# HLTA



## DEVES (13 Jan 2009)

Just wondering some information on leave from tour. 

1. Are you allowed to bring your spouse and what can you claim for expenses.

2. Is there anywhere you cant go 

3. Whats a good place too go with spouse

4. Any other pertinent Information

Thanks


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## catalyst (13 Jan 2009)

Off the top of my head:
Reasonable transportation expenses (flight, train etc)
50% of a tour where accomodations, meals and transportation is included (not city tours, or most diving tours)
50% of a cruise
75% of a winnebego or sailboat accomodation when rented for more than one day and used for accomodation. 

Uniglobe GEO travel has a website explaining it all - although the prices on the packages are somewhat dated.


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## BinRat55 (13 Jan 2009)

Derek said:
			
		

> Just wondering some information on leave from tour.
> 
> 1. Are you allowed to bring your spouse and what can you claim for expenses.
> 
> ...



How about trotting on over to the welfare section. They have all the answers to your questions. Even the "good place to go with your spouse" question.


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## DEVES (13 Jan 2009)

I would Trot over to the Welfare section If I knew where the Welfare section was. Catalyst Thanks for the Reply checked the website but can see anything for military personel. Looks like any travel agency website?


Thanks


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## BinRat55 (13 Jan 2009)

Derek, 

Are you presently deployed?


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## BinRat55 (13 Jan 2009)

MFSI's will get you there - specifically MFSI 10.21 (Hint: DCBA website)


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## Sig_Des (13 Jan 2009)

I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're expecting to deploy with 3-09. As such, once the task force stands up, you will get numerous briefings for the admin side of things, to include how HLTA works, and the entitlements based on the rates at that time.


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## aesop081 (13 Jan 2009)

Derek said:
			
		

> 3. Whats a good place too go with spouse



What kind of question is that ? Do we know you and your spouse enough to answer that ? Whats good for me and my spouse could be living freaking hell for you and yours. Theres +/-2500 CF pers deploying to Afghanistan with +/-2500 different ideas about where a " good place to go " is.


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## Greymatters (13 Jan 2009)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> Theres +/-2500 CF pers deploying to Afghanistan with +/-2500 different ideas about where a " good place to go " is.



And, not all of them are places you would want to bring your spouse...


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## ajp (13 Jan 2009)

Aviator - Relax it was just a question.  No need to gripe.

As for the HLTA side, see a local CFPSA pers.  If you are on a base they can direct you.  I would suggest planning ahead, but don't make arrangements until you are told when your leave block is.  I saw a lot of angry pers when they thought they had one plan and ended up having to change after timings were adjusted.

Once you get to theatre the local travel reps are GREAT too.  I went solo, and planned my HLTA all on the go, but they made it go smooth as silk.  Thats what they are there for, and they will help you decide what your wife might like too.  Sit through the briefings and I am sure you will have a great one.

Best on your tour.


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## catalyst (14 Jan 2009)

If you are deployed, the office is in New Canada House - walk straight in pass the lounge area and its the first door on your right. My awesome collegues will be able to help you out. 

The website is here: www.geo.com/canadianforces and they have an email that you can email them ahead of time. 

Travelex is the second company that we have signed a MOU with.


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## DEVES (16 Jan 2009)

Wow its amazing to see over the years who still thinks there tough SH*T on the internet.
 Either Way thanks  Catalyst  for the Website and all the info might be HELPFUL for all of those other people that want to look and see where they want to take there loved ones while on there Leave.  It nice to get a little insight on other peoples experiences so that everything goes smooth and I don't waste my time going somewhere that might create problems! Don't really travel to that side of the world too often.


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## catalyst (17 Jan 2009)

Sorry wrong link www.geo.ca/canadianforces/index.htm




Prolly wont be here when you get here but I'll train the donut makers/button pushers well for you


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## NL_engineer (23 Mar 2009)

Well I have a HLTA question (I figured it was better posting here then starting a new thread); what Passport do you use on HLTA; (issued green one or your personal blue one).  We seem to keep getting told different things depending on what Sgt we ask.


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## Nfld Sapper (23 Mar 2009)

I would hazard to guess for HLTA you would use your Blue passport as you will be flying commerical air.


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## dangerboy (23 Mar 2009)

On our tour we used the green passport.


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## meni0n (23 Mar 2009)

Green. Just don`t try to go to the diplomatic line in Dubai airport. It doesn`t work.


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## NL_engineer (23 Mar 2009)

Is there a CANFORGN, CFAO, or DOAD that would have this written in?  Just looking for something official, so I can leave my Blue passport at my parents house.


