Q. I am a federal employee with the Department of Defense Fire & Emergency Services, and I am also a member of the Air National Guard. Over the years, I have had several military deployments (Title 10 Active Duty) in which my time for pay has been coded KG (Military Furlough-Active Duty), and I have not paid/contributed into FERS.
Although I have been a federal firefighter since 2005, I do have quite a bit of time that I did not pay into FERS, and I would like to know if I can retroactively pay/contribute into FERS so the time I was deployed will count as creditable service for retirement. I have more than two years of active-duty time for which I did not contribute into FERS, and I understand I will have to work an additional two years to make up that time.
A. If your periods of active-duty service interrupted your covered employment as a firefighter, you would get credit for them only if you made a deposit to the retirement system, including accrued interest.
Otherwise, as you noted, you’d have to continue working in a covered position until you met the 20 years of service requirement.
