New leave and liberty policies for servicemembers Published Aug. 11, 2008 By Corey Dahl 21st Space Wing Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Several changes to leave and liberty policies are giving servicemembers a little more freedom with their time off. The National Defense Authorization Act 2008, passed in January, boosts the amount of leave servicemembers can accrue and increases special leave accrual retention limits. The changes also allow servicemembers an additional SLA sellback and increase some special leave and recuperation absences. The policy changes are beneficial because they allow Airmen, many of whom have had lengthy deployments recently, carry over leave days they may not have had the chance to use, said 2nd Lt. Melissa George, 21st Force Support Squadron. The NDAA contains the following specific changes to leave and liberty policies: - Servicemembers may carry over up to 75 days of accrued leave - up from the 60 days previously allowed - starting with this year's fiscal year changeover in October. So, a servicemember with 75 days of leave on Sept. 30, 2008 will still have those accrued days on Oct. 1, 2008. - Special leave accrual retention limits have increased. SLA earned in combat zones may now be kept for four fiscal years; previously, it could only be kept for three. And SLA earned in support of operations may now be kept for two fiscal years instead of one. This policy applies to SLA accumulated between Oct. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2010. - Enlisted servicemembers may sell back up to 30 days of SLA if they have 120 days of leave or more. The sellback will count toward the servicemember's sellback cap of 60 days over a career. - Special rest and recuperation absences with transportation benefits will be increased from 15 to 20 days for personnel completing an overseas duty tour extension of longer than 12 months. The changes are effective immediately and retroactive to the date of the NDAA enactment - Jan. 28, 2008. Several of the changes, however, will expire in 2010 if additional legislative action is not taken before then.