You may look at the current US Reserve Forces Retirement System as a fragmented house of cards rife with inequities. Or you may feel it’s run exactly as it should be. But of a certainty, if you are a retirement planner, actuary or a lawyer representing a client who is under the system, or the spouse of a member under the system, you better dig deep to understand the strange and somewhat bizarre workings of the system.
- First we should define what I mean by Reserve Forces: The generally accepted definition is a member of the Reserves of one of the military departments … Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines or US Coast Guard Reserve. The Reserve Componet also includes members of any of the US state’s National Guards plus the National Guard’s of Guam and Puerto Rico.
- Basic Reserve Retirement: An individual enlists or is appointed to a Reserve Forces position. There are many ways for that individual to participate … more than I want to go into here, but the results are the same. The individual participates in authorized activities and earns “points”. “Points” are very much the crux of our discussion here because, in general terms a “point” is the equivalent of a day’s active duty pay. A given number of points accumulated within a 12 month period counts for a “good year”. After a sufficient number of good years the individual is entitled to Reserve Retirement.
- Points: A “point” for reserve retirement is equivalent to a day of active reserve duty. A ‘day” normally means 24 hours of duty, as a day of active duty for a regular military member is defined. However, from long reserve forces tradition certain activities, such as weekly, bi-weekly or monthly training meetings (Unit Training Assemblies or UTA’s) count a 4 hour training sessions as a day of duty … so reserve forces in many categories of participation may earn two points for a nominally eight hour training day, four points for a complete weekend of training. There are a few other ways a reserve forces participant may earn points as well.
- Good Year: Normally, any points earned by a reserve forces member count toward his or her retirement. However, there are cases where some points don’t count. To have a year that counts toward reserve retirement a member must meet minimum participation standards. Some definitions:
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Fiscal Year (FY) is between 01 October and 30 September. It is during FY that funding is provided to pay for the member’s training requirements.
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Anniversary Year (AY) is defined as the date the member entered into active service or into active status in a Reserve component. This date changes only if the member has a break-in-service.
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“Good Year†– A year of satisfactory federal service is any anniversary year during which a reservist earned a minimum of 50 retirement points. The accumulation of 20 such years is required for retirement with pay.
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FY Participation Standards – Members are required to complete 90% of scheduled IDT drills (usually equaling 43) and 12 days of ADT every FY.
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AY Participation Standards – Members are required to earn 50 retirement points.
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Possible Retirement Point Totals based on FY (100% Completion):
-
IDT
ADT
Membership
Total
-
48
12
15
75
- Note that a reserve forces member who completes normal retirement earns 75 points, but needs only 50 for a good year. The 15 “Membership Points” (also called “Gratuitous Points”) available are essentially a “fudge factor”. If a member does all his or her drills and active duty s/he will earn 60 points. The Gratuitous Points are thrown away … only the points accumulated for active participation activities are counted toward retirement. But the membership Points can be used to fill-in for a certain amount of active duty participation missed.
- A member who earns 49 or less points in a given AY, however, is a member who just participated significantly but doesn’t get a year closer to retirement.
- A last comment on this (sometimes very complicated subject), a member can earn much more than 75 points in an AY. In fact, if he or she is performing active duty functions the whole year, s/he can earn up to 360 points. (the formulas all still use the antiquated banking convention of calculating years as consisting of 12 30 day months). It’s clear that anyone trying to calculate income or retirement eligibility for a reserve forces member had better know a lot of arcane and almost conflicting rules.
- Reserve retirement: Ahh, we got here at last. But don’t worry, it’s still not simple. A reserve forces member is authorized retirement upon the date that he or she completes 20 “Good Years”. His or her retirement annuity will then be based on two factors .,.. highest grade held and points accumulated.