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## Loachman (24 Mar 2009)

You need the green passport to get to and from KAF. It will be taken from you on arrival in CM, returned to you when you go on leave, and taken back again when you return from leave. You will be cautioned during your HLTA briefings that possession of two passports is illegal in Dubai.

The green one is the only one that you need.


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## JSR OP (24 Mar 2009)

Loachman said:
			
		

> You will be cautioned during your HLTA briefings that possession of two passports is illegal in Dubai.



correct me if I'm wrong, but it is illegal to be in possession of two Canadian passports at one time anywhere.  And what I mean by be in possession, is have access to two at once.  If you want to go by the book, and anyone in a deployment cell correct me on this if I'm wrong, you are required to hand in your blue passport before you are given your green one.


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## Lil_T (24 Mar 2009)

Just use the green one.  The husband has used his all across Europe when he was on his HLTA for his Bosnia tour and during Op Apollo, and used it both times to come home with.  You won't have any problems.


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## Loachman (24 Mar 2009)

JSR OP said:
			
		

> correct me if I'm wrong, but it is illegal to be in possession of two Canadian passports at one time anywhere.  And what I mean by be in possession, is have access to two at once.  If you want to go by the book, and anyone in a deployment cell correct me on this if I'm wrong, you are required to hand in your blue passport before you are given your green one.



That could well be, but the caution was still made verbally, on a Powerpoint slide, and in a handout that only one passport was to be used, and that was the green one.


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## helpup (24 Mar 2009)

Normally as part of your DAG to deploy they should ask for your blue one to hold on to until you get back, ( that way you dont have two of them on your person ) however I have personally had my blue one at home and used a green one.  ( it happens ) If you are being deployed the Green one is the one you are going to use to get there and back and for your HLTA regardless of where it is.  This is due to you being still employed by the Canadian Govt even though you are on leave.  Green passports were explained to me once as just notifying other contries that you are working for the Canadian Govt.  They do not afford you differant privledges then any other outside of what a particular Customs agent wants to offer you.  i.e. over here soldier I will put you though first, or I am really going to look in your luggage for UXO's( no diplomatic imunity )


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## TimBit (24 Mar 2009)

JSR OP said:
			
		

> correct me if I'm wrong, but it is illegal to be in possession of two Canadian passports at one time anywhere.  And what I mean by be in possession, is have access to two at once.  If you want to go by the book, and anyone in a deployment cell correct me on this if I'm wrong, you are required to hand in your blue passport before you are given your green one.



That is not true. Personnel from my office routinely travel abroad on official GoC business, are issued a green passport and do not need to hand in their blue one or anything. In fact, if you travel, say to country B on official business, and from there on to country C on personnal business, you should use your blue one to cross the border into C.


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## PMedMoe (24 Mar 2009)

If the unit OR wants to "hang onto" my blue passport, they can bloody well pay for it.  

When you apply for a blue passport, if your unit already holds a green one all you have to do is give the number of the passport, expiry date and the reason you do not have access to it.  C'mon people, we've been doing this for how many years?


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## dangerboy (24 Mar 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> C'mon people, we've been doing this for how many years?


Did you not know, every tour we reinvent the wheel, it is always a roto 0


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## PMedMoe (24 Mar 2009)

dangerboy said:
			
		

> Did you not know, every tour we reinvent the wheel, it is always a roto 0



Personally, I find the wheel gets "reinvented" every day.


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## aesop081 (24 Mar 2009)

TimBit said:
			
		

> you should use your blue one to cross the border into C.



You should but its not necessary.


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## JSR OP (25 Mar 2009)

From what I have been told by the passport people, you can't be in possession of a blue one and a green one at the same time.  In theory, sounds pretty simple.  but as we all know, in practice, its a different story.  Pretty much goes for anything really...


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## PMedMoe (25 Mar 2009)

JSR OP said:
			
		

> From what I have been told by the passport people, you can't be in possession of a blue one and a green one at the same time.  In theory, sounds pretty simple.  but as we all know, in practice, its a different story.  Pretty much goes for anything really...



Well whoever you spoke to is wrong or this is a new rule.  I have both a current blue and a current green passport.  One is mine, the other is the military's.  I reported the info on the green one (as stated in my post above) on my application for the blue one and it obviously wasn't a problem.

Now, if some numpty tries to apply for both on their own, that might be a different story.


