Q. I am a retired Air Force officer with 25 years of active-duty military service. After retiring in August 2011, I started working as a government civilian (DT-05) for the Navy. I have been receiving four hours of annual leave per pay period. I have been told that you can get credit for either your overseas duty time (I was stationed overseas for 14 years — seven in Italy, four in South Korea and three in Germany), or your overseas deployment time (I was deployed overseas for 12 months — nine in Iraq, one in Israel, one in Bulgaria and one in Turkey) to allow you to earn six hours per pay period. Is this true, and if so, what part(s) and what documentation do I need to submit to have my leave adjusted?
A. None of the things you heard are true. However, leave accrual credit is given to retired members of the military under limited circumstances. To see what they are, go to www.opm.gov/StaffingPortal/vetguide.asp and scroll down to Service Credit for Leave Rate Accrual and Retirement.
