PERSTEMPO Reporting and Waivers - S-1 Procedural Page

Role and responsibility

The S-1 reports every PERSTEMPO event into MCTFS accurately and on time. The S-1 chief pulls the MCTFS 112 remarks page report monthly and screens for Marines tracking toward the threshold. The commanding officer manages schedules prospectively and signs the waiver request. The first General Court-Martial Convening Authority endorses the request before it reaches DC M&RA. The servicing Installation Personnel Administration Center works with command administration sections to close reporting gaps.

Per MARADMIN 436/26MARADMIN 436/26, PERSTEMPO measures the time an individual Marine, not a unit, spends on official duties making it infeasible to spend off-duty time in the housing where they normally reside. MCTFS is the official system of record for calculating and tracking every event.

Cancelled guidance

MARADMIN 436/26 cancels four prior deployment tempo messages on 22 September 2026.

• ALMAR 026/01, Marine Corps Deployment Tempo Policy Guidance.
• ALMAR 052/01, Marine Corps Deployment Tempo Policy Guidance Amplification.
• MARADMIN 481/03, Deployment Tempo and Overseas Control Date Policy.
• MARADMIN 484/04, Deployment Tempo Under Reporting Corrective Action.

A local SOP citing any of the four is out of date. Rebuild it against MARADMIN 436/26.

The day away rule

This rule drives nearly every contested PERSTEMPO count. Get it right before you report anything.

• A creditable event of any type spans more than one calendar day. An event beginning and ending on the same date earns no credit.
• A day away does not require a full 24 hours.
• The day of departure counts as a full day away.
• The day of return does not count.

A Marine departing Monday morning and returning Tuesday afternoon earns one day away, Monday. A Marine departing and returning the same Monday earns nothing.

Event types

Only deployment-type events count toward the threshold. Both types are reported.

Deployment type

• Operations. Contingency, counterdrug, law enforcement, security cooperation, U.S. domestic civil, humanitarian, security force assistance, peacekeeping or peace, surveillance, and forward-presence operations.
• Exercise. Joint, combined, Service, and NATO exercises.
• Unit training. All or part of a unit meeting training objectives away from the permanent duty location, including a combined training center or a designated training area.
• Mission support temporary duty.
• Home station training or the local operating area of a ship or vessel.
• Hospitalization not at or near the permanent duty station or homeport.

Non-deployment type

• Individual training.
• Duty in garrison.
• Hospitalization near the permanent duty station or homeport.
• Disciplinary events.
• Reserve Component inactive duty training.
• Muster duty.
• Funeral honors duty.

Report these. Do not count them in the threshold sum.

Reserve Component rule

A Reserve Component Marine sits in PERSTEMPO status on any day when, under orders not establishing a permanent change of station, they perform active duty as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(d)(1) at a location other than their permanent training site and is either 100 or more miles or 3 or more hours travel time from their permanent civilian residence.

Measure from the permanent civilian residence, not the permanent training site. Reading the rule against the training site produces a wrong answer for any Reservist living far from their center.

Threshold calculation

The threshold is 400 deployment days away out of the preceding 730 days. Run the calculation whenever a deployment event is forecast.

1. Fix the projected end date of the upcoming deployment event.
2. Count back 730 days from that end date. That fixes the start of the assessment window.
3. Sum every creditable deployment day away inside the window, including the forecast event.
4. Submit a waiver when the sum exceeds 400 days.

Build the window backward from the forecast end date. Building it forward from today produces the wrong window and the wrong answer.

Worked example from MARADMIN 436/26

A Marine is notified of an upcoming deployment event with a projected end date of 31 December 2026. The look-back window runs 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2026.

The sum reaches 500 days. The Marine crosses the 400-day threshold on 21 September 2026, during the planned deployment. The unit requests a waiver.

Waiver package

DC M&RA approves before the Marine exceeds the threshold. Approval after the crossing is not the process.

• Format. Standard naval correspondence.
• Routing. Chain of command, through the first Marine Corps GCMCA, to DC M&RA via the Manpower Military Policy Branch SharePoint site. The MPO email address accepts packages by exception only.
• Lead time. At least 120 days before the projected crossing date.
• Reserve Component. The gaining command submits.

Required content

Every request explicitly justifies why the specific Marine is essential to the mission and how the command will limit the negative effects on that Marine. Include the following.

