The U.S. Navy is granting service members the opportunity to extend their enlistment amid a government shutdown and lapse in appropriations, according to a Nov. 6 memo from the Navy Pay and Personnel Support Center.
Sailors with a soft expiration of active obligated service — a date for separation that was extended past their original one — on Dec. 5 or earlier are allowed to execute a voluntary extension of no more than 30 days.
“This extension allows for additional time to ensure continuation of benefits and execution of separation requirements,” the memo said.
While service members can still technically separate during the government shutdown, they will not receive benefits if they chose to do so, a U.S. Navy official confirmed to Navy Times.
The voluntary extension is therefore a way to push the separation date back to a time when the government is most likely back up and running, thus ensuring service members would receive benefits.
Service members are instructed to access the NAVPERS 1070/621 Agreement to Extend Enlistment form, which can be accessed on the MyNavy HR website.
The memo laid out specific information required for the key supporting documents, as well as the following template language to include: “I agree to voluntarily extend my current enlistment for 30 days IAW Ops Alert 029-25 to allow additional time for processing of separation requirements due to the FY-26 lapse in appropriations.”
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Sailors are instructed to submit their cases via eCRM/Salesforce to Transaction Service Center Norfolk and told to contact their regional support centers if questions arise.
Roughly 20 sailors who are set to separate in November and December might be impacted by the shutdown, a U.S. Navy official told Military Times.
The Navy follows in the wake of other services addressing extensions to service members as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
The U.S. Air Force announced to service members on Oct. 30 via email that it would extend separation dates for airmen and guardians by 60 days as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
Air Forces Times reported on Oct. 31 that 50 airmen and Space Force guardians who were set to separate in November would be affected.
The Army also announced in October that soldiers set to leave the service would be extended 45 days.
The U.S. government shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Congress was unable to come to an agreement on passing appropriations legislation for fiscal 26.
It is the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.