Leave Sellback

Leave Sellback

Important facts about leave sell backs:

  • IMA members can request a leave sell back for unused leave within 6 years of the close out of a long tour order.
  • Any leave outside of this 6-year claim period cannot be sold back to the member due to the Barring Act.
  • The lifetime cap for sell backs is 60-days, but there is an exception.
  • Leave sold back for long tours over 30 days and under 365 days are not counted towards the IMA member’s 60-day lifetime cap.
  • Any leave sold back for long tour orders over 365 days will count towards the 60-day lifetime cap.
  • HQ RIO/RPO can only process one leave sell back per pay period. Technicians must verify that an LES has populated for the current sell back before they can process another sell back.
  • If the leave sell back request is for leave that occurred 5 years prior, but within the 6-year claim period, a CMS case will need to be created to sell back the leave. This will push processing time back as DFAS has up to 30 days to respond to CMS cases.
  • If the IMA member chooses to carry forward some of their leave to a new order and sell back the rest of their leave, the carryover must be completed before the sell back can be processed.
  • Leave sell back processing is 30 to 45 days. This is an estimation and may change due to a high-volume leave cases.
AFR AFIPPS DATA CLEANSE
 
Important facts about leave sell back AFR AFIPPS data cleanse:
  • If you receive an email from the AFR AFIPPS Data Cleanse Team, you are required to provide all the required documentation as listed below.
  • If at the time of your orders your Reserve Pay Office was NOT HQ RIO RPO, you will need to provide a copy of each AF Form 988 Part III for leave taken during that order. HQ RIO RPO does not have access to this documentation. 
Required Documentation:

AF FORM 1089A – AIR RESERVE COMPONENT LEAVE SETTLEMENT OPTION
Section I – IDENTIFICATION DATA
  • Section II – LEAVE SETTLEMENT ON END OF ORDER
    • Provide projected end date of your active-duty tour – XX/XX/XXXX
    • Provide order number(s) of your active-duty tour – XXXXXX – Block 32 of AF Form 938
  • Complete Block A, B, or C
    • Block A - Number of days to be sold back ONLY
    • Block B – Number of days to be carried forward ONLY
    • Block C – Number of days to be sold back and number of days to be carried forward.
AF FORM 938 – REQUEST AND AUTHORIZATION FOR ACTIVE-DUTY TRAINING/ACTIVE DUTY TOUR
 
  • STATEMENT OF TOUR OF DUTY
    • Complete Blocks 36a through 39
      • Blocks 38 – Must be a digital or wet signature – digital signatures must be after the LAST day of the active-duty tour - .pdf signatures will not be accepted
      • Block 39 – Must be dated after the LAST day of the active-duty tour
  • CERTIFICATION
    • Complete Blocks 40 through 44
      • Block 40 must include time and date member reported for duty and time and date member was released from duty
      • Blocks 41 and 42 – Must include the certifying official’s name and DSN
      • Blocks 43 - Must be a digital or wet signature – digital signatures must be after the LAST day of the active-duty tour - .pdf signatures will not be accepted
      • Block 44 - Must be dated after the LAST day of the active-duty tour
  • All pages of the AF Form 938 and all modifications
  • If the sell back request is for back-to-back orders, ALL AF Form 938s and modifications must be submitted and completed as noted above.
AF FORM 988 PART IS AND PART IIIS, AS REQUESTED
  • All AF Form 988 Part Is and Part IIIs should have been submitted before the end of the order.
    • If any AF Form 988 Part Is or Part IIIs are missing, IMA members are required to submit them with their sell back request.
    • If during a review of the IMA member’s leave requests it is discovered documentation is missing, the IMA member will be required to submit it before HQ RIO will move forward with the request.
NOTE:  There are currently no exceptions to the documentation requirement policy. It is the IMA members responsibility to ensure they complete their orders certification at the end of their long tour order and that the AF Form 938 is completed correctly. IMA members can attempt to certify their close out orders through AROWS-R.

