Granted Leave

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mac6578

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My DS was offered an appointment šŸ‘ Iā€™ve been reading the forums for all types of information. Iā€™m wondering if there is ever a reason leave would be grated. Iā€™m thinking specifically about a family member wedding and/or family member funeral. If a grandparent passed, would he be allowed to attend the funeral?
 
My Firsties wasnā€™t approved for this weekend. So it depends. For sure not something you can COUNT on.
 
Leave for individual plebes must be requested and the answer ā€” depending on the nature of the request ā€” can be given at the very last minute. The response depends on various things, including whether the plebe is ā€œsatā€ (isfactory in their academic, military and fitness obligations).

DD as a plebe was asked by her cousin to serve as a bridesmaid. We warned her cousin that we wouldnā€™t know until very close to the wedding date whether sheā€™d get to attend. Cousin was very understanding and said that would be fine. DD was in good standing and applied for the ā€œchitā€ a few weeks in advance. She didnā€™t get the ā€œyesā€ until Friday morning. Her flight was wisely scheduled for that afternoon and she made the Saturday wedding just fine.

As with anything SA-related: ā€œSemper Gumbyā€ (always flexible), book Southwest if you can, and donā€™t could your chits ā€˜til they hatch.
 
mac6578 said:
My DS was offered an appointment šŸ‘ Iā€™ve been reading the forums for all types of information. Iā€™m wondering if there is ever a reason leave would be grated. Iā€™m thinking specifically about a family member wedding and/or family member funeral. If a grandparent passed, would he be allowed to attend the funeral?
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In my experience, leave is almost always approved for funerals. Especially, if it is a close parent, grand parent, or sibling.

Leave for weddings is approved if you don't have to miss class. If you have to miss a significant amount of class to attend the wedding, it can be 50/50.

I have also seen leave approved for promotion ceremonies, graduations, and other significant family events.

**Note** The academy wasn't as accommodating in 2020 and early 2021 due to the pandemic. Also, factors such as poor grades and conduct issues can influence the decision.
 
As many have already responded, there are no set rules. My FIL passed away one year ago this month - WWII Navy veteran - and unfortunately, due to COVID reasons, our DS was not granted leave. He was excused from class to watch the livestream, so we're thankful for that.

MidSib graduated from college in May, and leave was granted 24 hours before his flight was scheduled to depart.

Summer OCONUS (outside continental US) leave was granted on a Wednesday and we were scheduled to head out of the country for vacation on Saturday. We had a Plan B in place.

You get used to not getting answers very far ahead of time and then rolling with the punches when you have to. Stay flexible and refundable. :)

And CONGRATS!
 
I will say that all of this information applies to your DS once he goes on active duty, too. They may or may not be granted leave for a funeral, wedding, etc. My DS is Army, but over the pandemic, he was denied leave for his grandfather's funeral and his sister's wedding. He was able to attend both via Zoom, however.
 
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Weddings & Funerals are going Virtual ā€¦ Re: Zoom, WebEx, MSTeams, GoogleMeets

Mark Zuckerberg has got something up his sleeve too ā€¦. Why else would he have rebranded Facebook to Meta[verse].

VR & AR is the future ā€¦. Save a lot money on travel ā€¦. While weā€™re saving money on travel, Nvidia is making a lot money on their Gaming and AI chip sets.

Amazon delivers everything now ā€¦ you donā€™t even have to venture off of your property ā€¦ the place that you call Paradise.
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Just wondering how winter/summer leave works, specifically for OCONUS leave? I live overseas and my house is here so I'd obviously want to come back here for winter/summer break, but I've heard it can be quite hard/tedious to actually get OCONUS leave approved. Not sure how true that is but any advice would be great
 
dav1y said:
Just wondering how winter/summer leave works, specifically for OCONUS leave? I live overseas and my house is here so I'd obviously want to come back here for winter/summer break, but I've heard it can be quite hard/tedious to actually get OCONUS leave approved. Not sure how true that is but any advice would be great
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There are special leave papers required, which require a certain level of review. DoD active duty travel policies for specific countries will be followed, consistent with DoS guidelines. Youā€™ll learn how all that works once the academic year starts, and you will allow sufficient time for the admin process. There will be others in your same situation.

Since you would be going home to a permanent location to be with family, this is different from a mid visiting multiple countries on a tourist-type trip, requiring additional time to assess risk and security.

Youā€™ll be a pro at this after you get one or two trips done.
 
Capt MJ said:
There are special leave papers required, which require a certain level of review. DoD active duty travel policies for specific countries will be followed, consistent with DoS guidelines. Youā€™ll learn how all that works once the academic year starts, and you will allow sufficient time for the admin process. There will be others in your same situation.

