Navy plans pilot program to permit 2-year break without career penalty

Above: Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer take a class in American Government through the Program Afloat for College Education (PACE) classes in March.

Looking to take a couple of years off? Want to complete a college degree, spend some time raising a child or simply test the waters in the civilian world before deciding on making the Navy a career?

If so, the Navy may well have an offer tailor-made for you.

Officials are planning a pilot program that could give sailors up to two years away from the Navy without hurting their careers. If successful, the program could eventually go Navy-wide.

“We are actively working this very hard, and it’s very important to the Navy’s future,” Vice Adm. John C. Harvey, the Navy’s chief of personnel, told Navy Times on May 8 in Arlington, Va.

Harvey’s brainchild for both men and women, officer and enlisted, would allow qualified sailors to leave the Navy to take care of newborn or newly adopted children, care for a sick family member, or even finish a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Read the rest at Navy Times