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Recently introduced House legislation would allow all active service to count toward reduced-age retirement for National Guard and Reserve members.
Currently, the program counts only periods when a Guard or Reserve member was mobilized on or after Jan. 29, 2008.
For every cumulative 90 days of active duty, the retirement-pay eligibility age is reduced by three months from age 60.
However, active-component service completed before joining the Guard or Reserve does not count.
The Reserve Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 10155), introduced last month by Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., changes that.
The bill would apply active-component service performed after Jan. 28, 2008, but before a service member joined the Guard or Reserve, toward reduced-age retirement.
“I am grateful to the veterans who brought this inequity to my attention, and grateful for being in a position to do something to correct it,” said Hamadeh, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, in a press release.
Hamadeh, an Army Reserve captain, stressed that the bill does not create a new retirement or alter eligibility reserve retirement.
“Members must still satisfy all existing statutory requirements for a reserve retirement, including completing 20 qualifying years of service, and the current statutory minimum retirement age of 50 remains unchanged,” he said.
By treating qualifying active-duty service equally, the Reserve Retirement Fairness Act would help strengthen recruitment and retention in the reserve components while ensuring veterans receive fair treatment for the service they have already provided to the nation, Hamadeh added.
NGAUS strongly supports the bill.
“The men and women of the National Guard and Reserve should receive equal credit for equal service, regardless of when that service occurred in their military careers,” said retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the association’s president.
“The Reserve Retirement Fairness Act addresses a longstanding inequity by ensuring qualifying active-duty service is recognized when determining retirement eligibility,” McGinn added. “This underscores the urgent need for the Duty Status Reform Act and modernization of this antiquated system. We thank Rep. Hamadeh for introducing this commonsense legislation and for standing up for Guard and Reserve members who have served our nation in multiple components.”
The legislation already has five co-sponsors: Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla.; Rep. Zachary Nunn, R-Iowa; Del. James Moylan, R-Guam; Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; and Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va.
—By John Goheen
