Waiver ensures per diem beyond 180 days Published May 6, 2003 WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche recently granted a blanket waiver authorizing payment of per diem to servicemembers if they remain on temporary duty beyond 180 days.Normally, an individual waiver must be requested and approved as outlined in the Joint Federal Travel Regulation, said Lt. Col. William J. Buechel, chief of Air Force assignments policy at the Pentagon.Without an individual waiver, payment of an airman's per diem stops on the 181st day of a deployment, Buechel said. The blanket waiver does not apply to Guard and Reserve people on active duty because many of them require separate approval to remain on active duty to serve a longer TDY.By granting a blanket waiver, Roche kept the Air Force from having to process thousands of individual waivers and ensured airmen would continue to be paid per diem for TDY in excess of 180 days, Buechel said."(The secretary's waiver) goes into effect immediately and applies to all airmen deployed in support of the global war on terrorism and Operation Iraqi Freedom," Buechel said.The waiver will remain in effect until the secretary determines that it is once again appropriate to process individual waivers, Buechel said.