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## JSR OP (26 Mar 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Well whoever you spoke to is wrong or this is a new rule.  I have both a current blue and a current green passport.  One is mine, the other is the military's.  I reported the info on the green one (as stated in my post above) on my application for the blue one and it obviously wasn't a problem.
> 
> Now, if some numpty tries to apply for both on their own, that might be a different story.



When I say "in possession of" I mean readily available, as in you can have access to both at once at a whim.  the answer should be no.  You don't have access to your green passport on a moments notice, whenever you feel like using it.  You use it for military business, and when that business is done, you hand it back in.  I never said that if you had one, you can't have the other.  Simply, that you are not suposed to possess two at one time.

I know it happens all the time that people have both in their possession at the same time.  That doesn't mean that regulations states that its Ok to do so.  Just about everyone drives 120 km\h on the 401.  That doesn't mean that 120 is now the speedlimit.

Oh, and by the way, passports belong to the Canadian Government.  The military and you are simply "holders" of the passport.


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## PMedMoe (26 Mar 2009)

Well, there you go, a little clarification goes a long way!


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## JSR OP (26 Mar 2009)

Yes, you're right, a little clarification goes a long way.  I'll keep that in mind the next time I post something.  You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now...


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## ajp (27 Mar 2009)

The biggest issue carrying 2 passports in Dubai is that when you get stamped in to the country as you arrive, they stamp say your Green Passport.  You turn that in and decide to travel on your blue one for HLTA and go through Dubai to leave....Hmmmmmmm No Stamp of Entry in your Blue Passport is there.  Why How did you get in the country?  I would say the local LO goes weekly to t he Airport to solve this type of issue.  You need to ensure you have the proper docs with you when you travel.


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## PMedMoe (27 Mar 2009)

ajp said:
			
		

> The biggest issue carrying 2 passports in Dubai is that when you get stamped in to the country as you arrive, they stamp say your Green Passport.  You turn that in and decide to travel on your blue one for HLTA and go through Dubai to leave....Hmmmmmmm No Stamp of Entry in your Blue Passport is there.  Why How did you get in the country?  I would say the local LO goes weekly to t he Airport to solve this type of issue.  You need to ensure you have the proper docs with you when you travel.



This should not be happening at all.  People should be *told* to only bring their green passport.  That's all they need.


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## ajp (26 May 2009)

I am sure they are told.  Everyone has an excuse but they still show up with two.  Been there seen that.  There is no excuse.  It was amazing how many people had two in location and had to be told to put one away and ensure they had the correctly stamped one.  There was always confusion where there should be none.  You would think that this would be sirted out during a DAG, but I bet to this day that it still occurs.


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## stealthylizard (4 Aug 2009)

Instead of starting a new thread, and I don't know if this has been asked already.  Tried to do a search, but nothing came up.

I plan on going to Australia for HLTA.  Would I need to acquire a visa?


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## PMedMoe (4 Aug 2009)

stealthylizard said:
			
		

> Instead of starting a new thread, and I don't know if this has been asked already.  Tried to do a search, but nothing came up.
> 
> I plan on going to Australia for HLTA.  Would I need to acquire a visa?



I did when I went on my HLTA but I think the travel section on camp booked it for me.  If I'm not mistaken, this is the one it was:

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/976/


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## stealthylizard (4 Aug 2009)

Yeah, I was looking at that site, but wasn't sure if there might be an exemption for serving military personnel.  I guess I should get started on it soon.


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## Greymatters (4 Aug 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> This should not be happening at all.  People should be *told* to only bring their green passport.  That's all they need.



I thought you had to turn in your blue one to get the green one as part of the DAG - or is that not done anymore?


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## PMedMoe (4 Aug 2009)

Greymatters said:
			
		

> I thought you had to turn in your blue one to get the green one as part of the DAG - or is that not done anymore?



It wasn't when I went.  I can't see how the military could make you turn in something you paid for anyway.  When I submitted my birth certificate for my passport, they lost that.   :


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## Greymatters (4 Aug 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> It wasn't when I went.  I can't see how the military could make you turn in something you paid for anyway.  When I submitted my birth certificate for my passport, they lost that.   :



Well, it was the way it was done that way back in the day.  Still, I can see why a person would bring both if not properly instructed in the procedure...


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## PMedMoe (4 Aug 2009)

Greymatters said:
			
		

> Well, it was the way it was done that way back in the day.  Still, I can see why a person would bring both if not properly instructed in the procedure...



When I went to Bosnia, I had a blue passport that the CF paid for.  When I went to A'stan, I had the green one but we were told to *only* bring that one.  If people don't pay attention, it's something that should be checked on the final DAG.  How hard would it be to ask "Do you have another passport with you?"  If they do, make sure it *doesn't* come with them.

