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Table of Contents
- What is a Good Year in the National Guard or Reserve?
- How to Earn Retirement Points
- Active Service
- Inactive Duty Training
- Multiple Unit Training Assemblies (MUTAs) and Drill Weekends
- Drilling for Points
- How many MUTAs for a Good Year?
- Serving in the Honor Guard for Military Funerals
- Correspondence Courses
- Retirement Points Earned Per Year
- Tracking Retirement Points
- How to Get Your Points Statement
- It Takes 20 Good Years to Qualify for a Guard/Reserve Retirement
While members of the Reserve Component share most of the same retirement benefits as active duty, such as healthcare and pension plans, their eligibility requirements differ. Unlike active duty servicemembers who build up retirement pay based on the number of years served, Guard and Reserve members are awarded points based on the types of service they perform.
Understanding this point system as well as how to earn these points is essential for understanding how and when you will be eligible for National Guard and Reserves retirement benefits and how much you will earn in retirement.
What is a Good Year in the National Guard or Reserve?
As Guard and Reserve members accrue retirement points, their points accumulate as Good Years, or years of service eligible to be counted towards retirement.
In general, members of the National Guard or Reserves need 20 Good Years of service in order to be eligible to retire. This can be any combination of qualified years of service in the National Guard, Army Reserves or active duty.
Once you’ve earned your 20 Good Years, a Reserve pension usually doesn’t begin until age 60 unless the servicemember qualifies for early retirement based on their active duty time or activations. Generally, servicemembers who have completed 20 years but are not old enough to retire with full benefits are referred to as “gray area” retirees.
Some other exceptions exist, such as those who receive a medical retirement or those who are eligible for retirement under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA).
However, generally, 20 Good Years is the standard.
How to Earn Retirement Points
In order to qualify for a Good Year, Guard and Reserve members must earn a combination of points totaling at least 50 retirement points each anniversary year. While your total points build up over the entire duration of your military career, the 50 needed to qualify for a Good Year resets yearly on your AYE, or anniversary year end date.
These anniversary year end dates occur when a reserve member enters active status or active service, which is typically either your first day in the reserves or the date you were commissioned. This date may change if the servicemember has a break in service.
There are two categories of points that can be earned towards a Good Year: membership and service. On each respective branches’ retirement record system, the service point categories are further broken down into active duty, inactive duty, and correspondence.
Earning Membership Points
Guard and Reserve members automatically earn 15 points each year they participate in their respective parent services, often listed as membership points. This includes service in both the regular Reserves and the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
Regular Reserve members have probably heard the phrase “One Weekend a Month, Two Weeks a Year” from their recruiter or retention officer. This phrase refers to Regular Reserve members’ duty to attend one drill weekend a month and a two-week training period per year. If you complete your regular Reserve minimum service requirements, you’ll earn 15 points.
IRR members, on the other hand, aren’t inherently subject to additional duty requirements – the military simply keeps their information on file if they need to do a recall or mobilization. Unlike the Active Reserve Component, IRR members earn 15 Participation points per year, even if they don’t do anything else.
Earning 15 points is a good start for Guard and Reserve members, but in order to qualify for a Good Year, they’ll need to complete additional service to reach 50 points.
Earning Service Points
Guard and Reserve members earn additional points through their annual service in their respective parent services. This service is broken down into Active Service and Inactive Duty Training.
Active Service
Active Service includes active duty, active duty for training, and annual training. Active duty and active duty for training days are when the Reserve member is called to active duty, including mobilizing, deploying, training, etc. Annual training days are the yearly two-week training requirement, or the “two weeks a year.”
Servicemembers earn one retirement point per day while in these statuses. Additional retirement points cannot be awarded for other activities while in active duty status.
In addition to receiving retirement points, all Active Service requirements are paid statuses.
Transfer into the IMA
The Individual Mobilization Augmentation (IMA) program is part of the Reserves. IMA members earn the normal 15 Annual Participation Points despite not serving the standard weekend drill schedule. Instead, IMA members fill in to “augment” when and where they are needed.
The benefit of transferring into the IMA is the ability to batch your service days and serve your entire year’s obligation within one or two periods instead of serving throughout the year.
Many IMA members can pick up more duty days if they are willing to volunteer and put in the time. Also, some IMA duties are located in prime overseas duty locations – which makes this a fun way to travel on the government’s dime and mix business with pleasure.
Not all career fields or ranks are eligible for IMA duty, so check with your parent human resources agency for availability and more information.
Inactive Duty Training
Members on Inactive Duty Training can earn different amounts of points depending on the type of service they are performing. Common Inactive Service Duty includes weekend drills, performing in the Honor Guard for Funeral Honors Duty, and inactive or additional training.
Regular Reserve members can be paid for some Inactive Duty Service, including drills, whereas IRR members cannot. Serving in the Honor Guard is often an unpaid duty. Correspondence courses may be paid or unpaid, depending on the course and the availability of unit funds.
