Army implements program to reward deployed Soldiers

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anishka Calder | Warrant Officer Shawn Hickey Sr., the chief of essential personnel services for the G-1 section of the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), addresses a group of company commanders and senior leaders about the Army Post Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence program. Hickey, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., spoke about the implementation of administrative leave days as part of the benefits for deployed Soldiers in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

02.04.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Anishka Calder 

1st Theater Sustainment Command

By Staff Sgt. Anishka J. Calder
1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Public Affairs Office

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – Deployed Soldiers now have an additional incentive that focuses on them spending more time at home with the family – more leave.

The Army Post Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence program was designed to credit Soldiers who deploy to areas where they get Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger pay, with administrative leave dates.

"It's all based on dwell time," said Chief Warrant Officer Shawn Hickey Sr., 36, the chief of essential personnel services for the G-1 section of the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater). "For active component Soldiers, for each year that you are deployed, you are supposed to have two years of dwell time. Anytime that two-year dwell time was broken, there was no program in place to benefit the Soldiers, so the Secretary of Defense tasked each service to come up with their own program, and the Army came up with the PDMRA."

Active-duty Soldiers who deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait or other areas determined by the Secretary of the Army, will qualify for PDMRA. Reserve Soldiers qualify under involuntary mobilizations to those areas, but will not be credited for voluntary mobilizations unless the mobilization is in conjunction with deployment in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Kuwait.

"After being deployed for 12 months, anything from 13 to 18 months gives the Soldier an extra leave day each month," said Hickey, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn. "Anything from 19 to 24 months, the Soldier gets two days a month. After 24 months, the Soldier gets four extra days a month."

"These days are administrative leave dates," added Hickey. "They have nothing to do with the regular 2.5 days that you get a month, and are not tax deductible."

Hickey said the PDMRA days can be taken in conjunction with leave dates. He recommends using these days before using regular leave days because the days cannot be transferred from one duty station to the next. He advised Soldiers who are doing a permanent change of station to use the PDMRA days for block leave instead of regular leave days.

Active-duty Soldiers will be credited PDMRA days for deployment since Jan. 19, 2004, or 36 months before the Soldier's first deployment, whichever date comes first. Reserve Soldiers will be credited PDMRA days for mobilizations since Oct. 7, 2001, or 72 months before the Soldier's initial mobilization, whichever date comes first.

Staff Sgt. Karee Roberts, a non-commissioned officer in charge of the strength management section for the 1st TSC, was excited to learn about the new program and its impact on Soldiers' family life.

"I think that anything that benefits the Soldier is good," said Roberts, 30, a native of Philadelphia. "PDRMA is designed to compensate Soldiers who are away from their families for extended periods of time in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Under the PDRMA program, Soldiers get to spend extra time with family members without using their leave dates, and in the military, taking care of the family is paramount."

Reserve Soldiers will be extended up to two years on active duty after a deployment so that they can use up their PDMRA leave days. If the Reserve Soldier is a federal, state or local government employee, and they do not want to be extended to use the leave days, they have the option of being paid a lump sum of up to $200 a day, but no more than $3000 a month for those days, said Hickey.

The PDMRA days have no cash value and should be requested using a DA Form 31, Request and Authority for Leave. Soldiers are advised to keep documentation, including mobilization or deployment orders, and/or their DD Form 214, as proof of entitlement from previous deployments or mobilizations.

• Date Taken: 02.04.2008
• Date Posted: 02.04.2008 11:30
• Story ID: 15996
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW