IRR Military Retirement

Table of Contents

1. Does IRR time count towards retirement?
2. How to Earn Retirement Points in the IRR
3. Reader Question: Can I get promoted in the IRR?
4. Retired Reserve vs. IRR
1. Dual Status in the Reserves 
2. In the Reserves, Longevity Accrues During “Retired Awaiting Pay”
3. You Don’t Get Tricare in the IRR
5. Reader Question: Is retirement from the IRR worth it? 

When you leave active duty, you may have the option of transferring into the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). The IRR provides the military with a source of trained servicemembers who are on call if the military needs to expand rapidly. Most servicemembers remain in the IRR while completing their initial Military Service Obligation (MSO) and then separate.

In some cases, members decide to remain in the IRR beyond their MSO and achieve the last points needed to retire from the Guard or Reserves.

Achieving military retirement as an IRR member can be complex, and understanding how to earn retirement points is crucial. This guide offers detailed insights and tips to help you achieve your retirement benefits through effective management of IRR point-earning opportunities.

Let’s dive in. 

Does IRR time count towards retirement?

Yes, IRR time counts towards retirement from the Guard or Reserves; however, you have fewer opportunities to earn points than Reservists on active or drilling duty. Additionally, the rules for how IRR time counts towards retirement can vary depending on your branch of service and specific circumstances. 

How to Earn Retirement Points in the IRR

You need to accumulate 20 “good years” of service to receive a Reserve pension. Simply put, a “good year” is a qualifying year in which you earn at least 50 points for retirement. 

IRR point earning opportunities vary by branch, and all the opportunities you have are unpaid. In other words, in the IRR, you are drilling for points only. 

In general, you can earn points in the IRR by doing the following: 

• Inactive Duty Training (IDT) in a non-pay training status
• Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW)
• Active Duty for Training (ADT)
• Completing correspondence courses
• Attending annual musters
  

In the IRR, you automatically earn 15 participation points each year. To successfully earn your participation points, you must attend the annual muster, complete a yearly readiness screening and respond to all official military correspondence. Failure to do any of these tasks can affect your point earning and benefits. 

On top of that, you can earn one point a day for any active duty assignment and one point for each 4-hour period of IDT completed. For IDT, you can earn a maximum of 2 points per day. 

You can apply for ADSW and ADT with a DA Form 1058. Most IRR members earn points by completing correspondence courses, but they are not always easy to come by and you may be required to drive for some of those opportunities. 

Keep in mind that distance learning opportunities also vary by military service.

Reader Question: Can I get promoted in the IRR?

An important thing to consider is whether you can be promoted in the IRR. Servicemembers have to serve in a pay grade for a certain amount of time before they can be promoted or retire at that grade. This is known as Time in Grade (TIG), and it only counts toward promotion requirements when you earn a good year. 

Officers in the pay grades of O-1 through O-3 need to serve at least six months in that grade for retirement. On the other hand, some officers have to serve a requirement of 3 years in grade.  

Let’s review a reader question on the topic to give you an idea of how this could work out in real-time. 

A reader writes:

Hello sir! I’m an O-5 (USNR) with 19 years and I stumbled upon your website/blog. All I can say is AWESOME! You put things in plain English when many other websites and instructions either “beat around the bush” or use vernacular that usually leads to more questions! BZ! I was hoping you could answer one question for me. Since I am at 19 years in the Navy (seven years active / 12 years Reserve) – I am trying to weigh my options when I go over 20.

After I hit 20, if I am on the O-6 promotion list and then immediately choose to transfer to the IRR, would I be able to retire as a CAPT? Would I have to serve as a CAPT for at least three years in the IRR and if I earn enough points for a good year, does that mean I could eventually “retire awaiting pay” and retire as an O-6? I guess that was a long-winded way of asking: can you be promoted to O-6 in the IRR and earn good years in the IRR?

Thanks! 

The answer to your question is that while it’s possible for officers to be eligible for promotion in the IRR, it’s rare. There are too many Reservists on mobilization and drilling status that typically get precedence for promotion. It would be better to keep drilling (or mobilizing) at least until you reach 20 years and get selected for O-6. 

Once you’re selected for O-6, you can transfer to the IRR whenever you want (even before you’re formally promoted.) O-6s usually need three years to meet TIG requirements, but you can also request a waiver to reduce the TIG requirement to two years. That’s routinely approved for most retirements and would almost certainly be approved for retirement from the IRR during a drawdown.

If you decide to go to the IRR, you can earn points toward retirement by taking correspondence courses, signing up for special duty (funeral detail), or by other individual arrangements with your chain of command. (You may also want to see if you can earn points by serving as a U.S. Naval Academy Blue & Gold Officer.) 

Just keep in mind that Time in Grade only counts when you earn a good year.

Retired Reserve vs. IRR

The “Retired Reserve” is another term used for gray area retirement, which refers to Reserve members who have achieved eligibility for National Guard/Reserve retirement but haven’t yet reached age 60. The Retired Reserve is not the same as the Individual Ready Reserve. 