1. The Marine's full name, pay grade, primary MOS, unit name, monitored command code, reporting unit code, EDIPI, and the requested coverage dates.
2. Supporting evidence showing the waiver is the only alternative available given manpower constraints and operational requirements during the requested period.
3. The specific actions the unit will take to limit the time the Marine spends above the threshold.
4. The actions mitigating negative effects on the Marine's readiness, quality of life, and retention potential.
5. The GCMCA primary point of contact and email address. The point of contact is never the Marine who is the subject of the request.

After approval

MPO forwards the approved waiver to the Marine's chain of command. The command reports it into MCTFS per MCTFSPRIUMMCTFSPRIUM section 91001.

Monitoring workflow

1. Pull the automated report from the MCTFS 112 remarks page monthly.
2. Screen for Marines approaching 400 days inside their current 730-day window.
3. Run the look-back on every forecast deployment event before the unit commits the Marine.
4. Flag a projected crossing 120 days before the planned event.
5. Start the waiver package and the Special Leave Accrual review at the same time. Per MARADMIN 436/26 paragraph 7.a.3, the 120-day window exists so both have time to run under DOWI 1327.06.

Systems of record and forms

Systems

• MCTFS. Official system of record for calculating and tracking every PERSTEMPO event.
• MCTFS 112 remarks page. Automated command monitoring report.
• Marine Online. Individual PERSTEMPO Report under Personal Information, Personal Reports.
• MPO SharePoint site. Waiver submission surface.

Forms

• Standard naval correspondence waiver request. No prescribed form number.
• Deployment and TDY orders. Source documents for the day count.

Contested accounting

The Manpower Information Systems Support Offices, the Admin Assist Unit, and the Marine Corps Administrative Analysis Teams support commanders with three things.

• Verification procedures confirming the accuracy of the day count.
• Unit education on reporting, tracking, management tools, and analytics.
• Resolution of contested day counts, including the steps and documentation required to adjust the data.

When the support chain does not resolve the dispute, the commanding officer requests adjudication from DC M&RA (MPO). Those decisions are final and apply to deployment events only.

Common pitfalls

• Counting the return day as a day away. The departure day counts. The return day does not.
• Crediting a same-day event. A creditable event spans more than one calendar day.
• Counting non-deployment events toward the threshold. Individual training, garrison duty, disciplinary events, IDT, muster duty, and funeral honors duty are reported and excluded from the sum.
• Measuring the Reserve 100-mile rule from the training site. The rule runs against the permanent civilian residence.
• Building the look-back window forward from today instead of backward from the projected event end date.
• Submitting the waiver inside 120 days. The lead time exists so the package and the SLA review both process.
• Naming the subject Marine as the GCMCA point of contact. The message forbids it.
• Treating the waiver as a post-crossing formality. Approval comes before the Marine exceeds the threshold.

Decision points

• Deployment or non-deployment event. The category drives whether the days count toward the threshold.
• Waiver or reassignment. When the look-back projects a crossing, the command either requests the waiver or resources the mission with a different Marine. The request carries the burden of showing no alternative existed.
• Dispute or accept. When a Marine contests the count, the S-1 works it with MISSO, AAU, or MCAAT before routing to DC M&RA for final adjudication.

Authority

MARADMIN 436/26MARADMIN 436/26 summarizes DOWI 1336.07DOWI 1336.07 for the Total Force. 10 U.S.C. 991 sets the statutory base. CMC letter 1050 dated 4 April 2025 delegates waiver authority to DC M&RA. MCTFSPRIUMMCTFSPRIUM section 91001 carries the MCTFS reporting mechanics for an approved waiver. DOWI 1327.06DOWI 1327.06 governs the Special Leave Accrual consideration running alongside a threshold crossing.

Points of contact

• Policy and waivers. Manpower Military Policy Branch SharePoint site.
• Reserve Marines. Reserve Affairs, smb_rap@usmc.mil.
• Data reporting, tracking, and management. Manpower Information, mrahelpdesk@usmc.mil.
• Administrative assistance. M&RA Secretariat, dc.mra.secretariat.office@usmc.mil.

Related references

• MARADMIN 436/26. Service-level PERSTEMPO framework.
• DOWI 1336.07. Department policy on PERSTEMPO management.
• 10 U.S.C. 991. Statutory base.
• MCTFSPRIUM section 91001. Approved waiver reporting.
• DOWI 1327.06. Special Leave Accrual consideration.