Posted on 06/03/2009 6:52:00 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 2, 2009) -- The Army wants Soldier-dads to know there is a new paternity leave policy available to them and spread the word to military bloggers at the Pentagon today.
The policy, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush Oct. 14, 2008, allows new dads up to 10 consecutive days of administrative leave after the birth of a child.
Leading the roundtable was Col. Larry Locke, chief of compensation and entitlements for the Army G-1. He said the policy is one way of showing appreciation for Soldier-dads, because leave time can take months to accrue.
Those ten days are "very important to young Soldiers and families" Locke said, and cautioned the roundtable participants not to "under-sell" the policy benefits.
Joining the roundtable were two Soldiers, both fathers who were able to take advantage of the new leave policy. Sgt. 1st Class Logan McKenzie said that the policy helped to facilitate the birth of his son.
McKenzie, stationed away from his wife, participated in an in-vitro fertilization program at Walter Reed. The ten days of non-chargeable leave allowed McKenzie more time to travel back and forth for the procedures and to support his wife.
Maj. Rodney Von Price had his third child this past March and was concerned about who would take care of the older two children while his wife was in the hospital.
"Thankfully, the Army created a system where I would have time to do that," he said.
The policy states that paternity leave must be taken within 45 days of the child's birth if the Soldier is in the United States. If the Soldier is deployed, he must take the leave within 60 days of returning from deployment. Leave not taken within the established timeframes with be lost.
Let me be the first to say...Bush’s Fault!
My Son got his Daddy Leave after the birth of my Grandson 3 weeks and 2 days ago. My husband has been approving this leave for his men for several months now.
It helps moral if the needs of the Navy allow, then do it. These guys deploy so much and miss so much. And it doesn’t cost them leave time.
Why’d he wait and do this right before the election? Hmmmmm.
I mean, it sounds like a great idea. And if it was a great idea, why did he wait until the END of his presidency? He had years to do it before.
My son was in Iraq when his 3rd son was born. An organization
(don’t remember name, Shame on me) videotapped both my son in Iraq and My DIL in Ohio hospital. The look of wonder on sons face was just staggering. God Bless these Organizations that do these things. I had a copy of the video. (got it from tv station that aired it as a fluff piece at end of news) but lost it on my last laptop. When he got home he held his son for the first time and it was amazing. They just had # 4 but he is stateside til Jan ‘10. # 4 will be 1 year old. This will be his 3rd tour, 2 in Iraq and now Afg. He’s going for 20 yrs. Military families are really a big part of the whole morale issue. God Bless ALL of our Military. Esp NOW!
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