The Department of the Air Force is cracking down on the unauthorized use of “Family Days” to provide extra days off for its civilian employees — and four-day weekends for airmen and guardians might be next.
The Air Force regularly grants troops extra days off, known as Family Days, typically alongside a holiday that falls on a Friday or Monday. This gives troops four days off “to recognize our teams’ contributions to the mission and our families’ enduring support of our efforts,” the Air Force said in a Feb. 11 memo.
For example, Air Mobility Command this year gave airmen the Fridays off before Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. The command has additional Family Days scheduled around Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day and other major federal holidays that give troops four days off in a row.
The Air Force minimizes how many meetings and activities are scheduled on Family Days, Gwendolyn DeFilippi, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, said in the memo. It allows commanders, directors and supervisors to grant service members the day off, and airmen or guardians who must work on those days can get a comp day at a later time.
But federal law does not allow the Air Force to grant additional leave to civilian personnel, DeFilippi said. Leaders can treat Family Days as “liberal leave” days and may allow civilians to take a regular leave day, a comp day that was previously earned or a previously approved time-off award.
“Unless otherwise exempted, if civilian employees are not on an excused absence, they should be working at their current duty location,” DeFilippi said in the memo.
And, DeFilippi said, the Air Force is now taking a closer look at the overall concept of Family Days.
“Over the next several weeks, [the Department of the Air Force] will evaluate Family Days to ensure they align with our ability to support warfighter readiness,” DeFilippi said in the memo.
Other services did not immediately respond to Military Times’ queries about any possible plans for reviewing four-day weekends.
Rumors about similar crackdowns in other branches have swirled in recent weeks in unofficial military-themed social media forums, as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has swept through the federal government, looking for places to slash expenses.
Multiple posters in the Reddit subgroup r/AirForce responded negatively when the memo was posted there. Some predicted the announced review will result in four-day weekends being taken away for uniformed troops and said it would further depress the spirit of already stretched-thin service members.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves,” one poster said.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
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