Q. I will soon be accepting a GS position. I was told that since I am “retired” military, no credit will be given to my leave accrual. I have a total of 26 years, about half each as active duty and the remaining served as a Navy reservist. I will not be getting any retirement pay until age 60, seven years from now. It does not seem fair to have served 12-plus active-duty years plus served the additional years to be retirement-eligible and not be given this credit in comparison to some others that served for three years but did not retire, who do qualify for immediate GS leave credit. Is this correct?
A. Credit for uniformed service is substantially limited for retirement members of the armed forces. When it enacted the Dual Compensation Act in 1964, Congress adopted a compromise between the view that retired members should receive preference and full credit for their service and the view that there should be no advantage for retired members. As a result, retired members only receive leave accrual credit for actual service 1) during a war declared by the Congress or while participating in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign ribbon is authorized or 2) when the retirement was based on a disability received as a direct result of armed conflict or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war.
