ENHANCED RETENTION OF ACCUMULATED LEAVE FOR HIGH-DEPLOYMENT MEMBERS.

SEC. 542. ENHANCED RETENTION OF ACCUMULATED LEAVE FOR HIGH-DEPLOYMENT MEMBERS.(a) Enhanced Authority to Retain Accumulated Leave.—Paragraph (1) of section 701(f) of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:“(f)(1)(A) The Secretary concerned, under uniform regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, may authorize a member described in subparagraph (B) who, except for this paragraph, would lose any accumulated leave in excess of 60 days at the end of the fiscal year, to retain an accumulated total of 120 days leave.“(B) This subsection applies to a member who serves on active duty for a continuous period of at least 120 days—“(i) in an area in which the member is entitled to special pay under section 310(a) of title 37; or“(ii) while assigned to a deployable ship or mobile unit or to other duty comparable to that specified in clause (i) that is designated for the purpose of this subsection.“(C) Except as provided in paragraph (2), leave in excess of 60 days accumulated under this paragraph is lost unless it is used by the member before the end of the third fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the continuous period of service referred to in subparagraph (B) terminated.”.(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2003, or the date of the enactment of this Act, whichever is later.