Special Leave Accrual (SLA) allows Service members serving in hostile fire / imminent danger (HFP/IDP) areas for a continuous period of at least 120 days to accumulate and retain up to 120 days of leave (60 days of ordinary leave, plus 60 days of SLA-protected leave). The intent of SLA is to provide relief to Service members not allowed leave during lengthy deployments or during periods of hostility.
Based on the continuing impact of COVID-19 and Service members' ability to take leave during the national emergency, the military services extended SLA through fiscal year 2021 (FY21). Service members that performed active service (as defined in 10 U.S.C § 701(a)) during FY21 were authorized to accumulate annual leave in excess of 60 days (not to exceed 120 days) as shown on the end of month September 2021 Leave and Earnings Statement. This SLA leave balance may be retained until the end of FY24 (30 September 2024).
Leave earned after 30 September 2021 will not be SLA protected unless earned during an eligible deployment. Leave earned above the SLA protected balance in FY22 and beyond must be used during the fiscal year it was earned or will be lost at the end of that fiscal year. Service members are responsible for tracking and managing their own leave.
- Regular Army: Active Duty
- Regular Army: Retired
- Army National Guard: Active Duty Under Title 10 USC or Title 32 USC (Full-Time National Guard Duty)
- Army National Guard: State Active Duty
- Army National Guard: Drilling
- Army National Guard: Retired
- Army Reserve: Active Duty
- Army Reserve: Drilling
- Army Reserve: Retired

The return home from combat can often leave servicemembers feeling out of place with the most important people in their lives - their families.
"In deployment, Soldiers grow accustomed to a new lifestyle and a new 'family' - those buddies that bond together to defend each other," said Maj. Ken Williams, 14th Military Police Brigade chaplain. "This lifestyle change is prolonged and becomes familiar, i.e., the new normal."
The families also change while the Soldier is deployed.
"The family is a system," Williams said. "When one family member is absent, the whole system changes. All members of the family adapt to a new 'normal' way of life."
When the servicemember returns, the family may feel uncomfortable with each other, and the servicemember may withdraw from the family.