You cannot leave the navy/marines during the first 28 days of duty.

If you have served 28 days (from your first day of paid duty and excluding any time spent absent without leave) but have not yet served six months in total, then you can leave provided that you apply in writing to your commanding officer before the six months are up. This is called 'Discharge as of Right' (DAOR) and means you won't have to serve in the reserve. The six month deadline is absolute as far as your legal right to leave is concerned, but see below.

Once your six months are up you have no legal right to leave until 3 years and 6 months have passed since you finished training. To leave then you must have given 12 months' notice in writing. After you leave Regular Service you will have to serve in the Reserve.  Reserve Service means that you may be called out to serve on active duty at any time.  The government is entitled in law to keep you in the Reserve for the rest of your engagement, which is usually 18 years from the date you enlisted, but in practice Reserve Service usually lasts six years from the date you leave Regular Service.

The above rules assume that you have not agreed in writing to extend your minimum term of service in order to receive a course of training or education or another benefit.

If your six months are up but you are still under 18 you can apply for special permission to leave if you are 'genuinely unhappy'. Permission is normally granted but if you want to leave you must apply to your commanding officer before you turn 18. Your CO can delay departure if he or she is not convinced that you are permanently unhappy in the navy but normally you will be allowed to leave.

If you find that you have no legal right to leave Regular Service for a long time, then you can still try asking for permission to leave anyway.  Permission is not normally granted but some Commanding Officers have been known to look sympathetically on such requests.  Leaving in this way is called Compassionate Discharge and will release you from Regular Service but not necessarily Reserve Service.  Serious family problems can sometimes be grounds for a Compassionate Discharge from Regular Service -- and also from Reserve Service if you are called out to serve and still have serious family responsibilites but this is not guaranteed.  It is worth getting advice before you take this step; visit the 'Want to talk to someone?' page.

If you go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) then you may be punished with a prison sentence and your legal right to leave the navy will be delayed.

If there is a time of 'imminent national danger', for example if the country is attacked, you may not be allowed to leave the navy/marines for the duration, whatever your circumstances.

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