Since you would be going home to a permanent location to be with family, this is different from a mid visiting multiple countries on a tourist-type trip, requiring additional time to assess risk and security.

Youā€™ll be a pro at this after you get one or two trips done.
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Sorry if this sounds dumb at all, but is winter/summer break similar to requesting leave, where a request will either be approved/disapproved? Or is winter/summer leave automatically granted for all MIDN (assuming they are sat and don't have watch/duty)?
 
As long as someone is in good standing (not in trouble, honor remediation, etc) then you will get summer and winter leave. OConus approval will be required, but shouldnā€™t be an issue. More than anything they are checking to ensure you arenā€™t traveling to a place that isnā€™t on a state dept list with travel restrictions. Leave to the Ukraine for spring break is probably not going to be allowed anytime soon. Also, COVID did put some additional restrictions on leave the last few years, but having your home of record overseas versus a vacation are two different things.
 
Dr. Strange Love said:
.
Weddings & Funerals are going Virtual ā€¦ Re: Zoom, WebEx, MSTeams, GoogleMeets

Mark Zuckerberg has got something up his sleeve too ā€¦. Why else would he have rebranded Facebook to Meta[verse].

VR & AR is the future ā€¦. Save a lot money on travel ā€¦. While weā€™re saving money on travel, Nvidia is making a lot money on their Gaming and AI chip sets.

Amazon delivers everything now ā€¦ you donā€™t even have to venture off of your property ā€¦ the place that you call Paradise.
.
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stock tips?
 
dav1y said:
Just wondering how winter/summer leave works, specifically for OCONUS leave? I live overseas and my house is here so I'd obviously want to come back here for winter/summer break, but I've heard it can be quite hard/tedious to actually get OCONUS leave approved. Not sure how true that is but any advice would be great
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Have your parents joined the usna parent group for Mids living overseas? Itā€™s a good resource of experiences, for the issues/challenges and special requirements surrounding living overseas. Even travel tips, network, etc.

We have a few ā€˜24ā€™s who were able to travel for the first time during this last break. Those were some AMAZING reunions!! A couple more still unable to travel. All related to Covid/DOD stuff. My Firsties roommate, on the other hand, has been able to travel home, overseas, every break except one.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, especially early on as plebe (until you get the hang of it) is you need to do paperwork, and earlier than others making plans to head home. So ask questions and make intentions known.

Sometimes, itā€™s ā€˜easierā€™ for mom and dad to come to Annapolis to spend a break with you šŸ˜Ž
 
justdoit19 said:
Have your parents joined the usna parent group for Mids living overseas? Itā€™s a good resource of experiences, for the issues/challenges and special requirements surrounding living overseas. Even travel tips, network, etc.

We have a few ā€˜24ā€™s who were able to travel for the first time during this last break. Those were some AMAZING reunions!! A couple more still unable to travel. All related to Covid/DOD stuff. My Firsties roommate, on the other hand, has been able to travel home, overseas, every break except one.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, especially early on as plebe (until you get the hang of it) is you need to do paperwork, and earlier than others making plans to head home. So ask questions and make intentions known.

Sometimes, itā€™s ā€˜easierā€™ for mom and dad to come to Annapolis to spend a break with you šŸ˜Ž
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Thank you for the help! I'll make sure to tell my parents to check the parent group out. Thank you again! :)
 
Capt MJ said:

Use two fingers to scroll beyond CONUS boundaries.

ā€œUsna.comā€ is the USNA Alumni Assn, an independent non-profit group, separate from USNa.edu the actual DoD military unit.
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GREAT pointā€¦to be clear, the various FB groups are also not official USNA (other than the official Naval Academy pages). Rather a ā€˜supportā€™ for parents, where adminā€™s are upperclass/prior parents. Good support for parents.
 
I would encourage family members to plan wedding over breaks, such as winter, spring.
Summer will really be hit or miss depending on details, schools, etc. You will need to be proactive with your chain of command and if you know a family member is thinking about a wedding, knowing the date sooner versus later helps.
If you play a D1 sport throw that into the mix. Basketball player? Donā€™t count on time off fromā€¦ October-March? Baseball player? Probably Christmas-June?
Missing games for a wedding would be up to the coach. Some would probably tell you to go, othersā€¦
Also anticipate being detailed to help with sports camps and, if you play a fall sport, maybe a week or two off in the summer. If that.
But, as pointed out, funerals for family members you can pretty much guarantee being given the time off.
 
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