In future posts, please address capitalization and punctuation.
"i just recieved orders to deploy to afghanistan within a couple of days."
Pretty freaky it would be such short notice, but okay. I trust the orders to deploy are for 90 days or more (if not that or a permanent change of station, then you can't get off the rental hook).
Not up to the landlord to decide it will only "accept" orders on a given day and it's not a matter of "let[ting you] leave." It's not as though the landlord can stop you from leaving. :). That said, you are still on the hook for a proper amount of advance termination notice regardless and it would have been nice if you'd gotten the orders before the first of the month. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) says the termination notice is effective 30 days *after* the next rent "due date" after you hand in the notice (and that's for m-t-m leases; if a long-term lease, it's effective on last day of the month following the month in which you give notice). That means even if you gave the landlord the notice on the 1st and your rent is always due on the first, you will be on the hook for rent through December 31 unless the unit is re-rented sooner. Not the landlord's problem that you don't get orders on the first.
http://www.military.com/benefits/legal-matters/scra/lease-terminationhttp://ra.defense.gov/mobil/pdf/scra.pdfStart reading on p. 24 of the pdf.
It's not just a matter of handing them copies of your orders, but a termination notice along with a copy of the orders.
"they claim that it was a california law that military orders must be turned in on the 1st of the month."
Highly unlikely, but that doesn't really matter.
