Q. I recently separated from the Navy after 11 years of active duty. Federal retirement at the Bureau of Prisons is 25 years or 20 years after age 50, I believe. How does this work? Does my 11 years go toward the 25 years and allow me to retire in 14 years from my start date to equal 25 years?
A. No, your active duty service doesn’t count toward meeting the actual covered service requirement to retire with the enhanced benefit formula.
If you were to make a deposit for your active-duty service, it would be included in your total years of service, and any years of covered service above 20 would be computed using the standard retirement formula.