Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§709 Emergency leave of absence

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 40— - LEAVE › § 709

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary in charge can give a service member emergency leave when there is a qualifying emergency. The leave can be granted only once per member, only to keep the member from going into unearned or excess leave, and it cannot last more than 14 days. A qualifying emergency is a close family medical problem or another hardship the Secretary approves, and it must be confirmed by an outside source the Secretary finds objective and reliable. Each military department must make similar rules, and the Secretary of Defense must approve them. Unearned leave status: leave approved that is more than the member has actually earned. Excess leave status: unearned leave that the member cannot earn before leaving the service.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §709

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary concerned may grant a member of the armed forces emergency leave of absence for a qualifying emergency.

(b)An emergency leave of absence under this section—

(1)may be granted only once for any member;

(2)may be granted only to prevent the member from entering unearned leave status or excess leave status; and

(3)may not extend for a period of more than 14 days.

(c)In this section, the term “qualifying emergency”, with respect to a member of the armed forces, means a circumstance that—

(1)is due to—

(A)a medical condition of a member of the immediate family of the member; or

(B)any other hardship that the Secretary concerned determines appropriate for purposes of this section; and

(2)is verified to the Secretary’s satisfaction based upon information or opinion from a source in addition to the member that the Secretary considers to be objective and reliable.

(d)Regulations prescribed under this section by the Secretaries of the military department shall be as uniform as practicable and shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of Defense.

(e)In this section:

(1)The term “unearned leave status” means leave approved to be used by a member of the armed forces that exceeds the amount of leave credit that has been accrued as a result of the member’s active service and that has not been previously used by the member.

(2)The term “excess leave status” means leave approved to be used by a member of the armed forces that is unearned leave for which a member is unable to accrue leave credit during the member’s current term of service before the member’s separation.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 709

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73