Posted on 04/27/22
| News Source: Times of Israel
Men and women serving in the US Armed Forces are restricted from traveling on leave to countries in the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR), which includes Israel, The Times of Israel has learned.
On September 8, 2021, exactly one week after Israel was officially moved into CENTCOM’s AOR, the Command published updates to its guidance on travel, signed by Chief of Staff Major General Patrick D. Frank. The revised Central Command Regulation 55-2 states that “unofficial travel into the USCENTCOM AOR is not authorized.”
According to the previous iteration of the document from June 9, 2020, unofficial travel — which includes leave — to countries in the AOR needed only permission from the first O-6 in the applicant’s chain of command. An O-6 is a captain in the US Navy and a colonel in the other branches of the US military.
Approval was almost always granted.
Under the new restrictive guidance, servicemen and women do have the option of appealing for emergency approval from their component commanders, senior flag officers at the rank of general and admiral. However, that process is highly unlikely to be approved. Requests must be made 30 days in advance, a requirement that flies in the face of most emergency circumstances.