Considering the "extra" stuff we DAG for now, due to stupidity lack of foresight (MFRC, SISIP, PMQ), I would think preventing the double passport issue would be easy.   :


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## Greymatters (4 Aug 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Considering the "extra" stuff we DAG for now, due to stupidity lack of foresight (MFRC, SISIP, PMQ), I would think preventing the double passport issue would be easy.   :



Im thinking that persons who travel on deployments in ones and twos, instead of with a deployed unit are, unfortunately, unlikely to get all the information they need or are supposed to get...


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## PMedMoe (4 Aug 2009)

That is a possibility, considering some of the joining instructions I've seen are cut and paste from a multitude of sources and years out of date.

Not to mention every unit having their own DAG sheet when they should just use what's on EMAA or PeopleSoft.  It should be uniform across the CF.


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## X-mo-1979 (5 Aug 2009)

stealthylizard said:
			
		

> Yeah, I was looking at that site, but wasn't sure if there might be an exemption for serving military personnel.  I guess I should get started on it soon.



No exemption.My driver went there and needed a visa.He found out about it close to his travel date from the FOB...and also found out the HLTA crew in KAF didnt do visa's it was the members responsibility.


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## Pusser (19 Aug 2009)

Blue passports are for regular folks (which includes most of us).  The only thing a green (Special) passport does is state that you are an official of the Government of Canada.  It confers no other special status other than in some places they have special lines in the Immigration Section for "Special Passports."  Note that Special Passports are not Diplomatic Passports (which are red and only issued to those with diplomatic status).  Having a Special Passport has only worked once in my life in my favour when returning to Canada through Vancouver at the same time as three jumbo jets from Hong Kong.  There was a separate line that day for Diplomatic AND Special Passports and I took great delight in using it.  Unfortunately, the guy I was traveling with only had a blue passport, so I had to wait for him anyway.  When I deployed last year I had to go to the Passport Office myself and I specifically asked whether I had to surrender my blue passport and I was specifically told, no.  You are allowed to have both a green and a blue passport at the same time.


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## NL_engineer (19 Aug 2009)

Canada Customs didn't harass you more with the green passport? I used mine returning from an ex in the states, and they decided to be even bigger dicks then usual. Maybe it was the fact that we were on a military charter, in uniform, and had our ID's tucked into the passports  :


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## Pieman (19 Aug 2009)

Just want to add that my experience with HLTA was very positive. These people having been doing this for what, 8 years now? They got it down to a science.

I found it easier and a lot cheaper to book my own flights and collect the travel advance. I just kept all my receipts and tickets, and no problems. I found that when I tired to book through the travel office, they were anything but cost effective. Overall, it depends what you want to do and how much time you have to plan.

Also, I required a visa for one of the countries I visited. They arranged a driver to take me directly to the consolate to get my visa. Excellent organization on their part.


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## X-mo-1979 (19 Aug 2009)

Pieman said:
			
		

> Just want to add that my experience with HLTA was very positive. These people having been doing this for what, 8 years now? They got it down to a science.
> 
> I found it easier and a lot cheaper to book my own flights and collect the travel advance. I just kept all my receipts and tickets, and no problems. I found that when I tired to book through the travel office, they were anything but cost effective. Overall, it depends what you want to do and how much time you have to plan.
> 
> Also, I required a visa for one of the countries I visited. They arranged a driver to take me directly to the consolate to get my visa. Excellent organization on their part.



Glad they have improved drastically from TF 03-08.We had guys going very high up my chain of command at one point to convince them I couldn't swing by their office in KAF.
Visas were the members problem.
They did not tell us we had options of where we wanted to fly.Suddenly half way through tour we heard of other guys getting pick between 3-5 options on how they wanted to get to their destination.
To add we also had one guy sitting elsewhere with no tickets,no hotel booked.Ended up waiting around for a day for it yo get worked out.
It was a added stress not needed.I'm glad there is a huge change between year 7 of doing it and year 8.Year 7 was horrible.


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## Pusser (19 Aug 2009)

My experience with Canada Customs when traveling in uniform has always been very positive.  They've never given my declaration form more than a cursory glance and have always smiled and welcomed me home.  Mind you, this was when traveling by air.  There was the one time when my ship returned home and a team of at least ten Customs officers (normally they only send two) and dogs were waiting for us.  They went through the ship from stem to stern, but they were very nice about it.  BTW, they were fully justified in this approach as they did find some significant smuggling and a few charges were laid that day.


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