed it out.

He's not going to be able to find his own replacement:

finding a "replacement" is hard to do in the military. The jobs are not like civilian jobs. Usually different people within the command know how to do your job. Very few are key personnel specific. Though, there are a few jobs out there. Usually though, in your department, there are at least 2-3 people at least that know how to do your job and have the credientials to do so. Whether this was a fellow team member, superior or even the officer in charge. FYI.

hope this helps

Leave from the Military

Sea Witch

Stirring the word cauldron

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

Duncan J Macdonald

Plotting! Not Plodding!

Sea Witch

Stirring the word cauldron

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue

Sea Witch

Stirring the word cauldron

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Lenny Jennison

Duncan J Macdonald

Plotting! Not Plodding!

Lenny Jennison