Common Mistakes That Increase Sell Back Processing Times:
  • Missing documentation
  • Missing signatures
  • AF Form 938s not fully completed
  • IMA member crossed out and initialed the close out dates on their AF Form 938
  • AF Form 938s not signed and dated after the last day of the active-duty tour
Document Links

Pay Navigation

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Information is current as of Feb. 10, 2025

Reserve Pay Office:
Long Tours: Feb 4, 2025
Welcome Packages: Feb 6, 2025
Leave Part 1:  Jan. 29, 2025


Due to a surge in IMA orders, you can expect a longer than usual wait for pay submissions via myFSS.  If you haven't received a response to your request in 30 business days, please contact your detachment to have your case elevated. 

Average processing times once the ticket begins being worked by a technician:

- Leave Carry Over: 45-60 days to complete (sent to DFAS for processing)
- Leave Sell: 15-25 days to process/produce LES, depending on type of leave sell request
- Short/Long Tours: 5 business days to process; 8-9 business days to produce LES
- Accessions: 10 business days to process; If sent to DFAS it will take 15 days to process
- OCONUS entitlements: 12 business days to process; 12-15 business days to produce LES
- Pay Inquiries, including dates that are more than 11 months back: 60 business days
Order-Based Pay
- Getting paid for orders for 29 or fewer days
- Starting pay for orders of 30 or more days

Special Pay

Defense Finance and Accounting Service Special and Incentive Pays
- Basic Allowance for Housing
- Overseas Housing Allowance
- Family Separation Allowance
- Bonuses
- Cost of Living Adjustment
- Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay
- Incentive Pay

Establishing a Pay File
- Establishing a Pay File
- Direct Deposit
- Thrift Savings Plan

IDT Pay
- IDT Basic Pay
- IDT Travel Pay
- IDT Pay Process Expectations
- UTAPS

Contingency Pay Guidance

In order to receive entitlements authorized for a contingency area, please complete a DD 1351-2 listing your itinerary from the date you departed the states to present day. Please ensure yourself and your supervisor sign the DD 1351-2. Also submit a copy of your certified 938 and 1610 or CED order that shows which contingency area you are located.
DD 1351-2

Leave
- Leave Requests
  • NOTE: RIO RPO WILL NOT ISSUE A NEW LAN UNTIL ALL PREVIOUS PART 3’S HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO THE RESERVE PAY OFFICE
Leave Sellback
Retirement (Career Management retirement page)
For concerns regarding Reserve Pay, contact your detachment for assistance. contact the Total Force Service Center at DSN: 665-0102 or Comm: 800-525-0102 or  You can also submit a query ticket through myFSS.

myFSS Submission Links

Choose from the links below to submit your reserve pay request. No travel requests are to be submitted here.

IMA RPO Requests - BAH AF Form 594, BAH Waiver, COLA, Clothing/Uniform Allowance, IMA RPO Welcome Packages, Misc. inquiries
Leave Request - AF Form 988 Part 1, AF Form 988 Part 3, Leave Carryover, Leave Sell Back, Other leave inquiries
- Short Tour Request - Mandatory use of the AROWS-R Tour of Duty Certification for orders of 30 or fewer days began 1 Dec 20. For instructions, go to the TODC Quick Guide.
Long Tour Request - MPA/RPA Orders greater than 31 days, Pre-certified & Close-out CONUS/OCONUS orders, Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA), Move in Housing Allowance (MIHA), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA)

Pay-Related Links:​
myPay - Official site for Leave and Earning Statements, tax withholdings, travel voucher advice of payments, etc. 
Bonds at Treasury Direct - Official site for U.S. Savings Bonds, as well as a bond calculator
DFAS - Defense Finance & Accounting Service - Pay Tables and much more
Military Compensation - DoD information about basic military compensation and benefits information about basic military compensation and benefits
AFMAN 65-116 Vol 1 Financial Management – Manual of Finance Guidance

Mailing Address:
HQ RIO/IRO
Attn: Reserve Pay Office
18420 E. Silver Creek Ave.
Bldg. 390, MS68
Buckley AFB, CO 80011
Social Security Tax Deferment Repayment
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guides

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