((a)) ** .—** The Secretary concerned may grant a member of the armed forces emergency leave of absence for a qualifying emergency.

((b)) ** .—** An emergency leave of absence under this section—

((1)) may be granted only once for any member;

((2)) may be granted only to prevent the member from entering unearned leave status or excess leave status; and

((3)) may not extend for a period of more than 14 days.

((c)) ** .—** In this section, the term “qualifying emergency”, with respect to a member of the armed forces, means a circumstance that—

((1)) is due to—

((A)) a medical condition of a member of the immediate family of the member; or

((B)) any other hardship that the Secretary concerned determines appropriate for purposes of this section; and

((2)) is verified to the Secretary’s satisfaction based upon information or opinion from a source in addition to the member that the Secretary considers to be objective and reliable.

((d)) ** .—** Regulations prescribed under this section by the Secretaries of the military department shall be as uniform as practicable and shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of Defense.

((e)) ** .—** In this section:

((1)) The term “unearned leave status” means leave approved to be used by a member of the armed forces that exceeds the amount of leave credit that has been accrued as a result of the member’s active service and that has not been previously used by the member.

((2)) The term “excess leave status” means leave approved to be used by a member of the armed forces that is unearned leave for which a member is unable to accrue leave credit during the member’s current term of service before the member’s separation.