If a death, life-threatening illness, or serious medical crisis hits your immediate family, military emergency leave lets you leave your unit on short notice once your command approves the request. The process runs on two tracks at the same time: your family (or you) contacts the American Red Cross to verify the emergency, and you submit your branch’s leave form up your chain of command. The commanding officer weighs the emergency against mission requirements and, in most cases, decides within hours. The days you take are charged against your accrued leave balance, and unless you are stationed overseas, you generally pay for your own travel.
Who Qualifies and What Counts as an Emergency
DoD Instruction 1327.06 governs military leave, including emergency leave for personal and family crises that cannot wait for regular time off.1Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 1327.06 – Military Leave, Liberty, and Administrative Absence Qualifying events center on the service member’s immediate family: spouse, children, parents, and siblings. The military also recognizes anyone for whom the service member stands or stood in loco parentis, meaning the member had day-to-day responsibility for the care and financial support of a child. There is no requirement that the in loco parentis relationship lasted a specific length of time before the member entered service.
A request is justified when an immediate family member dies, faces a life-threatening illness, or has a medical emergency severe enough that the service member’s presence is genuinely needed. Commanders look for a specific, verifiable event rather than general stress or a minor health concern. Grandparents do not fall within the standard definition of immediate family for most emergency leave purposes, though some branch aid societies make exceptions for funeral attendance.
Start With the Red Cross
The American Red Cross is the impartial third party that verifies the emergency and relays the message to your unit. In most cases the family initiates contact, calling the Hero Care Network at 1-877-272-7337 or using the online portal.2American Red Cross. Emergency Communication Services The Red Cross then contacts the hospital, attending physician, or funeral home to confirm the details before transmitting a verified emergency message directly to the member’s command.
Speed depends on preparation. Before calling, gather the name and phone number of the attending physician, the hospital or medical facility, and any case or patient reference numbers. For a death, have the funeral home’s name and phone number ready. Incomplete or inaccurate contact information is the most common source of delay. About 77% of cases are completed within six hours.3American Red Cross. Hero Care Network
Submitting the Leave Form
Once the Red Cross message reaches your unit, you complete the leave request form for your branch. In the Army that is DA Form 31.4Army and Air Force Exchange Service. DA Form 31 – Request and Authority for Leave The Air Force uses AF Form 988.5TRiPS. AF Form 988 – Leave Request Authorization The Navy uses NAVCOMPT Form 3065. The form captures personal identification, requested dates, leave destination, and contact information while you are away. Details on the form need to match the Red Cross message; discrepancies slow down approval.
The Army now processes leave through the Integrated Personnel and Pay System (IPPS-A), a digital absence request that moves through the chain of command electronically, replacing the paper DA Form 31.6Department of Defense. 1st Infantry Division IPPS-A Soldiers Guide Other branches use similar digital systems. You typically hand the completed form and Red Cross message to your immediate supervisor or First Sergeant, who routes it to the commanding officer for final approval. Most commanders treat emergency leave requests as high priority.
Keep copies of everything: the Red Cross message, the leave form, and any medical statements or death certificates you collect while on leave. If a digital transmission fails, a paper trail lets the administrative office process the request without starting over.
How Emergency Leave Affects Your Balance
Active duty service members earn 2.5 days of leave per month, totaling 30 days per year.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 US Code 701 – Entitlement and Accumulation Emergency leave is chargeable, so every day you spend away is deducted from your accrued balance.
If your balance is already low, the commander can authorize advance leave. DoDI 1327.06 limits advance leave to the lesser of 30 days or the leave you will earn during your remaining time in service.1Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 1327.06 – Military Leave, Liberty, and Administrative Absence Advance leave beyond 30 days requires approval from the Secretary of the Military Department or the Commandant of the Coast Guard. A negative balance shows on your Leave and Earnings Statement and is earned back at the standard 2.5 days per month.
Paying for the Travel
If You Are Stationed Overseas
Service members stationed outside the continental United States may qualify for government-funded emergency leave transportation under the Joint Travel Regulations. The government covers travel on a space-required basis from the overseas duty station to the international airport in the continental U.S. closest to your departure point along a normally traveled route.8Department of the Army. USAREUR-AF Policy on Emergency Leave and Emergency Visitation Travel If a closer airport to your final destination costs less, that one may be used instead.
