Temporary duty travel (TDY), also known as temporary additional duty (TAD), is a designation reflecting a

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

service member's—or civilian

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

employee's—travel or other assignment at a location other than the traveler's permanent duty station as authorized by th
Joint Travel Regulations
This type of

secondment Secondment is the assignment of a member of one organisation to another organisation for a temporary period. Job rotation The employee typically retains their salary and other employment rights from their primary organization but they work close ...

is usually of relatively short duration, typically from two to 189 days in length. Not all agencies use this designation. Temporary duty assignments usually come with

per diem ''Per diem'' (Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business. A '' ...

pay, covering

lodging Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...

meal A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. Although they ca ...

s, and incidental expenses. Many employees value the per diem aspect of a TDY, since that money is guaranteed, even if they spend less than their allotted daily value. However, most agencies handle the lodging per diem separately from the meals and incidentals, and employees may not make money by staying at cheaper accommodations, or putting more than one person in a room. Typically, an employee may request a cash advance of 60–80% of the total value of the first 30 days of meals and incidental expenses before the TDY per diem takes place, in order to prevent the employee from having to use his or her own money, or putting money on a personal

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

. Government

travel card A transit pass (North American English) or travel card (British English), often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc. (in all English dialects), is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purch ...

s are also typically available, though these sometimes carry restrictions on the types of goods or services that can be purchased with them. Some locations have furnished

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s for long-term stay. These apartments have fully equipped kitchens so TDY recipients have the option to

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

rather than always eat out, and some may have free

washing machine A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...

s and

clothes dryer A clothes dryer, also known as tumble dryer or simply dryer, is a powered household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually shortly after they are washed in a washing machine. Many dry ...

s. Some government agencies consider any assignment over 45 days as an extended TDA, which allows the employee to be reimbursed for part of the expenses before the end of the assignment. Examples of TDY assignments in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

include attendance of newly-commissioned officers at basic-branch

Basic Officer Leaders Course The Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) is a two-phased training course designed to commission officers and prepare them for service in the United States Army. Prospective officers complete Phase I (BOLC A) as either a cadet ( United States Militar ...

s, and

Gold Bar Recruiter In the United States Army and United States Air Force, a Gold Bar Recruiter (GBR) is a newly-commissioned second lieutenant who has been ordered to active duty on permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY) orders to assist the Professor of Military Science ...

duty in the interim; and training of all ranks at specialty-skill schools (e.g.

United States Army Airborne School The United States Army Airborne School – widely known as Jump School – conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry, Unit ...

United States Army Air Assault School The United States Army Air Assault School, officially the Sabalauski Air Assault School (TSAAS), is a Army Forces Command Table of Distribution and Allowances unit located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Its primary task is training leaders and soldi ...

Army Mountain Warfare School The Army Mountain Warfare School (AMWS) is a United States Army school located at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Jericho, Vermont to train soldiers in mountain warfare, the specialized skills required for operating in mountainous terrai ...

) through their sponsoring commands. In the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, temporary duty can be commonly approved by commanders for service at

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

basic encampments or other activities because it serves the organizational mission of recruitment and public affairs.

References

External links

GSA 2011 Per Diem Rates CONUS & OCONUS
{{Civil service Federal government of the United States Military slang and jargon