- Highest Grade: In general the member will retire at the highest grade satisfactorily held. In many cases this means that perhaps amid-level NCO who held a commission in the past might retire as say a major or lieutenant colonel. There are a number of ‘twists and traps” inherent in that statement “highest grade satisfactorily held” but never let it escape your consciousness if what a member makes as an annuity is important to you … a retiring member’s grade may not always be as it seems.
- Accumulate Points: Once you know with certainty a retiree’s grade, calculating pay becomes an exercise in multiplying points times grade times the numerical quarter of the moon’s current phase plus Brittany Spear’s hat size …. no, wait, I think I got part of that wrong. Instead, use this claculator:
Now we’ve almost reached the end of the process of understanding. However there’s still one large factor that must be figured in. A reserve forces member who has his or her 20 (or more) years “in the bank” for retirement must also reach his or her 60th birthday before pay will begin. Since many persons have their 20 good years completed when they are in their late thirties or early forties, they might have to “sit” for 20 years or more before retired pay comes along. This creates a significant challenge in correctly determining their net present Value (NPV) and future annuity values. These guardsmen and reservists are commonly referred to as “Gray Area” reservists and some of the ins and outs of the “Gray Area” are complex enough to call for a separate, future treatment here at RetiredPay.com
Can you tell me if I did a 4 year active duty enlistment which was from 89-93 then in 1994 I spent 38 days on ADSW orders ( when I was in the IRR)- would that give me 5 good years towards a reserve retirement or would it just be added to my active duty time. I was under the impression that I had 5 good years towards a reserve retirement but was told recently that it all just counts towards active duty time. Thanks for your help.
@mark: Hello and thanks for dropping by. I really can’t answer your question with authority without knowing dates. A “good year” for reserve retirement revolves around your “anniversary’ or “Points” year. This can be completely different for each reservist. Most members who entered active duty and then went direct to the IRR have an “anniversary year” that starts the same day as the day they originally entered active duty. If your 38 days active plus the 15 gratuitous point you earned for IRR membership were all within you annivesary year you may indeed have a ‘good year’. But no way I can say you do or don’t. You chould have been receiving a point summary each and every year from the reserve personnel center. What did “they” say you earned in 1994?
The answer will be there in their records. If you don’t have credit for that year and you feel the qualifying points were all in your anniversary year, petition for a correctuon. If the points were earned ‘across’ the anniversary date, such that you didn’t earn at least 50 within your anniversary year then who ever told you they just count toward you total ponts but not a retirement year is correct.
I did exactly the same thing myself … had a break in reserve service, went back in the reserve and didn’t think about the now revised anniversary year. Erarned only 49 points within my first anniversary year … bingo … no good year for you, just like the Soup Nazi. Didn’t make _that_ mistake again.
Hope this will help you unravel the answer. Memo to _all_ reservisrts reading this … _know_ your anniversary date and watch your annual reports like a hawk. Mistake get made. It’s much easier to correct them as you go along than 14 years later. And be very sure you understand you don’t earn points for a retirement year in a January to December calendar year, or an October to September fiscal year … you earn them in your very own anniversary year … no reason for it. it’s just our rules
I have 19yr and 6mo at the end of my last anniversary year due to AD, reserve, and a break in service. Am I eligible to retire in 6 months or at the end of another “good year”?
@lisa: Thanks for reading and for your comment. Since retirement is a life changing event you for sure need to confirm this, with your reserve personnel center … sometimes local units don’t always have it right. But from my personal experiences and the way I read the reg, you need “20 good years”, full years. This happened to me, when I was first in the reserve … due to changing units, moves, etc. I would up with an anniversary year short of 50 points … so when I was authorized to retire, I had 20 years plus almost 11 months by the ‘normal’ calendar, but still just the 20 good years needed.
The up side is, you get credit for each and every point, so your reserve annuity check would be higher than someone of equal grade who was able to retire with exactly 20 years … but when you are that close, you really don’t want to hear ‘six more months’ I am sure. At the end, I sure feel it’s been worth it though. Best of luck to you.