The funding has limits. It covers travel to the nearest U.S. port of entry, not usually onward travel to the final destination. Per diem is not authorized while you are at the emergency leave location or during any period classified as leave. And if you happen to be on personal leave in the U.S. when an emergency occurs overseas, there is no authority for one-way emergency travel back to your overseas duty station.9Defense Travel Management Office. Joint Travel Regulations Command-sponsored dependents residing overseas may also qualify for funded travel under the same rules.
Aid Society Loans and Grants
Each branch operates a mutual aid organization offering interest-free travel loans, and sometimes grants, when you cannot cover the cost yourself.
- Army Emergency Relief offers emergency travel assistance to active duty soldiers and their dependents. Applications go in online or in person at the nearest AER office, and processing typically finishes within 48 hours.10Army Emergency Relief. Assistance Programs
- Air Force Aid Society handles emergency travel through the Red Cross at 1-877-272-7337. For active duty members, airfare may be converted from a loan to a grant when the AF Form 988 is marked as emergency leave due to serious illness, imminent death, or death of an immediate family member. Airfare for accompanying dependents remains a zero-interest loan. AFAS does not provide assistance if you are already entitled to unit-funded transportation under the JTR, though you can apply within five days of returning to cover any gap the unit funding did not.11Air Force Aid Society. Emergency Travel FAQs
- Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society provides interest-free loans to members approved for emergency leave who need travel funds.12Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society
- Coast Guard Mutual Assistance offers interest-free emergency travel loans of up to $6,000 for members facing serious family illness or death.13Coast Guard Mutual Assistance. Emergency Travel Loan
Space-Available Flights
Service members on emergency leave receive Category I priority for Space-Available travel on military aircraft, the highest priority category for Space-A passengers.14MyAirForceBenefits. Space-Available Travel Category I means you board ahead of retirees, dependents, and other leisure travelers. Space-A depends on which flights are going where, and when, so relying on it alone for a true emergency is risky.
Bereavement Leave Is a Separate Benefit
Do not confuse emergency leave with bereavement leave. If your spouse or child dies, you may qualify for up to 14 consecutive days of non-chargeable bereavement leave, which does not count against your accrued balance.15U.S. Army Human Resources Command. Bereavement Leave FAQs To qualify you must be on active duty (or a reserve component member on active duty for more than 12 months) and have fewer than 30 days of accrued ordinary leave at the time of death.
If multiple deaths occur, you can receive up to 14 days for the spouse and up to 14 days for each child, whether the deaths happen the same day or on different days. Miscarriages and stillbirths do not qualify. For the death of a parent, sibling, or other family member, you would use emergency leave instead, since bereavement leave only covers spouses and children.
Extending Leave and What Happens if You Overstay
Emergencies do not always resolve on schedule. If you need more time, contact your leave-approving authority to request an extension before your original leave period expires. The request can be oral or in writing, but it needs to happen early enough that you can still return on time if it is denied.16Department of the Air Force E-Publishing. DAFI 36-3003 – Military Leave Program Unit commanders can generally approve initial emergency leave of up to 30 days and extensions of up to another 30 days.
If you become too sick or injured to travel back, notify the leave-approving authority immediately by the quickest means available. When you are incapacitated, a next of kin, attending physician, the nearest medical treatment facility, or the Red Cross can make that notification for you. On return you must provide a medical statement from a physician or treatment facility explaining the delay, and the commander reviews it before signing off on the amended leave authorization.
Failing to return on time without an approved extension is treated as absence without leave under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under 10 U.S.C. § 886 (Article 86, UCMJ), any member who remains absent from their place of duty without authority can be punished as a court-martial directs.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 US Code 886 – Art 86 Absence Without Leave Consequences range from nonjudicial punishment under Article 15 to a court-martial, depending on how long you are absent and the circumstances. Even a sympathetic emergency will not excuse an unauthorized overstay if you failed to communicate with your command. Call before the leave expires, not after.