By MOAA Staff

National Guard and Reserve soldiers mobilized under certain orders will receive credit toward early retirement connected to that service after a change in the Army’s interpretation of applicable law.

The change, outlined in a recent National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) article, relates to mobilization under 12304b authority, which took shape in the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and allows reserve-component members to “augment active forces for a preplanned mission in support of a combatant command” at a service secretary’s discretion.

That law does not expressly state that service under 12304b authority should count toward the Guard and Reserve early retirement program, which allows these members to receive retirement pay before age 60 – for every 90 consecutive days mobilized since January 2008, they can receive their pension three months earlier.

Congress explicitly added service under 12304b authority to the early retirement eligibility in the FY 2020 NDAA, but per NGAUS, Army officials did not consider service performed before that bill took effect (Dec. 19, 2019) as eligible service until a 2025 ruling by the service’s Office of the Judge Advocate General, backed by a June DoD memo.

The move to standardize this benefit across mobilization authorities is in line with MOAA’s long-standing advocacy on behalf of Guard and Reserve members, seeking to ensure all in uniform receive the same pay and benefits as others performing the same duties in the same location.