Tour of Duty

This article covers the military term Tour of Duty . For the US television series, see NAM - Service in Vietnam .

In many Anglophone armed forces, tour of duty refers to a period of service or stationing at sea or an assignment abroad.

For example, in the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War, a tour of duty for a bomber crew consisted of 30 operational flights. These flights could last up to a year of service. During the Vietnam War , the regular length of a Tour of Duty for US soldiers was one year.

A normal Tour of Duty can last anywhere from one to four years, with use of more than two years most often qualifying for an award of an Order of Merit. They can also be extended regardless of the will of the soldiers. This happened z. B. in September 2006, when the Tour of Duty for 4,000 US soldiers in Iraq was extended (see Stop Loss ).