Last week I wrote about all the different kinds of service for which you can get credit in determining your length of service and have that service used in the computation of your annuity. This time I want to focus on a common form of creditable service: active duty time spent in the Armed Forces of the United States.
You can only get credit for that time if it was terminated under honorable conditions and was performed before you retire from your civilian job. The term Armed Forces includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. It also covers service in the Armed Forces’ military academies, Regular or Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service, and as a commissioned officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
If you are (or will be) receiving military retired pay when you retire, you will only be able to continue receiving that pay and get credit for that active duty service if you were awarded it for a service-connected disability incurred in combat with an enemy of the United States or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in combat in the line of duty during a period of war. If you are barred from getting credit for military service because of your military retired pay, you can either make a deposit to the civilian retirement system and waive that pay when your retire or you can keep it and have your annuity computed solely on your civilian service. It’s purely a financial decision on your part.
On the other hand, if you are (or will be) receiving reserve retired pay under the provisions of Chapter 67, Title 10, U.S. Code, you can continue to receive that pay and get credit for any periods of active duty service by making a deposit to the civilian retirement system. Note: Reserve time is never considered to be creditable service for retirement purposes. Nor is annual active duty for training (ANACDUTRA), unless it was performed before you became a federal employee.
Next time I’ll explain the rules governing the making of a deposit to get credit for any active duty service and how they apply to you.