Let’s take a look at how the Retired Reserve compares to the IRR: 

	Retired Reserve	Individual Ready Reserve
Training	Members do not participate in regular training but can be recalled to active duty in times of war or national emergency.	Members do not participate in regular training but can be recalled to active duty during war or national emergency.
Subject to Recall	Retired Reserve would typically be called to duty after IRR members.	IRR would likely be called to duty before the Retired Reserve.
Point Accrual	Members no longer earn points, but seniority within grade accrues.	Members can still accumulate points toward retirement.
Access to Healthcare	Retired Reserve members have access to Tricare Retired Reserve.	IRR members do not qualify for military health benefits unless activated.
Access to Base Benefits	Commissary, Exchange, Travel and Lodging, Morale, Wealthfare and Recreation (MWR)	Commissary, Exchange, Travel and Lodging, MWR

Leaving active duty or Reserve status to join the IRR is a big decision, and it may not be easy (or possible) to revert to your prior duty status.

Here are a few things you should consider before deciding between the IRR and the Retired Reserve. 

Dual Status in the Reserves 

There are many opportunities for dual status in the Guard and Reserves, including dual status military technician status. A dual status member often refers to a service member who holds both a civilian position and a military position within the National Guard or Reserve forces. This term is most commonly used to describe Reserve Component technicians who are federal civilian employees required to maintain membership in the Reserve Component as a condition of their employment.

An example of a dual status technician could be an aircraft mechanic who works as a Title 32 Technician during the week and serves as a Guardsman or Reservist in a part-time military status.

Transitioning into a dual status military technician job may also allow you to buy back your military service credits, which would accelerate your civilian retirement while still maintaining your Reserve pension. It’s the best of both worlds.

In the Reserves, Longevity Accrues During “Retired Awaiting Pay”

A great advantage of retiring from the Reserves is that if you qualify for gray area retirement, your seniority in that grade will continue to accrue as if you were on active duty.

When your Reserve or Guard pension starts, it’s calculated using the longevity that would have accrued in your rank if you had been on active duty between the time you filed for “retired awaiting pay” and the time your pension started.

Note the phrase “retired awaiting pay.” It means you’ve transferred to the Retired Reserve until your pension starts. That’s the normal retirement status for over 99% of Guard and Reserve retirees. That status is why your rank’s longevity continues to accrue in “retired awaiting pay” status, and it’s the reason that your pension uses the pay tables in effect when your pension starts. 

Members who are “retired awaiting pay” are subject to recall in a national emergency, but this is rare. Members can avoid being subject to recall by requesting a discharge instead of transferring to the Retired Reserve. However, when your pension starts (normally at age 60), it would be calculated at the tables in effect on the date of your discharge, and it would be calculated at your longevity at discharge. In other words, your pension would have been frozen at the date you retired (discharged) and not boosted for inflation or longevity.

You Don’t Get Tricare in the IRR

When you’re a drilling Reserve/Guard member, you’re eligible for Tricare Reserve Select (TRS) but if you transfer to the IRR—even for a single day— you lose your Tricare health coverage. 

If you’re deciding between the Retired Reserve and the IRR you should know that the Retired Reserve has access to the Tricare Retired Reserve (TRR) plan, but the monthly premiums are much more expensive than TRS. 

You may be able to find equivalent coverage through a Marketplace (Affordable Care Act) plan, but it will likely be more expensive than TRS or have much higher deductibles. 

Healthcare should not be the only reason that you stay in a drill billet, but if you’re going to leave that billet, then you should make sure you have another source of health insurance.

Reader Question: Is retirement from the IRR worth it? 

A National Guard member emailed and asked:

sitting at nearly a decade in the Army National Guard with around 1900 retirement points. I have a few months left before deciding to resign, transfer to the IRR, or stay in a drill billet.

Is it worth staying in the IRR for another 10 years to earn a military retirement?

Maybe the question is simpler than I’m making it. But for this to work, I would need 50 retirement points a year for the next 10 years, something that could be accomplished through 150 hours of distance learning annually.

10 years * 50 points/year = 500 points

500 points * 3 hours DL/point = 1500 hours of distance learning in the next 10 years.

This is a great question. For starters, you’ll be relieved to learn that you’re awarded an automatic 15 “participation points” per year in the IRR. So technically, you’ll only need to earn 35 points to get a good year.

Retiring from the IRR can happen. But it isn’t easy. In the best-case scenario, you will only need to complete a couple of years in order to earn your retirement from the IRR, but you will need to aggressively chase your points.

As an IRR member, no one will follow up with you to ensure you meet your goals. You become your only advocate and cheerleader, and earning a good year becomes your responsibility to yourself. Most servicemembers find it easier to earn a good year while still affiliated with a drilling Guard or Reserve unit, as a member of the Individual Mobilized Augmentee (IMA), a special section of the Reserves.

About Post Author