Overseas leave

[Naviator]

are there restrictions on where you can take leave? i'm in a-pool right now and since it looks like i've got the time and the leave to do it, i'd like to travel to australia to propose to my girlfriend before API, since i probably won't have the chance once i class-up. is it ok to travel overseas?

follow-up: what's the distance allowed to travel in a-pool without having to take leave (just signing the travel log)? i know they told us on day 1 but that was months ago.

 

[Squid]

yep. max distance is 350 miles as the crow flies as I remember. just sign the travel log and go! One guy I met said he's taking most of May to go to europe (switzerland/italy). Who knows.

 

[Naviator]

thanks, i'll be looking into it.

anyone have first-hand experience with space-a flight (not on orders)?

 

[Gatordev]

One catch nowadays is to get permission from both the command and the State Department (I think that's who it is). For a lot of countries, permission has to be requested through your Force Protection Officer. Once travel has been approved, the approval comes through message traffic. There's a list of those countries that require this, and I'm sure the FP officer has the list. I don't remember if Australia is one of them, but I bet it is just due to it's proximity to all the bad people in SE Asia.

 

[Flash]

The Anti Terrorism Officer (ATO, not FPO nowadays) sends out a message for certain countries if you are going on leave there. Only if they have a problem are they going to say anything. You need to tell him sooner than later though, there are deadlines you have to meet starting up to a month out. There are several more details that go along with sending out the message but I will let your ATO tell you them, nothing too bad, well, except the body cavity search..........Moooooooon River.....

Have fun Down Under, they love Yanks.

 

[Gatordev]

Ahh, ATO, now. I can't keep up with the alphabet soup.

 

[Flash]

Yeah, I am sure that someone got a NAM and a Fitrep bullet for that one. And I bet the proposal was in a power point presentation that had cars zooming across the screen and some really cool sound effects, a presentation that took them 5 hours for 4 slides.

 

[airwinger]

I took leave to Africa and had to talk to everyone in my chain of command(and I mean class advisor, stucon, admin O, squadron senior Marine, XO, CO, Wing senior Marine and the Chief Staff Officer plus had to take an antiterrorism class.

 

[HooverPilot]

Leave OCONUS is easy, just need the clearances for some countries and the CO's signature. The 350 mile radius is no longer though. The Navy decided that was an illegal restriction. I guess they figured out that if you are on leave, you are on leave and can go to wherever the leave was approved for. My policy is the answer is always no unless you ask. Make them turn you down!