My wife was a reserve officer for 8 good years and is now on active duty, If she stays on active duty for 12 years can she then qualify for a 20 year reserve retirement and leave the service, or can they not be combined, I was told that in the past you had to go back on reserves for 5 years at end of 20 years to qualify for reserve retirement, but that has been changed so that you only have to go back on reserves for a day or not at all. Is their a system for this type of 20 year continuious but split reserve than active duty retirement or is it all active duty only if you move from reserve to active Duty?
@Ken: Thanks for your question, Ken. Unfortunately I don’t have an definitive answer for this one … you need to go back to the person or office that told you the final years in the Reserve requirement has been changed. Here’s what’s on the Army’s current Reserve Retirement site about eligibility for Reserve Retirement pay:
…
— be at least 60 years of age; and
— have performed at least 20 years of qualifying service computed under Section 12732, Title 10, United States Code; and
— have performed the last six years of qualifying service while a member of the Active Reserve; and
— not be entitled, under any other provision of law, to retired pay from an armed force or retainer pay as a member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; ….
If this has been changed, I can’t find an official source to cite. However, when you say ‘My wife was a reserve officer” you cover a lot of ground. Almost all officers begin their service with a Reserve commission and then get a Regular commission. They also perform service under at least 6 or 8 different programs, covered by different Federal laws. So I can’t be sure that there is not a ‘loophole’ that might let her retire earlier.
I know for the enlisted side, when I was serving, the six year rule was hard and fast. As a reserve airman, I had the opportunity to go back on active duty as a regular active duty airman and seriously considered it … then turned it down, because I would have had to serve 10 more years as a regular, to qualify for normal active duty retirement, or return to the Reserve after my four year active enlistment was up and then serve six more years with the Reserve forces. So I chose to simply finish my 20 good years with the Reserve and then wait until age 60.
Obviously, many rules are different for officers, especially since they often don’t serve fixed periods like enlistments. She should definitely check directly with the reserve forces component of her service’s HR/personnel command, you likely won’t get good answers for a question like this from local base personnel offices, in my view. Best of luck, and hats off to her for her service, no matter how the retirement works out.
Question RP….. I did 13 yrs & 8 mos active Navy starting 9/79. Left Active (honorably) at EOAS Sep 93 as a CPO, E-7. Joined Navy Reserves 11 years later 11/2004 as E-5 (the only option as I was out so long). Have now completed 5 years 3 months in Reserves. Couple questions:
1. Do I get to retire at my highest rank? E-7?
2. I will hit HYT with 20 years total service in Feb 2011. I understand that the 8 months active don’t count toward the reserves – so need to go through Nov of 2011 to give me 7 years in reserves. Would I have to go to VTU for the last months?
3. Shouldn’t my HYT be calculated at CPO since I did get there once?
4. Do have to do 6 or 8 years in the reserves?
4. What docs could I look up to check this out?
Thanks for any advice….
Steve
I have 21 years of reserve service (NG, Reserves, AD). Only 18 are “good” years because for 3 of them I was on the IRR and did not earn enough points. I am being released from the NG in a couple of months to the US Army Control Group. For this year, I will have about 18 IDT points plus 15 membership points for 33 total points.
As a member of the Control Group can I still earn a “good” year by completing correspondence course or other activities for points? I am confused by the statement “have performed the last six years of qualifying service while a member of the Active Reserve”.
@Dominick: I’m not qualified to answer this. But the requirement to complete the last 6 years of service as a member of the reserve forces is a real one. Why are you being ‘released’ so close to having a retirement completed? If you have any choice, I would fight to stay in the Guard, you already have part of the points for a good year and then two more will certainly make it worth your while. I’m not familiar with the Army Control Group, I would contact them direct with your question before I just let the move happen … only you can look out for your own career best.
@Steve: First of all, so far as I know, any enlisted service member retires at the highest grade held. In some cases the member has to wait until s/he reaches the 30 year anniversary of service date before being advanced to the highest grade held, buts as long as you held E0- satisfactorily and were not removed for ’cause’, you should definitely followup on this.
