Advance Notification of Forthcoming Changes to MCO 1050.3J, Regulations for Leave, Liberty, and Administrative Absence

1.  The purpose of this MARADMIN is to provide 
advance notification of forthcoming changes to reference (a) and 
other associated leave and liberty programs. 
2.  Background.  Legislation detailed in reference (b), coupled 
with Department of Defense initiatives and the Marine Corps' 
steadfast commitment to upholding the leave program as a vital 
military necessity aimed at bolstering the morale and well-being 
of Marines and their families, have prompted significant updates 
and a thorough review of the leave and liberty policy.  As a result
of this review, and with the aim of maintaining Marines and their 
families as the central focus of the program, the changes detailed 
below will be integrated into the upcoming revision of reference 
(a).  These changes will take effect immediately unless otherwise 
specified.  
3.  Military Parental Leave Program (MPLP).
3.a.  Marines eligible for MPLP benefits, as specified in reference 
(e), may be granted parental leave during the execution of a 
Permanent Change of Station (PCS).  It is crucial to ensure 
members do not exceed their available parental leave entitlement 
during a PCS as any additional leave taken as delay-en-route will 
be taken from the member's annual leave balance.  
3.b.  The Marine Online platform is currently undergoing 
enhancements to integrate parental leave into the Outbound/Inbound 
Interview Module.  This update aims to include parental leave as a 
standard component of the questionnaire process.  These improvements
are designed to ensure accurate tracking of parental leave balances
and reduce administrative errors during execution.  Until these 
system enhancements are implemented, administrative commands issuing
orders (e.g. IPAC, I&I, etc.) should specify the available balance 
of parental leave prior to departure, the number of days authorized,
and the remaining balance after completion of the PCS in the 
endorsement of the PCS orders.    
3.c.  Until applicable enhancements are made to the Outbound/Inbound
Interview module, Disbursing and Finance Offices will manually 
adjust records for elapsed time following execution of PCS when 
Marines utilize parental leave en-route.  Parental leave must be 
explicitly authorized in the PCS orders.  Any active component 
Marine seeking to extend their delay-en-route period beyond 45 days 
must obtain prior approval from Manpower Management Division 
(Enlisted Assignments/Officer Assignments); Active Reserve Marines 
must obtain prior approval from Reserve Affairs Personnel Management
(RAM-2).  If such approval is granted, the authorization letter 
must be referenced and uploaded to the Marine's Outbound Interview 
and be included in the documentation submitted in the travel claim 
either through the electronic process completed via the Inbound 
Interview or the legacy platform (Document Tracking Management 
System).
3.d.  Commands and Marines bear the responsibility of ensuring that 
a Marine authorized this leave during the execution of a PCS does 
not exceed 84 days of parental leave. 
4.  Combining leave and liberty.  Marines are authorized to take 
leave in conjunction with liberty without a duty day in between the 
periods of absence.  When combining leave and liberty, Marines may 
be approved to execute the following without a duty day separating 
the periods:  
4.a.  A single leave period may be granted in conjunction with 
liberty (liberty-leave or leave-liberty).  
4.b.  A single leave period may be granted in conjunction with two 
liberty periods (liberty-leave-liberty).  
4.c.  Restriction: Two periods of chargeable leave may not be 
granted without a duty day in between (leave-liberty-leave).  If 
inadvertently granted, the entire absence must be charged as leave.  
4.d.  Geographical Limitation: All leave must begin and end in the 
vicinity of the Marine's Permanent Duty Station (PDS) or worksite, 
as defined by the boundaries within the local leave policy.  This 
ensures that Marines remain accessible and available for duty as 
necessary. 
5.  Administrative Absence, also referred to as Permissive Temporary
Additional Duty (PTAD), includes clarifications to the below 
categories.
5.a.  House Hunting PTAD is intended to facilitate tasks related to 
setting up a household in preparation for an ordered PCS.  These 
tasks may include searching for a new residence, locating and 
viewing potential homes, purchasing or renting a home, initiating or
terminating utility services, enrolling dependents in school or day
care facilities, and packing and unpacking of household goods.  
5.b.  Incremental Use of Housing Hunting PTAD: Marines executing a 
PCS have the option, if approved, to use House Hunting PTAD in 
increments rather than a single continuous period.  This flexibility
allows them to use PTAD days both before departing their current 
PDS and/or after arriving at their new PDS.  Regardless of 
increments used, the total number of eligible PTAD days remains 
unchanged at a maximum of 10 days.  
5.c.  Skillbridge.  As noted in reference (h), reference (a) will 
include a new PTAD subcategory for Skillbridge to facilitate 
accurate tracking of participants and number of authorized days used
for this program, while also streamlining associated administrative
processes.  Ongoing software updates to Marine Online leave and 
travel modules are expected to finish implementing the Skillbridge 
PTAD subcategory by the end of calendar year 2024.  
5.d.  Terminal leave.  Per reference (g), parental leave may not be 
taken consecutively or in conjunction with terminal leave or 
transition PTAD. Per reference (h), Skillbridge PTAD may be 
authorized for use in conjunction with terminal leave, and 
authorized transition PTAD, with the condition that the total number
of days spent participating in a Skillbridge program not exceed the
listed category limitations of 90 or 120 days within reference (h).
With the exceptions of authorized transition PTAD or Skillbridge 
PTAD, no other nonchargeable leave or administrative absence may be 
combined with terminal leave without a duty day separating the 
absences.  
5.e.  PTAD serves the purpose of allowing commanders to provide 
administrative support to Marines and Sailors during specific 
transition requirements, participation in official Marine Corps 
programs, or to facilitate professional training directly relevant 
to a service member's primary military duties.  This training should
unequivocally enhance the member's value to the Marine Corps, 
particularly in cases where funded travel is deemed inappropriate. 
5.f.  Commanders and leave approvers are reminded that PTAD may only
be granted for the specified purposes in reference (a) or this 
MARADMIN.  This ensures the program is not misused to accumulate, 
rather than expend, accrued leave, thus preventing adverse 
criticism.  Any request for an exception to policy must undergo 
thorough review by commanding officers and be routed through the 
first O-6 commander in the Marine's administrative chain of command 
before submission to HQMC (MPO).  This process aims to uphold the 
intended purpose of administrative absences and ensures more uniform
application across the force.  As a reminder, the Leave, Liberty, 
and Administrative Absence Inspector General Checklist provides 
oversight for commanders approving PTAD to ensure that only 
authorized criteria for PTAD are being approved by the command.
6.  Reserve Component Parental Leave.  In accordance with Section 
601 of reference (b), updated parental leave policies for the 
reserve component shall take effect on 1 October 2024 and apply 
with respect to periods of parental leave that commence on or after 
such date.  
7.  This MARADMIN is applicable to the Marine Corps Total Force.
8.  Release authorized by Brigadier General David R. Everly, 
Director, Manpower Plans and Policy Division, M&RA.