BORING CAPTION!
What is the Leave not approved box for?
The Armed Forces Pay Review Body (an august group who embarrass the Government annually by stating in clear and justified terms precisely how much, and how we should be paid) complained way back in 1990 ish that there was no record of how much leave service personnel lost or were prevented from taking due to Service reasons.
They needed to know because we were negotiating a few extra percent and using the leave issue as part-justification. The ensueing questionnaire revealed years of lost leave from all and sundry but ws so hopelessly out of kilter from the official SAMA log the data could not be used. Hence, the leave denied box.
Use it. They may be stats but they have a purpose that is directly linked to our pay. Those tasked with vetting leave applications should not discourage applicants; they should simply inform the applicant (to the best of their management ability) of the negative decision, cross the 'no' box and pass the form on for processing. Those massaging the figures by pre-vetting applications are guilty in greater measure than they probably realise for a number of perceived problems that persist in the Service.
As for stats, it is a well studied and documented phenomenum that those in higher management will often measure performance in relatively simplistic numerical terms, (it is one way of keeping tabs on a large and complex organisation). But understanding which stats are looked at and why gives you a clear, official line of communication to the very top.