In trying to figure out your time in service HYT questions I got confused. You state you were on active duty 9 of 79 through 9 of 93 … that’s 14 years … was there a break in service to account for the missing 4 months you mentioned? If you joined the reserves in 11 of 04, you need 6 years as a reservist to qualify for retirement which comes out to 11 of 2010.
This may be of help, I’d start calling: HIGH-YEAR-TENURE POLICY QUESTIONS: CNO (N132C3A), AT
(703) 614-6864/DSN 224 OR EMAIL AT DOUGLAS.DEVAULT@NAVY.MIL, OR
CNO (N132C3), AT (703) 695-3815/DSN 224 OR EMAIL AT
MATTHEW.WAESCHE@NAVY.MIL.
You also might find some interesting information here:
http://www.ausn.org/Portals/0/pdfs/magazine/february-2010/are-you-on-the-list.pdf
according to what I read, you are due to meet or may request a board. Also you may request a HYT waiver in order to complete the months you need for retirement.
If worst comes to worst, you cna earn points in VTU status. There’s a lot of info on:
https://wwwa.nko.navy.mil/portal/home/
“Don’t give up the ship” as some navy dude once said … you can sneak through to those magic ‘good years’, and don’t forget, in addition to getting back your E-7 pay grade, you time in service/time in grade keeps counting up while you wait for the magic 60th birthday to come along. Worked for me, make it work for you too.
According to my records an dthose of teh reserves official points count, I have 27 years on the Reserves and 20 active duty years because of constant active duty service since 2000. My AD points read 7340. For what kind of retirement do I qualify? active duty? reserves ? if it is active duty would that be 27 years? can you help me clarify this?
Bill
I failed to clarify I had 9 years active duty when I separated and joined the reserves, then actived uty tours through the 90s equalling 2 active duty years, and since 2000 I have been on active duty therefore I have 7340 points total in my points printout. Ergo, 20 years active duty with 27 years total reserve and active dutytime. What retirement do I qualify for?
Thanks
I am being transferred from the selected reserves, to IRR, due to a hardship issue (cannot do AT due to a disabled family member who requires my presence, unless they fly to live with family) I have six years prior active service and two on IRR before joining the active reserves. My first year in the selected reserves, I made the mistake of not getting quite 50 points, so it is a bad year, and I can only imagine that it will be the same for this year, since I am transferring to the IRR with no AT under my belt.
If my understanding of the system is correct, I only have 6 good years, since I did not earn 50 points in any of the four IRR/SelRes years.
My question is, is it possible to qualify for reserve retirement, i.e., get 14 more good years,while on IRR? Or is it a fool’s errand, and I should let my IRR enlistment expire and bid the Navy a fond, if reluctant, adieu? Strange as it may seem, although an annual training is out of the question, a long mobilization is -not-, although once we pull out of the middle east, I doubt I will have that option anymore.
@Will: Hi Will, it is certainly possible to complete a retirement in the IRR, but in your current situation, as you already have found, it will be hard. You are correct that the years you didn’t earn enough points are lost as ‘good years’. You still have those points in your account and they would be used to compute your final pay … but the years are lost.
I don’t have much in the way of good advice to offer, I never served in the IRR. But I provided a ‘roosting place’ for many IRR folks over the years … guys and galls who pretty much designed their own schedule and got a selected reserve unit to let them participate on an irregular basis. How the Navy works this specifically, I can’t advise on. It’s a long haul do do 14 years and only you can calculate the long term benefit … at your present rate, you won’t have many points at the 20 year mark …
I have received my 20 year letter. Am I correct in stating that, now that I have that document, I should no longer concern myself over “bad years” but instead try to gather as many points as I can before I submit my retirement papers? Of course, gathering those points will lead to “good years”, but it’s all about the points now, right?
