Families of sailors deployed on a Global War on Terrorism Support Assignment cannot continue to live overseas while their loved one is deployed, the Navy has announced.
The reason is that a GSA is considered a permanent-change-of-station move, meaning the sailor’s family no longer enjoys Status of Forces Agreement protections, a recent Navywide message said.
If a sailor takes a GSA, his or her family moves back to the United States, as is the case with any PCS move, said Cmdr. Flex Plexico, of Navy Personnel Command.
The family can either move to the sailor’s next primary duty station, or an alternative location chosen by the family, Plexico said Friday.
Each command will decide whether a sailor can take leave to move his or her family home before deploying, Plexico said.
Sailors who opt for a GSA but want their families to remain overseas can negotiate with their detailer to deploy as an individual augmentee if their command approves, he said.
When IAs deploy, they are on temporary duty, meaning they return to the command after their deployment is finished, Plexico explained.
That means families of sailors stationed overseas don’t have to move to the United States when their loved ones go on IA duty, he said.
The difference reflects the transition of IA to GSA duty.
Traditionally, augmentees have been both active-duty and Reserve component sailors who deploy to fill billets in support of ground forces. They can deploy as individuals or in ad-hoc units.
IA duty includes jobs such as guarding detainees, providing medical support and running convoys.
Until last year, sailors could be pulled out of their assignments at any time to fill an IA billet, but in June 2007, the Navy began incorporating IA duty into the detailing process, whence came the GSA.
Unlike IA duty, sailors can negotiate a GSA at the end of their current assignments.
Sailors who go on IA or GSA duty receive special consideration from promotion boards and tend to advance at a faster rate than other sailors, the Navy message said.
For example, 24.2 percent of E-5 sailors who had done IA or GSA duty were promoted in recent boards, compared with 18 percent of E-5 sailors overall, the message said.
