In practice, that means that you have to have booked the leave and had it cancelled, with certification that the cancellation was for service reasons. We all tend to do ourselves no favours by planning leave when we know we are going to be free to take it, whereas the sure-fire way around this problem is to book it for when you want to take it, and then cancel it when you have to
Ginseng - that is the nub of the problem and what has got me riled. I did have leave booked last for Jul/Aug and was then told in late Jun I was going away on a short notice OOA at the start of Jul. My leave was cancelled and the appropriate paperwork signed off by the 2i/c certifying the cancellation was due to service reasons. That it has now been thrown back as my poor leave management is the real kick in the teeth and is what has got my back up.
By playing the "you won't have time to take excess leave so we won't approve it card" how much of our time - collectively as a service - are the MOD getting out of us? I would love to see what that actually comes out as a total. As I said in an earlier post, I would love to send a bill into Handbrake House and watch the fireworks, but failing that, then I will try my POTL/AL re-adjustment plan and see what happens!