What is Sanctuary in reference to a reservist. How does one calculate sanctuary years. Any informatiuon that you can provide in this subject will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
DS
I’m ar reservist w/ 21 yrs as a commissioned officer. Because I spent 7. 5yrs in IRR, I only have13 good years, and a MRD of 2/28/2017. At the end of my MRD I’ll be a couple of days short of meeting the requirements for the 20 yr retirement. What are my options?
@Paul: Congrats on the letter, Paul … it’s a valuable hunk of paper and evidence of a job well done. I guess the answer to your question is yes, “good years” no longer govern. In most cases, if you do things to maximize points you are going to get ‘good years’ as a consequence, but no, they essentially don’t mean anyhting. Points you acquire from now until age 60 always mean something, so things like taking an activation this year and earning 200 points and not doing anyhting the following year make perfect sense. Also, a point many don’t take note of … if you transfer to the Retired Rolls after you have received your “20 year letter”, then time and service and time in grade continue until age 60 …in other words, say an E-7 transfers to retired status after earning his/her 20 year letter. His or her pay would then be at the 20 to 22 year rate (over 20, les than 22 years service … but by the time she or he is age 60, their pay will be calculated on the over 24 rate (max pay for any E-7) .. one of the few “freebies” left in Reserve Forces retirement. Enjoy the rest of your career, and especially your retirement, mine has been great so far, just got to make it last another 40 or 50 years …not that I am greedy or anything
@Darren Stennis: Darren, thanks for writing in. Wow, good question. The start of your answer is here:
2. Background. Per references (a) through (c), a member of the
RC who is on active duty (other than for training) and is within
2 years of becoming eligible for retired pay or retainer pay
under a purely military retirement system (other than the
retirement system under reference (a), chapter 1223), may not be
involuntarily released from that duty before they become
eligible for that pay, unless the release is approved by the
Secretary of the Navy. This period, attaining 18 years of
cumulative active duty, is commonly known as entering
“sanctuary.” Navy and Marine Corps policies have established RC
member eligibility…
More at: http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives/01000%20Military%20Personnel%20Support/01-800%20Millitary%20Retirement%20Services%20and%20Support/1800.2.pdf
Hope this will help a little. I never got into this aspect of Reserve service, so I have no expertise here at all. See the headquarters info unit address for your particular military branch in the sidebar of each page … many time it is best to go direct to the manager of particular programs than to any other local source … best of luck.
@Mary: Thanks for writing in Ma’am. One of the marks of an expert (or some guy who wants to be seen as an expert
) is, he knows when he is outside his area of expertise. I am way outside my comfort zone with your question. I did spend a lot of time earlier today learning about calculation of MRC, different rules for different pay grasdes, etc., but damn little about waivers to the program or other avenues of ‘escape’ for someone who seems to be adversely affected by the program .. but nolck on this one. Contact the Reserve Forces specific office for your particular military department … I have a starting point listed for all services in the right-hand side bar of this site, and best of luck. Also, these folks seem to be the real POC for the MRD program in the ASrmy, perhaps they can help:
Commander, U.S. Army Human Resources Command
ATTN: AHRC-PAP-T
1 Reserve Way
St. Louis, MO 63132-5200
Hi sorry first time on this website so please pardon me. I’m finding this site very informative thus far. I’m a CG Reservist with approximately 9 1/2 years of credible service. I was just inquiring if there was a certain amount of time a member can remain in the IRR.
@Bryan: Hello Bryan, thanks for dropping by and for your comment. Every day I try to tell myself I should make this site more and more informative for reserve forces military retirees, because there certainly seems to be a lack of information for “us reserve forces”. I do believe the answer to your question is, no, there is no max time a member can remain in the IRR. You must, though, bear in mind you need 50 or more points each retirement anniversary year to make a ‘good year’ for retirement. You only get 15 ‘gratuitous’ or ‘membership’ points each year just by ‘sitting’ in the IRR, so each and every year you would have to do something to earn at least 35 more points … drills, active duty, point-awarding training, etc. Much more info is available here: http://www.uscg.mil/rpm/rpm3/irr/irr_faq.asp#5
Hello, i am trying to find out if there are any exceptions for a good year due to medical treatment?
