The acting Secretary of the Air Force rescinded a policy that scheduled extra days off for Airmen, Guardians, and their families across the service in conjunction with 11 federal holidays throughout 2025.
In an April 7 memo that took effect immediately, Gary Ashworth said “a blanket designation of pass days, often called family days … does not support our ability to execute the mission with excellence while maintaining our competitive advantage.”
Commanders, directors, and supervisors still have authority to set pass schedules for troops and families, though Ashworth encouraged “commanders at all levels to re-evaluate their pass structures to best align with warfighter readiness” in accordance with Air Force regulations.
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the memo, which was first shared on social media.
“The Air Force and Space Force are focused on enhancing lethality and readiness,” the spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “Providing blanket designations of pass days to align with all 11 federal holidays throughout the year does not support our ability to execute the mission.”
The guidance comes about two months after a Feb. 11 memo in which the Air Force said it would evaluate family days “to ensure they align with our ability to support warfighter readiness.”
Last March, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall designated 11 family days, one around each federal holiday, in recognition “of our teams’ contributions to the mission and our families’ enduring support of our efforts,” Kendall wrote at the time.
Each command has its own family day schedule, which can vary from year to year. These schedules are generally determined and announced well in advance, sometimes as much as two years ahead of time. For instance, Air Force Global Strike Command scheduled 11 Family Days for 2025, while Air Education and Training Command planned to include six days, starting with a Friday before Memorial Day.
Federal law prohibits Air Force civilians from taking additional leave, but Kendall encouraged directors and supervisors “to treat family days as ‘liberal leave’ days to the maximum extent possible, for which use of leave, previously earned compensatory time, or previously approved time-off awards may be applied, as eligible.”
The Air Force memo issued in February emphasized that civilians must either be at work or on leave during family days, and the April 7 memo makes the same point.
The memo is the latest move by Air Force and Defense officials to demonstrate a focus on readiness. In January, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin issued revised uniform, grooming, and appearance standards that rescinded the wear of duty identifier patches and certain nail polish colors, among other changes. Allvin also directed quarterly inspections to ensure troops were meeting the new standards.
“Complying with and enforcing standards demonstrates shared commitment to our winning team, as well as an understanding of the gravity of our profession in today’s volatile security environment,” Allvin said at the time.
The backlash on social media to the changes, from the patches to the family days, has been fierce, with some Airmen and Guardians arguing the moves hurt morale and do not improve actual mission readiness.
The Defense Department has also phased out telework agreements for thousands of troops and civilians in the name of restoring “lethality and readiness,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in January. But a week later the Air Force had to exempt some employees due to a shortage of workspace.
Initial reactions on social media to the April 7 memo rescinding service-wide family days were also negative, with users concerned it would lead to fewer opportunities to spend time with family.
The Air Force spokesperson said all service members “are encouraged to use their 30 days of paid annual leave as an important part of maintaining overall well-being, morale, and readiness.”
The Army and Navy both have their own versions of family days called special passes and special liberty, respectively. Neither announced service-wide schedules for 2025, and neither has announced any changes to its policies this year.