Tour of duty
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (October 2015) |
For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. Soldiers in World War II were deployed for the entire war and could be in active service for 4–5 years.[1]
Air force
In
The tour of duty for B-52 crewmen is four to six months.[3]
In
In the
Army
A general tour of duty for soldiers comprises service that can last from half a year to four years. Generally, duties that last longer than two years are eligible to receive medals of merit related to their service. Tours of duty can also be extended involuntarily for service members, such as in September 2006, when the tour of duty was extended for 4,000 US military personnel in Iraq.[8] They were increased up to 15 months for tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.[9] As of 2018, typical tours are 6-9 or even 12 months' deployment depending upon the needs of the military and branch of service. Soldiers are eligible for two weeks of leave after six months of deployment.[1]
In the UK, tours of duty are usually 6 months.[10] In 2014, British Army tours in Afghanistan were extended to 8 months.[11] Army doctors accompany their regiments on tours of duty for up to six months every two to three years.[7]
See also
References
- ^ a b Powers, Rod (June 4, 2018). "Understanding Military Active Duty". thebalancecareers.com/. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ a b Sotahistoriasivut, Juhan. "The lengths of the RAF operational tours". juhansotahistoriasivut.weebly.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ United States Congress (1972).Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress, Volume 118, Part 27 at Google Books
- ^ Hlavac, Tyler (January 17, 2018). "Navy looks at increasing tour lengths for sailors assigned to Japan". stripes.com/. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Werner, Ben (May 6, 2018). "Navy Increases Tour Lengths for First Time Forward Deployed Sailors". usni.org. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "FAQ". royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ S2CID 29434738. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E. (2006-09-26), "Soldiers In for Extended Tour of Duty" (PDF), Los Angeles Times, archived from the original (PDF) on April 11, 2022
- ^ "US extends troops' tour of duty". bbc.co.uk. 11 April 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Evans, Mark (28 April 2015). "10 things you didn't know about going on a tour of duty". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Afghanistan tour lengths for deployed UK personnel". gov.uk. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2018.