I served 15years 38days active duty in the Army ending 11 Aug 2001, then joined the AF Reserve 31 July 2003, I had good years and points thru July 2006, shortly after that i was diagnosed with PTSD and began intensive treatment, and was unable to attend or perform my AF duties. During my treatment time i spent around 110 days recieving inpatient treatment thru the VA, and was placed on the TDRL list on the 28th of Aug 2010.
Giving me a total of 21 years in the service, and 17years 52 days active duty time.
So is there any type of exception for Medical treatment?
Thank You Georgery
@Georgery: I am unsure of the answer on this one. In my heart I think there might be a way, but under the law, I don’t know how. Since you were on the TDRL I don’t see any way to claim you were fit for duty. Are you off the TDRL now and fit for world-wide duty? I suggest you start looking for answers with the Air Force Reserve contact in the right hand side bar .. this is certainly a more complicated situation than you can get an answer for here, I am afraid. Best of luck to you, sir.
Thanks RP,
I was not actually placed on the TDRL list until Aug2009, and at that time had 21 years, the last 2 were in treatment. So at the time i started getting treatment, i had 19+ years.
Thanks again.
Georgery
Not really a retirement question but I thought you might know. I am a long term reservist that just came off an extended tour of active duty in January. I know that I am only supposed to get 48 paid drills (regular drills, no special category) per year, My question is: are these based of fiscal year or aff my anniversary year?
@KIm: Best of my knowledge, KIm, they would be based on your Anniversary year. Your unit has to be authorized money for man days, manage man days and such, but drill (UTA’s and the like) are not budgeted at the unit level. You might want to double check with the headquarters office for your military service, I posted them all in the side bar of this site.
Hello,
I was on active duty for 8 years 3 months. Then had a break in service, then joined the Reserve. The last 3 months gave me 99 points in a new anniversary year. Does this count towards a good year, or is it lost?
Thanks for any help, and if you know of any Regulation to look in, that would be great.
Thanks, Paul H
Great info here!! Was wondering if you could help with my somewhat unique situation…I have 15 years AD, out for 3 and now in ANG for last year. Is there any way I can do enough time (good points/days) to equal 20 years for an AD retirement, thus able to start collecting prior to age 60? Or, is this age 60 a hard block, even if I have equivalent guard/reserve time…Thanks.
@Paul Hassing: Hi Paul. Thanks for writing in. So far as I know, at the end of that anniversary year you should be credited with a good year. But the authority always is your particular service OPR (Office of Primary Responsibility). I have them listed in the sidebar here for convenience. Best of luck, and if by some chance you find you _can’t_ earn credit for that year, take a minute and let the rest of use know the outcome, ok?
@SteveP: Hi Steve. So far as I know you are ‘stuck’ with both the Age 60 Rule and the requirement that you last 6 years of duty must be in the Reserve Forces to qualify for a Reserve Component retirement. So if I count right based on what you told me, you need five more “good years” to qualify for an RC (Reserve Component) retirement. All your active duty time counts of course regarding your points .. in other words your “multiplier” and resulting reserve annuity will be high, but the years have to be done. Check with your specific service OPR (in the side bar listings) for more authoritative information, and thanks for allyour service, active and guard. best of luck.
Hi. I was on active duty as an officer and was placed on Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) for five years. I am now back in the Reserves. Do you know if any of those years on TDRL would have given me any points towards Reserve retirement? I believe they count towards pay years (I’m still trying to figure that one out too). Thanks.
@Dave: I don’t think (and this is purely my opinion, mind you), that you get any credit for those years, except, perhaps the gratuitous (membership) 15 points a year. The years certainly count for time in service time in grade, but I think they are lost for actual 20 good years retirement purposes.
