Air Force Loosens Up Time Off Rules Around PCS Moves

The Air Force is making it easier for Airmen to take time off around permanent change of station moves, along with several other tweaks to the service’s leave policy captured in a new Department of Air Force Instruction 36-3003.

Effective Feb. 26, Airmen may use up to 10 days of Permissive Temporary Duty incrementally between duty stations, as well as for packing and unpacking household goods, to best suit their needs, according to a March 13 release.

PTDY is time off granted to a military member that does not use accrued leave for activities such as house hunting, separation, or retirement processing.

Previously, Air Force policy required that PTDY days be taken consecutively; it was authorized only prior to the permanent change of station or upon arrival at a new duty station, but not both; and PTDY ended once the individual had secured housing.

Now, Airmen can take days incrementally and use them between duty stations.

In addition to the PTDY changes, Airmen are now also approved to use “at least” 30 days of existing leave en route to their new duty station.

Previously, the Air Force limited the amount of leave an individual could use during a PCS to 30 days. The change removes that limitation and allows Airmen to use “en route leave” to acclimate themselves and their families to their new location.

“Members should not be asked to take less than the full amount of leave authorized between duty stations,” according to the instruction.

Special Leave

In 2023, the Air Force started changing its rules to cap the amount of Special Leave service members can accumulate to comply with a law passed by Congress. Now, the service is warning Airmen that those changes will soon be in effect force-wide.

Airmen who serve in “hostile fire/imminent danger” areas for 120 days or more can accrue Special Leave to make up for the fact that they cannot take leave while deployed or involved in a conflict.

Previously, service members could accrue up to 60 days of regular leave and 60 days of Special Leave and had up to three fiscal years to use the Special Leave. The 2023 change reduced that cap to 60 days of regular leave and 30 days of Special Leave and mandated that the Special Leave had to be used within two years.

The new caps went into effect at the end of fiscal 2023, or Sept. 30, 2023, but the Air Force “grandfathered in” Airmen who had excess Special Leave with an expiration date after that.

Given the previous limit was three years, that meant some Airmen could have Special Leave with an expiration date in fiscal 2026.

Once fiscal 2027 starts on Oct. 1, 2026, though, no one across the service will be allowed to roll over more than 90 days of total leave—60 days of ordinary leave and 30 days of Special Leave. Any leave balance exceeding the 90-day total on Oct. 1 will be forfeited, according to the release.

Enlisted Airmen have a one-time option to sell back up to 30 days of Special Leave they might forfeit if not used by the deadline. The sell-back will count toward their career 60-day sell-back limit.

Other Changes

The instruction update also ensures the maternity and parental leave policy for Air Force Reservists and Space Force Guardians not on sustained duty matches those of their Active-Duty counterparts.

Now the Reserve force may use 12 Inactive Duty Parental Leave periods after a “qualifying birth event, adoption of a minor child, or placement of a minor child with them for adoption or long-term foster care.” The change also allows both the birth and nonbirth parents to use up to 12 IDPL periods after a qualifying event.

IDPL is a leave program for reservists in an active status that allows them to use the periods to opt out of scheduled training while still receiving pay and retirement points.

The change is retroactive for members who had a qualifying event between Oct. 1, 2024, and Aug. 7, 2025, but must be used by Aug. 7, 2026, according to the release.