This is a great benefit that has been a long time coming for servicemembers if it gets approved by Congress:
About 76,000 active-duty servicemembers will father babies next year if recent military birthrates hold. The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to give those new fathers 21 days of paternity leave after their children are born or within 60 days of fathers’ return from deployment.
New dads are expected to use the extra three weeks of leave to bond with infants and care for their mothers, without dipping into 30 days’ annual leave earned by all active-duty servicemembers.
If the Senate committee plan becomes law, paternity leave would be granted regardless of marital status, as long as new fathers claim the infants as dependents. As many as 32,000 soldiers, 18,000 sailors, 17,000 Air Force personnel and 9,000 Marines stand to benefit next year alone. [Stars & Stripes]
As it is now servicemembers have to use their accrued leave days to take time off work when their children are born. This is a further sign that the military is slowly but surely becoming more family friendly.
Popularity: 4%
3:26 am on May 11th, 2008 1
They wouldn’t give me ordinary leave when my daughter was born because my weapons qualification was 7 months old.
4:27 am on May 11th, 2008 2
Why not give three additional week leave to all combat veterans who just came home from deployment? I understand that a new dads need time off, but what about all other service members who has other dependents who needs to be bond with? Older parents, siblings, older children and spouses are all important to be bond with.
I know that British troops who come back from Middle East are given additional 30 day leave to bond with their family members. I think it should also be given to US troops also.
10:24 am on May 11th, 2008 3
A Major in the office is out on leave for the birth of a child and I was just discussing with some coworkers about what sort of leave he would be on. We weren’t aware he had to take annual leave. (male) Gov employees can take up to 13 days (just under three weeks) of sick leave.
4:44 pm on May 11th, 2008 4
The military life will NEVER be “family friendly.” The duty itself including family separations that follows back-to-back. The inevitable choices military families must make to have Mom (or Dad) and kids stay in one place for the sake of the kids’ education — while Dad (or Mom) goes off to be stationed in other locations for short/long tours.
It takes one hell of a lady (or man) — and a strong bunch of kids to grow up as military brats and wives/husbands. That so many over the years have suffered and served says much. They have a tradition unto themselves.
But don’t say the military is “family friendly.” I remember the faint recollection of my TI long, long ago — “If the Air Force wanted you to have a wife, it would have issued you one.” No the term “military” itself is not “family-friendly.” However, the military families are something unto themselves.
Hats off to you military wives and brats who serve to — not seeing your Dads (and Moms) for extended periods.
So what do I think of military leave for “bonding”? I say, “If the military wanted you to have a wife, it would have issued you one.” I only say this in fairness to the single troops who are not being granted this same “benefit” no matter how worthy it is. The choics of family are part of the sacrifices that one makes when one becomes a professional military man. It is a conscious choice — and the military families are a part of the tradition. Should we “bend” the rules to allow the families to be together, “yes.” Should we change the rules to give married folks benefits above those offered single folks, “no.”
Just a grumpy old man…
5:43 pm on May 11th, 2008 5
Kalani, the single troops are not being denied the paternity leave benefit. If a single troop is having a child that will be his dependent then the single soldier is entitled to the benefit as well.
Being more family friendly in the military helps increase retention rates in an environment with so many deployments today. If servicemembers deploying feel like their families are not being taken care of by the military, it is harder to get them to reenlist.
Other allied nations militaries offer way better benefits for military families then the US military which should not be the case. I have worked with a variety of allied nations and have been amazed by the benefits they receive compared to the US military such as paternity leave which the US military may now just be getting.
8:48 pm on May 11th, 2008 6
HA what a joke
2:40 pm on May 15th, 2008 7
9:37 pm on May 29th, 2008 8
I believe it’s a terrific idea. When will Army soldiers be able to receive this benefit? And what regulation will cover it?
6:32 am on June 11th, 2008 9
12:52 pm on June 28th, 2008 10
This is an outstanding concept. my kid should be born in November. im hoping this is passed before then. i need to be there for my kid. i get it. its not fair if you single with no kids. but cmon. fair or not have a D^&* heart!!!
4:29 pm on September 5th, 2008 11
How is it not fair to single soldiers? It explicitly states that the benefit would be given “regardless of marital status, as long as new fathers claim the infants as dependents.”
As far as being unfair “if you single with no kids,” as Yournamehere so eloquently put it…I’m at a loss. How is it unfair to people with no kids? Assuming that many soldiers will eventually have children, it’s perfectly fair. That’s like saying it is unfair to undeployed soldiers that soldiers deployed to combat zones get 2 weeks of uncharged leave for R&R. ?? How does that make sense?! If you’re not having a baby, why should you get 3 weeks of uncharged leave? You can have it when you have a baby!
I don’t see an issue here, except keeping troop levels up in Iraq and Afghanistan. And if you read the bill in its entirety, you will learn that the 3 weeks will not be granted to soldiers deployed to combat zones until after their tour there is finished. So we won’t be shorthanding our soldiers in combat.
I’m due with our first in December, and my husband is currently deployed with the 1st cavalry Division. He will not be there for the birth of his baby…he will take his mid-tour R&R as soon as possible afterward, but I will be giving birth alone. I’m prepared to do that, it’s what being a military wife sometimes means - but I certainly think that for our sacrifices, we deserve to have 3 uninterrupted weeks of uncharged leave after he gets home to reintegrate and adjust to our new family of three. (The baby will be about 8 months old by that time.)
Also, please remember that the Family Medical Leave Act (12 weeks unpaid leave for births or to care for a sick, injured, or dying immediate family member without risking losing your job and benefits) that civilians can take advantage of doesn’t apply to soldiers.
10:43 pm on November 19th, 2008 12