Why not ask this directly of you individual service’s OPM for reserve retirement, I list them in the right page sidebar just for these sorts of questions don’t know, especially when disability time enters into the picture. Godspeed.
I have been the active duty Army and Navy for 16 years and one month so far. I spent about 6 years in the Army National Guard and my total service is 22 years. I have 2 years left on my present contract. Can I retire right now and go into any reserves service. Also, if I do 20 years active and retire that will give me 26 ot total service. Will I retire with 50% or 65% /
@Umar: Thanks for writing in. I’m afraid I don’t have any good news for you, though. If you retire from the active service you can not go into the Reserve Forces (there have been case by case exemption that require Secretary of Defense approval, but those are extremely rare).
If you leave the active forces before retirement, you are welcome to join the reserve component … but you can’t retire from the reserve forces unless your last 6 years are in the reserves or guard. Not six years total, but the last six years before retirement.
So the answer to the question “Can I retire right now” I think is no … you’ll only have 16 years and however many months for active forces retirement. You should have 24 plus qualifying (good) years for reserve component retirement of you chose to separate from the active forces at the end of your presnt commitment, but you would need 6 years as a Reservist or Guardsman to qualify for retirement.
Will your prior 6 years Guard service “count” toward your total time in service? yes, you bet. As to how much your percentage would be you’d have to answer specific questions regarding the plan you are under (You did make a selection at the 15 years service point, correct)?
A good combined active duty retirement calculator is here, which will also taker into account reserve component time.
And the best reserve component retirement calculator I have come across yet is here.
Hope this helps, Godspeed and thank you for your service.
My husband served 4 years Active Duty Army and then 4 years IRR. He then re-entered the service and service 16 more years. Upon retirement will his time in the IRR count towards his retirement percentage?
@kwajalein: Kewl name. I’m waiting for a visitor from Roi-Namur, where my daddy served and where I sadly passed up many chances to visit in the past.
Anyway, your question. If I read you right your husband is retiring as an active duty soldier, correct? His four years in the Individual Ready Reserve certainly do count in terms of time in service. In other words, if he retires with just over 20 year’s service, he should get paid at the over 24 years rate for his grade. This should already be reflected in his Date of Initial Entry into Military Service (DIEMS). I believe it should be his date of initial enlistment back 24 years ago (possibly adjusted by a few months for any breaks in service). If it doesn’t show 24+ years I’d suggest a rapid visit to his personnel shop for an explanation … with reference to whatever regulations the personnel folks are using.
IRR years don’t count for retirement eligibility itself … in other words you can’t do only 16 years active and then retire by adding on 4 years or IRR time, but those years certainly count for pay purposes, becuase he was still a military service member subject to involuntary call-up during those years. best of luck with your retirement plans … it’s great out here in the wide world of retirement.
I am getting close to 20 but for some reason I’m missing points from all of 1998 (strange because I was promoted that year). Anyway is there a way I can go back and find thse points. I do not have copies of LES’s that far back. Also I was wondering, I have 7 1/2 years on active, 6 in the guard and the remainder in the reserve, will I get a 20 year letter from the reserve? If not can I retire at 20?
@James: Thanks for reading and for commenting. Your primary question has come up before and unfortunately there is not an easy answer. If you do not have your LES’s from 1998, what other proof do you have that you completed a “Good Year”? Training records from your u nit at the time? Results from correspondence schools completed? Active duty for training or make-up UTA orders? Step one would be personal contact with the reserve retirement OPR for your branch and a request for validation. Not a lot of help I can offer otherwise. When I entered the Air Force back in 1965 my TI told me to keep every order and LES I ever was given. Of course, like almost everyone, I didn’t and in several cases over the past 40 years, he was certainly proved right ….
When your present branch shows that you have 20 good years … from all your service, you will get a validation letter that says you have completed the requirements for retirement pay at age 60. You better keep this one, it’s really important.