Multiple Unit Training Assemblies (MUTAs) and Drill Weekends
Multiple Unit Training Assemblies (MUTAs), known more simply as drills, are a large component of how Reserve Component members earn points through Inactive Duty Training.
Typically, four drill periods take place one weekend per month. During a typical drill weekend, there are two drills these weekends: morning drills and afternoon drills. Each drill lasts 4 hours in total which converts to 1 inactive duty point. These four drills in total earn you 4 inactive duty points.
In addition to retirement points, regular Reserve members receive an equivalent of 1 day’s pay for each drill (based on 1/30th of the monthly base pay for their pay grade and time in service). Both regular Reserve and IRR members earn 1 Point per drill (not to exceed 2 points per calendar day).
Drilling for Points
As previously mentioned, IRR can earn points towards retirement, but unlike regular Reserve members, they’re not eligible to be paid for their Inactive Duty Training. However, to reach the minimum of 50 points needed to qualify for a Good Year, they may still drill for points only. Oftentimes, you will need to submit paperwork and gain approval from the appropriate authority within your parent service, so make sure to do your research before showing up for drill.
How many MUTAs for a Good Year?
Assuming you earn all four points every drill weekend, you would need to complete at least nine drill weekends to qualify for a good year:
4 Inactive Duty Training points X 9 Drill Weekends = 36 points + 15 Membership points = 51 points
However, as you are required to complete at least 48 MUTAs (12 weekends) a year, acquiring these points should be no problem as long as you stay committed to completing your regular Reserve requirements.
Serving in the Honor Guard for Military Funerals
Honor Guard members earn 1 inactive duty point each day they participate in military funeral duties. This is typically unpaid duty (unless you are on active duty orders). But, it can be a good way to serve while earning additional points. It’s also one of the most humbling ways we can honor our fellow servicemembers one last time.
Correspondence Courses
Some correspondence courses, but not all, count toward retirement points. Most military branches will award credit for certain Professional Military Education (PME) courses required for promotion or career advancement. Speak with your Personnel or Education & Training sections to see if they have a list of approved courses for point credit.
Retirement Points Earned Per Year
An average year in the Guard or Reserves should be worth approximately 78 retirement points. This is broken down as follows:
- 15 points – Annual Participation
- 48 points – 12 monthly drills (4 drill periods per month to choose from)
- 15 points – Annual Training (this can vary based on your unit, only for Regular Reserve)
- Additional points as earned (training, correspondence courses, Honor Guard, mobilizations, etc.).
Note: Average varies per servicemember. The math above applies to the standard “one weekend a month, two weeks a year” for an average year in the Guard or Reserves. However, the average year may not apply to everyone. It’s very common to earn more or less points than this estimate, depending on your specific situation and the needs of your unit.
Retirement Point Limits
The maximum number of retirement points a servicemember could earn in any given year is 365 (366 in leap years). This corresponds to serving every day on active duty (or an equivalent number of service points).
Additionally, by law, there is a cap on the number of Inactive Duty Training points that can be accrued for retirement in a given year.
- Reserve year ends on or after Oct. 30, 2007: max of 130 Inactive Duty Training points
- Reserve year ends on or after Oct. 29, 2000: max of 90 Inactive Duty Training points
Note: You cannot double dip on retirement points and do correspondence courses or other services to earn more than 365 points in a given year.
These limits apply to all branches of the military.
Tracking Retirement Points
Your parent service should maintain all retirement points and can be accessed in your service’s personnel website. It’s a good idea to review these points regularly to ensure your service is correctly credited. It’s highly recommended to review your points if you:
- Have a break in service
- Are mobilized or called to active duty
- Complete any correspondence or unpaid duty that results in earned retirement points.
It’s also a good idea to print and maintain copies of your Point Credit Summaries each year to have a physical record.
If you notice your paperwork needs a correction, contact your parent service’s retirement team and submit the appropriate paperwork to rectify your points as soon as possible.
How to Get Your Points Statement
| Where to Get Point Statements by Branch | |
| Army National Guard | Go to IPPS-A Landing Page (army.mil). Select “HR Professional”, then select “View Retirement Points”. |
| Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard | Go to https://www.my.af.mil. Navigate to the Virtual Military Personnel Flight (vMPF), select “Self-Service Actions”, select “Personal Data” and click “ANG/USAFR Point Credit Summary Inquiry (PCFARS).” |
| Army Reserve | Review your “Chronicle Retirement Point Statement DA 5016” at www.hrc.army.mil. Select the “My Record” tab to review. Note: CAC card required. |
| Marine Corps Reserve | Review your “Career Retirement Credit Report” at https://mol.tfs.usmc.mil/mol |
| Navy Reserve | Review your “Annual Retirement Point Record” (ARPR) at https://www.bol.navy.mil/ARPR/ |
| Coast Guard Reserve | Go to https://portal.direct-access.us. Click on “My Reserve Points Statement” under the “Employee View” menu. |
It Takes 20 Good Years to Qualify for a Guard/Reserve Retirement
Based on the information above, you should have a good idea of what it takes to qualify for a Reserve retirement. 20 Good Years may sound like a long time, but if you follow the guidelines outlined above, you should have no problem qualifying for your full military retirement plan.
