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1 [1] (May 5, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/govetzn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressiona Research Service Informing the IegisIative dabate since 1914 Updated May 5, 2026 Defense Primer: Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO) United States military operations around the globe may lead to prolonged, recurrent deployments for some U.S. servicemembers. Those servicemembers and/or their families may face deployment-related stress. In addition, preparation for deployments (e.g., training, exercises, temporary duty assignments) can incur extended working hours or frequent travel away from a member's home station. The pace of operations for individuals is commonly referred to as personnel tempo (PERSTEMPO) and can affect quality of life, work satisfaction, and overall morale. Congress oversees PERSTEMPO management, policies and programs. In addition, congressional actions to authorize force size (i.e., end-strength) can affect the number of personnel available for deployment. Appropriated funds for military pay and benefits (including leave and morale programs) may compensate troops for time spent away. Background and Definitions During the mid-1990s, though the nation was not engaged in major conflict, a combination of force drawdowns and increased deployments in support of peacetime missions (e.g., peacekeeping and humanitarian operations) put stress on some servicemembers, particularly those in high- deploying specialty units. A 1996 Government Accountability Office report (GAO/NSIAD-96-105) found that the Department of Defense (DOD) did not have consistent goals or policies for managing personnel tempo. (Note that DOD is currently using a secondary Department of War designation, and the Secretary of Defense is using Secretary of War as a secondary title under Executive Order 14347, dated September 5, 2025.) Congress responded by taking steps to require tracking and reporting of PERSTEMPO data and to provide for compensating servicemembers who exceeded thresholds (see Table 1). Establishing Deployment Thresholds To more accurately measure the pace of operations and its impacts on military personnel, in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2000 (FY2000 NDAA, P.L. 106-65), Congress added statutory definitions for deployment and high-deployment thresholds, and also authorized additional compensation for exceeding thresholds (10 U.S.C. §991 and 37 U.S.C. §436). This law also required the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to develop standardized terminology and policies for PERSTEMPO and operating tempo (OPTEMPO), and to track and report on these categories (10 U.S.C. §136(d)). Threshold Waiver Authority Under 10 U.S.C. §991, the Secretaries of the military departments may waive thresholds for national security reasons. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a Deputy Secretary of Defense memorandum invoked this waiver authority to indefinitely suspend high- deployment thresholds. Table I. Statutory Definitions and Thresholds Term Definition PERSTEMPO The amount of time servicemembers are engaged in their official duties at a location or under circumstances that make it infeasible for a member to spend off-duty time in the housing in which the member resides. OPTEMPO The rate at which units are involved in all military activities, including contingency operations, exercises, and training deployments. Deployed or in a Any day on which, pursuant to orders, deployment the member is performing service in a training exercise or operation at a location or under circumstances that make it impossible or infeasible for the member to spend off-duty time in the housing in which the member resides when on garrison duty at the member's permanent duty station or homeport. High One-year: 220 days deployed out of the deployment previous 365 days (not in effect per threshold* national security waiver). Two-year: 400 days deployed out of the previous 730. Dwell time* The time a member of the Armed Forces or unit spends at the permanent duty station or home port after returning from deployment. Sources: 10 U.S.C. §991 and 10 U.S.C. §136(d). Contingency operations are as defined in 10 U.S.C. §10 1 (a)(I 3)(B). DOD policy (DODI 1336.07, Table 1) further defines PERSTEMPO events. Notes: *DODI 1336.07 notes that statutory thresholds have been waived since October 8, 200 1 and establishes a force-wide threshold of 400 days deployed out of the preceding 730 days. DOD has also defined dwell time differently in policy documents for certain time periods or purposes. Establishing Dwell Times As operations in Afghanistan and Iraq intensified in the early 2000s, many observers raised concerns that individuals within certain military occupational specialties were experiencing both lengthy and frequent deployments. While the PERSTEMPO measures captured deployment duration, they did not adequately capture the down time, or dwell time, servicemembers had between deployments. In 2007, DOD established deploy-to-dwell and mobilization-to-dwell planning objectives for the active and reserve components, respectively. In the FY2012 NDAA