Temporary Limited Duty (LIMDU) in the Navy: Periods, the 12-Month Cap, and What Happens Next (2026)

Before anyone talks about a medical board, separation, or Permanent Limited Duty, most Sailors and Marines with a serious injury or illness go through temporary LIMDU first. It is the most common step, and the least explained. This guide walks through how temporary LIMDU actually works, the period limits that quietly control your timeline, and the decision at the end that sends you back to work or into the disability system, all from the governing Navy instructions.

What Temporary LIMDU Is

Temporary Limited Duty is a period of restricted, limited-assignment duty while you recover. Your medical provider judges that you cannot perform the full duties of your rate or billet for now, but that you are expected to improve, so you are given duties compatible with your condition instead of being separated or sent to a full disability evaluation.

You remain on active duty the entire time. Full pay, allowances, and benefits continue. "Limited assignment" means your duties are tailored to your specific limitations, so you might be restricted from deployment, sea duty, certain physical requirements, or your normal watchbill.

Temporary LIMDU is a medical function. It is assigned through a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) at your military treatment facility (MTF), governed by the Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED, NAVMED P-117), Chapter 18. The overarching disability manual, SECNAV M-1850.1, treats temporary limited duty as a determination outside the formal Disability Evaluation System, left to Navy Medicine.

How You Get Placed On It

Your treating provider at the MTF initiates the medical board that recommends LIMDU. There is a streamlining rule worth knowing, and it favors enlisted Sailors and Marines: the MTF can place an enlisted member on a first LIMDU period of 6 months or less without further referral to the parent command or service headquarters. The MTF can also order a second enlisted LIMDU period without service-headquarters referral, as long as the first and second periods together stay within the 12-month total. It is the third or greater period that forces a departmental review at service headquarters. (Officers, and any third-plus period, draw the higher-level review.)

The Periods and the 12-Month Cap

This is the part that controls your timeline, and it is where people get surprised:

• First Period of Limited Duty (FPLD): under 6 months.
• Second Period of Limited Duty: under 6 months.
• The first and second periods together cannot exceed 12 total months from the date the first period started.
• A third or greater period of limited duty triggers a departmental review at service headquarters. It is no longer a routine local decision.

In plain terms: the Navy gives you up to about a year on temporary LIMDU to recover and return to full duty. If you are still not fit as that window closes, the system pushes toward a decision rather than an indefinite string of extensions.

The Decision at the End: Back to Work or Into the MEB/PEB

At the end of your LIMDU period, the medical board makes a call:

1. Fit for full duty. If you have recovered enough to perform the full duties of your rate, you return to duty and your LIMDU ends. This is the goal and the most common outcome for short, first-period LIMDUs.
2. Not fit for full duty. If you are not expected to return to full duty, you are referred into the Disability Evaluation System (DES) through a Medical Evaluation Board and then the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB). Most cases run through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES), which coordinates your military fitness determination and your VA disability rating together.

Reaching that referral does not mean you are being separated. The PEB decides fit or unfit, and an unfit finding can lead to separation, disability retirement, or, in specific cases, staying Navy on Permanent Limited Duty.

What Comes Next

• If you are found fit, you go back to full duty.
• If you are referred to the MEB/PEB, see our guides on the MEB/PEB process and the MEB timeline, and how it interacts with your VA rating.
• If the PEB finds you unfit but the Navy wants to keep you, that is Permanent Limited Duty (PLD) — a separate request with its own 15-day clock.
• If you are heading toward separation or retirement, start your VA claim early; you cannot be separated for disability until a VA claim is on file.

Practical Notes

• Track your dates. The 12-month cap is a real transition-planning marker. If you are approaching it without a clear return to full duty, a disability evaluation is likely coming, and it is better to plan for it than be surprised.
• Keep your own records. Copies of your LIMDU boards, your limitations, and your medical documentation make every later step (MEB, PEB, VA claim) easier.
• LIMDU affects orders, deployability, and advancement while it is in effect. Understand how it changes your near-term Navy life, and ask your PEBLO or medical board questions in writing.

The Bottom Line

Temporary LIMDU is the recovery runway, not a verdict. You get up to two periods under 6 months each, capped at 12 total months, to get back to full duty. If you make it, you return to work. If you do not, you move into the MEB/PEB, where fitness for continued service is decided. Knowing the timeline and keeping your records puts you ahead at every step.

Sources: MANMED (NAVMED P-117), Chapter 18 — Medical Evaluation Boards, SECNAV M-1850.1 — Department of the Navy Disability Evaluation Manual, SECNAVINST 1850.4F — DON Disability Evaluation System, MILPERSMAN 1300-1401 — Permanent Limited Duty. LIMDU period limits reflect current Navy practice under MANMED Chapter 18; confirm specifics with your MTF medical board and PEBLO, as your case governs. General information, not medical, legal, or career advice.