Members of the Reserve Component (RC) generally become eligible to receive retirement benefits after they have completed 20 years of qualifying service and reach age 60.
For many committed reservists who enlist at a young age, completing the 20 years is no problem, but the downside is waiting 10-15 years to claim their monthly pension payments.
If you’ve completed your mandatory years of service but are not yet old enough to fully retire, it’s possible that you could still receive your military retirement pay before you become eligible for complete benefits.
Let’s discuss how as a Reserves and National Guard servicemember, you can fully utilize the option for a reduced retirement age.
Does active duty time reduce Guard and Reserve retirement age?
Primarily, Reserve and Guard members can reduce their retirement age by accumulating time spent activated, also known as on active duty. However, Reserve and Guard early retirement pertains specifically to retirement pay.
How Guard and Reserve Early Retirement Works
Under the most recent terms of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), members of the RC who served at least 90 days under a qualifying active-duty service mobilization are authorized to retire three months early for each 90-day period they served, but you cannot reduce your retirement age below 50.
For example, if an RC member was activated for 90 days of qualifying active duty, they could retire three months early. If they were activated for 180 days of qualifying active duty, they could retire six months early.
Currently, these qualifying days can cross into consecutive fiscal years, but this only applies to activations on 01 October 2014 (or fiscal year (FY)15) and later. A fiscal year is a period of 12-months outside of the regular calendar year that businesses and governments use for accounting and budgeting purposes.
Before FY15, 90-day periods had to be completed within the same fiscal year to be eligible for a reduction.
With that in mind, the rules surrounding qualifying service for early RC retirement differs depending on the time period that you were on active duty:
- If you were activated between Jan. 28, 2008 – Sep. 30, 2014, you must serve 90 days on active duty within a fiscal year.
- If you were activated between Oct. 1, 2014 – present, you must serve 90 days on active duty and your service time can cross into consecutive fiscal years.
Here’s how your days of qualifying active duty service after FY15 can reduce your retirement age:
| Days of Qualifying Service | Retirement Age Reduced by* |
|---|---|
| 90 days | 3 months |
| 180 days | 6 months |
| 270 days | 9 months |
| 360 days | 1 year |
| 450 days | 1 year and 3 months |
Qualifying Service
Qualifying active service can be divided into two groups depending on when you served:
- Starting Jan. 28, 2008: Only Reserve members activated on a deployment in support of overseas operations, such as the Iraq or Afghanistan campaigns, could count days towards early retirement.
- Starting Jan. 2013: National emergencies, including natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc., begin counting as qualifying service.
Members of the RCs are also eligible to retire early if they were in a Warrior Transition Unit and were injured while mobilized for responses, as mentioned above.
Under the current guidelines, most active duty activations count for Reserve early retirement, including deployments in support of overseas operations, support for natural emergencies which are authorized by the governor and paid for by federal funds, as well as active duty training and attending military schools.
Qualifying Orders
You can check your paperwork for the following orders to see if your active duty time qualifies for early retirement. A 2012 OpJAGAF statement outlines active duty time under the following orders as acceptable to count toward early retirement:
- Title 10 10 U.S.C. § 12301(d)
- 10 U.S.C. 101(a)(13)(B) covering section 688, 12301(a), 12302, 12304, 12304a, 12305, 12406, 10 U.S.C. Chapter 15 (§§ 331-335)
- 32 U.S.C. § 502(f)
Non-Qualifying Service
However, not all service counts toward Reserve early retirement. Guard or Reserve duty that cannot count towards early retirement includes:
- Weekend drills
- Two-week annual training
- Full-time AGR or TAR status
- Muster duty
- Activation for courts – martial or disciplinary reasons
- Not participating at a satisfactory level
Additionally, you must have already been a member of the Guard or Reserves when you were activated for qualifying service. Members who originally joined the service as active duty then later transitioned to the Guard or Reserves are not able to count their previous active duty service toward early retirement.
Non-Qualifying Orders
According to the same OpJAGAF release active duty time under the following orders does NOT qualify for early retirement:
- 10 U.S.C. § 10211*
- 10 U.S.C. § 12310
- 10 U.S.C. § 688a
*For service under orders 10 U.S.C. § 10211 to qualify for early retirement, the President must formally declare a national emergency and specifically designate § 10211 as one of the statutory authorities to be affected by the emergency.
Keep Good Records of Your Service
It’s up to RC members to be aware of how much qualifying service they completed and to file for early retirement. In these instances, you need to have proof of your activation, including the reason and the duration of time you were activated.
This is where your mobilization orders and DD Form 214 are essential. Your DD Form 214 is issued when you are released from active duty service. This is different from DD Form 256, which is the Honorable Discharge paperwork you receive when you separate from the Guard or Reserves.
If you notice discrepancies in your paperwork, contact your unit immediately to have your records corrected.
If you have since left your unit and are no longer serving, you may need to contact the National Archives. Check out our article on requesting military records for more assistance.
Early Reserve Retirement vs. Gray Area Retirement
You may have seen Reserve early retirement and gray area retirement used in similar conversations, but they don’t mean the same thing.
Reserve early retirement refers to RC members’ ability to reduce the age at which they can officially retire through active duty service. However, gray area retirees are those who completed 20 years of qualifying service and retired from service but aren’t old enough to receive their pension.
To put it another way, some RC members may be eligible for both gray area retirement and Reserve early retirement. However, not all of them elect to leave the force to become a gray area retiree before they are eligible to receive all Reserve retirement benefits.
You Can Retire Early from the Guard and Reserves
Reserve early retirement rewards RC members for their qualifying active duty service. Along with early receipt of their retirement pay, those who retire early will be eligible for other core benefits like Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR), exchange and base.
You may also continue your Tricare coverage with Tricare Retired Reserve (TRR). TRR provides comprehensive health insurance to retired RC members, but it is more expensive than other Tricare plans. Check out the following articles for more information about health insurance options for retired Guard and Reserve:
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Brian Wagner says
They need to fix the system because a lot of RC people served in Iraq and Afghanistan before 2008! And can’t use that time to be taken off early retirement!