How to Request an Army Dwell Time Waiver: DA Form 4187 and Routing

An Army dwell time waiver is submitted on DA Form 4187, routed through your unit S-1 and chain of command, and approved by the first General Officer above you. If you are volunteering to deploy before your earned dwell period is complete, that is the process. If the Army is ordering you back early, the same General Officer can direct an involuntary waiver without your consent.¹

Voluntary or Involuntary: Know Which One Applies to You

There are two ways a Soldier ends up deploying before dwell time is complete, and only one of them is a request you submit.

A voluntary waiver is initiated by the Soldier. It usually comes up when you want to deploy with a different unit, fill a vacancy that matches your MOS, or take a career opportunity tied to an upcoming mission. You fill out the paperwork, your chain of command endorses it, and a General Officer decides.¹

An involuntary waiver is different. The first General Officer in your chain of command can direct a written waiver of your earned dwell time and order you to deploy when critical operational requirements demand it. You do not submit anything; the command decision comes to you.¹

One thing to understand about the voluntary path: 10 U.S.C. § 991, the federal statute governing deployment thresholds, does not itself create a voluntary waiver mechanism. What Soldiers experience as the “voluntary waiver” is an Army administrative procedure layered on top of that statute, not a right guaranteed by it.² Approval is discretionary.

Filling Out DA Form 4187

DA Form 4187, the standard Personnel Action form, is the vehicle for a voluntary dwell time waiver. The current edition is dated December 2022 and is available from the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil.³ Using an older edition is a common reason a packet gets returned before anyone reads it.

The identifying fields are straightforward: name, rank, SSN, unit, and the action requested. The part that matters is the remarks block. Write it as if the General Officer is reading only that paragraph, because in practice that is close to the truth. The remarks should include:

An explicit statement that you are voluntarily requesting to waive your earned individual dwell time.
The date you returned from your most recent deployment.
The gaining unit you intend to deploy with.
The projected deployment start date.
A statement confirming that you understand the implications of returning to a deployment before completing your scheduled dwell period.

That last sentence is not filler. The General Officer needs to see that the decision is informed and uncoerced, and the acknowledgment on the form is how that gets documented.

Before you sign anything, pull your records and verify the dates. The PERSTEMPO module inside the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A) is where your individual dwell time is tracked. If the return date on your 4187 does not match what IPPS-A shows, the packet will bounce at the S-1 level.

Where the Packet Goes

The completed 4187 goes first to your unit S-1. The S-1 clerk checks dates, verifies your deployment history, and confirms that supporting documents such as your previous deployment orders are attached. From there the packet climbs the chain: battalion commander, then brigade commander, each adding a recommendation to approve or disapprove based on your performance history and the unit’s operational needs.

The final approval authority is the first General Officer in your chain of command.¹ How long that takes depends on how far up the chain the packet has to travel and what the operational tempo looks like. Soldiers in units with a short chain to a General Officer see faster turnaround than those in complex organizations. Plan on several weeks and follow up with your S-1 if the packet appears stuck.

You will get the decision back through your chain of command. An approved waiver should also appear in IPPS-A.

What Actually Counts Against Your Dwell Time

Before you request a waiver, make sure you actually need one. Not every absence from home station burns dwell. The Army’s individual dwell time policy specifically excludes Combat Training Center rotations, including trips to the National Training Center and the Joint Readiness Training Center, as well as major off-installation training exercises. Those do not count as deployments for dwell time purposes.¹

Overseas tours are a separate matter as well. AR 614-30 governs overseas permanent change of station moves, tour lengths, and extensions. That regulation is about tour management, not deployment-to-dwell ratios. If you conflate the two in your remarks block, reviewers will notice.

Common Mistakes That Sink a Packet

Date errors are the single most frequent reason waiver packets get returned. A return date on your 4187 that does not line up with IPPS-A stops the packet at S-1. Verify before you sign.

Vague remarks are the second problem. “I want to deploy early” is not a request; it is a sentence. Name the gaining unit, give the projected deployment date, and put the acknowledgment language in writing. The General Officer reviewing your packet has minutes, not hours, to decide, and a clear remarks block does most of the persuasive work.

Citing the wrong authority is the third. The dwell time framework comes from DoD Directive-type Memorandum 21-005, 10 U.S.C. § 991, and Army-specific policy messages like ALARACT 253/2007. Referencing AR 614-30 or other unrelated regulations will not automatically kill the request, but it signals that you have not read the governing policy — and that impression follows the packet up the chain.

1
U.S. Army. ALARACT 253/2007 – Individual Dwell Time Deployment Policy
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 U.S. Code 991 – Management of Deployments of Members and Measurement and Data Collection of Unit Operating and Personnel Tempo
3
Washington Military Department. DA Form 4187 – Personnel Action