JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Following a hectic two weeks of holiday travel, many U.S. military service members have felt the aftereffects of bad weather, canceled flights, and wasted precious days of leave. Airman 1st Class Evan Parker, for example, was informed by leadership that his six days of sitting in the SEA-TAC Airport after 22 canceled Southwest flights would count towards his leave balance.
“If we make an exception to policy now, what’s to stop us from giving everyone free days of leave on any given Sunday? No, that’s not how I’ll choose to run this unit,” said Parker’s commander, Lt. Col. Brent Zoll.
“A1C Parker chose to attempt to spend the holidays with his loved ones, and the United States Air Force is not obligated to reimburse those days of leave, even if he didn’t step foot out of the McChord local area during that time,” he added in an email that included a signature block quote on leadership.
Parker, a loadmaster with the 11th Airlift Squadron at McChord AFB from Houston, Texas, was attempting to travel home for the holidays. It would have been Parker’s first time back in over a year. Following his canceled flight on the night of December 23rd, Parker was rescheduled for every subsequent day up until December 28th, his last day of chargeable leave, in which Southwest Airlines admitted that they would be unable to reschedule him until January 2nd, five days after he was supposed to return from leave.
