§ 709. Emergency leave of absence

• (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.