You can then request transfer to the Retired Reserve at any time and awit birthday number 60.
I have 5 years in the reserve component and 16 years active duty. I have been told that the 6 year reserve requirement is no longer in effect. I can retire from the reserves right now. Have you heard this?
@Chris A: Hi Chris. No I am not aware of any of the services changing that rule. I’m surely eager to learn more, though. Was your Reserve component time prior to or after your Active component time? It would be a great help to me (and maybe some others currently waiting out the six-year rule) if you could tell us: What service branch(s) are you talking abut .. Army, Air Force, etc., and who “told” you this news … is it something that came from a personnel office or just some casual remark you picked up somewhere. We’d all be obliged if you could give us hint. Godspeed, sir.
Yes, I have about 5 years in the Army National Guard but am on AD now. I spoke with a S1 rep from a National Guard unit near me last year and they told me that rule had been changed. I will call the retirement NCO I spoke with again and clarify. Once I get an answer, I’ll post it.
I spoke with the retirement NCO at the last Guard unit I was in. The 6 year law was repealed in 2005. For me, on active duty, I can’t simply drop a retirement packet but would first have to join a unit and then submit a packet. But still, it’s significant that the rule was repealed. Hope this helps.
I’m glad I stumbled across your website, and I will start off by saying thank you for whatever information you can throw back my way. A few days ago I hit my third PRT failure in four years, which in the Navy means bye-bye (it’s a great down-sizing tool!) Before I am processed out however I should hit my 15 years of AD service and will be exiting as an E-7. In my offline queries I have been told that the reserves are an option I should explore to work towards my retirement, but I’m a little hesitant to go that route (I have not talked to a recruiter yet) simply because I’m not sure exactly how much time I’d be investing. Will I be able to just earn enough points to equate to 5 good years and then be done, or will I have to do more? Once those points are earned, can I “retire” at 20 and then sit around and wait until I’m 60 to get the retirement check, or do I have to remain in the navy reserves until I’m 60? Again, I know you’re not the expert but I’ve appreciated reading your straightforward answers and think whatever you can offer will be of great value. Thanks!
Does a “good year” have to be 360 days? Reasons I ask:
1.) My last year of active service was eight months, with 268 points.
2.) I won’t get into how this happened, but I had a break in service, then I did eight months during which I accrued 55 points, then had another break in service.
The bottom line (literally) on my RPAM that closed this week says 20/00/00 under “years creditable for retirement pay”. Does that line in and of itself mean that I can request a 20 year letter? (There are only nineteen 01/00/00 and there are two 00/08/xx.)
It seems your comment was cut off, so I am not really sure what you were asking … but in Reserve terms a “good Year” is having enough points in the year from one anniversary date until the day before that date the following calendar year.
This October I will have 19 years in the AF Reserves. My question is that in 06 I transferred from one base to another and only accomplished 10 days of ADT and never missed any UTA’s. My total points for 2005 to 2006 was 73 points, which is 10 + 48 + 15. My question is whether I will have a good year for that time frame due to only completing 10 ADT days?
@corey: Hi Corey, thanks for writing in. I don’t think you have any issue, becuase ADT is essentially a unit retirement. Your eligibility for retirement is based on getting enough years with enough points, which it appears you have. If I were you, I would check directly with the folks at the Air Reserve Personnel Center … http://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/ … they have always been helpful to me in the past. Godspeed.
I retired from the reserves (as an officer) in 2007 with 23 years of service….If I re-enter the reserves will my MRD date extend? When I retired it was May 2012…..I am hoping it will extend for the 3 years I have been retired….
@Cassie: Hello, and thanks for writing in. I really don’t know the answer to that question, though. I never ran into MRD’s sin my Air Force enlsited grade service. I can well understand you wanting to go back in, though. Best bet is to go directly to the reserve forces office for your service and get an authoritative reading. I try to keep them all collected here:
http://retiredpay.com/military/reserve-retirement/
Godspeed.