Leave accrues at the rate of 2 1/2 calendar days per month. Congress recognizes that military requirements may prevent members from using their planned leave. Thus, the law permits members to accrue a maximum of 60 days (the maximum that may be carried over into the next fiscal year. The expression "use or lose" means that leave in excess of 60 days is lost if not used by the end of the FY (September 30).
Leave must begin and end in the local area. The term "local area" means the place of residence from which the member commutes to the duty station on a daily basis.
Members do not earn leave when they are absent without leave (AWOL), in an unauthorized absence status, serving a court-martial sentence, or in an excess leave status.
Members can be paid for unused leave at certain points in their career, such as reenlistment, voluntary retirements, separation, or discharge. By law, members may receive accrued leave payment up to a maximum of 60 days during their military career. When a member "sells" leave, he/she receives one day of base pay for each day of leave "sold." However, the legislative history of the law clearly expresses congressional concern that members use leave to relax from the pressures of duties and not as a method of compensation.
For members on Terminal Leave, the Career Development Element retains Part III of the Air Force Form 988 in the member‘s relocation folder. For Other Than Ordinary leave requests, excluding Terminal and Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY) in conjunction with Terminal leave, Part III of the leave request is destroyed after the review block is closed.