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Brian says
I retired from the National Guard into the Retired Reserves. Can I still earn points towards retirement to increase my retirement pay when I reach 60?
Ryan Guina says
Brian, there are very few ways to continue earning retirement points after you officially retire. The most common way I am familiar with is to be reactivated or recalled to duty, or to continue serving for points (extremely rare, but allowed in very limited circumstances with waivers). I recommend contacting your branch’s human resources or personnel office for more information. But don’t be surprised if they tell you it’s impossible or they don’t know what your talking about. Best wishes!
Gwen says
I served in the regular army. Then the Army reserve. And finally a year in the IRR that cut my retirement order. Where can I get a copy of my retirement order? Where can I get a copy of my retirement points? I turned 60 in September of this year. I am trying to get the retirement package together to submit for My retirement pension to start paying me. Thanks Gwen
Ryan Guina says
Gwen, you will need to contact the Army Human Resources Command regarding your retirement order and filing for retirement pay. Best wishes!
Matt Paquin says
Ryan, it would be great to see an article on an AGR retirement and how reserve points get added after 20y of AFS
Ryan Guina says
Matt, that’s a great topic. But I think we can handle it right here. In short, an AGR retirement is the same as an active duty retirement. The member has the same pay and benefits as their active duty counterparts, and the benefits start immediately. Any inactive reserve points are combined and divided by 360 to convert them into months. This time is added to the member’s retirement, just as if they had served those days on active duty.
The main factor to consider is that the member needs to have 20 years of Total Active Federal Military Service (TAFMS) to qualify for active duty (or AGR) retirement. Once they reach 20 years TAFMS, all other points are added at a one-to-one ratio. I hope this is helpful!
Joseph says
Greetings.
I recently retired from Active Duty U S Navy service of 21+ years. I have 6 years of prior guard time from the 80’s. In your experience does any of that time count (drills/basic/correspondence/2 wks, etc.) toward my AD retirement? There appears to be a discrepancy/disagreement on this topic at PERS.
Ryan Guina says
Joseph, you should be able to add all of your Guard retirement points to your active duty retirement. You will need to submit your National Guard records to the Navy personnel office to have them apply that time to your service record. Then, it should be added to your retirement pay. Best wishes!
Keith Carlin says
Hi Ryan,
I am AGR with 8 technician years prior to becoming AGR. I will not have 20 years when I reach age 60. I will be 3 months short of 20 years. I am aware that I could ask for a extension. My question… Is there any benefit to a 20 year Active retirement compared to a reserve retirement base approx. 8000 active duty points? I need to know if I should retire 20 AGR or Reserve. Is there difference?
Daniel Schiff says
I can think of one very interesting loophole that is worth considering. You should consider retiring from the reserves (if you have a 20-year letter) before 60 and taking a civil service position. A reserve retirement falls in a loophole allowing you to collect a reserve pension and a civil service pension as well. With all your active duty years you can likely buy up many years of service towards a civil service pension. If you do so and can get to a total of 20 years of credited civil service, you will also get a 10% kicker on your civil service pension.
https://themilitarywallet.com/earning-military-pension-civil-service-pension/
Pay particular attention to the section: Guard or Reserve Retirement with a Civil Service Pension
Carefully plan and ensure you double and triple check with the AGR Human Resource team to ensure you will have enough good years as a RESERVIST and have your 20-year letter in hand to ensure you do not forfeit your reserve retirement.
Ryan Guina says
Keith, all things being equal, retiring from the Reserve Component (RC) at age 60 is the same as retiring from active duty at any age (retirement pay and healthcare both start at age 60 for RC members). The only difference is how retirement pay is calculated since RC retirement is based on the total number of points, then converted to years of service. But there won’t be any difference for you since you plan to serve until age 60.
That said, some RC members may be better off retiring under the Reserve retirement system if they are eligible for early retirement. This may allow them to begin their retirement pay substantially earlier than age 60, depending on how much qualifying deployment time they have. However, early retirees will have to factor in the cost of healthcare. Tricare doesn’t start for retirees until age 60, regardless of when they begin pulling retirement pay. Members who can afford the increased healthcare costs or who have access to healthcare elsewhere may wish to retire as soon as they are eligible. On the other hand, some may prefer waiting until closer to age 60 to continue working (because they enjoy the challenge, need the income, or need the healthcare).
Take some time to consider your situation. It’s a big decision!