Federal Retirement
By CWO4 Lewis Tolleson, USCG-Ret., Director; Lt. Col. William A. Pierce, USA-Ret.; and Capt. Bud Schneeweis, USCG-Ret. Benefits Information

I am a service-academy graduate about to retire from the military and am considering a federal job. Can service-academy time count toward a federal retirement?

Yes. Active military service that is not creditable toward your military retirement still can be used toward federal retirement. Even though service as a cadet or midshipman isn’t used when computing military retired pay, it still qualifies as active military service. That means service as a cadet or midshipman can be applied when calculating a combined military/civil service retirement or a separate civil service annuity for federal employees who retire on or after Oct. 1, 1982. 

To include military service in civilian pensions, people hired under the Federal Employees Retirement System after Oct. 1, 1982, must deposit 3 percent of their total military earnings into a federal retirement account, payable in interest-free deposits during the first three years of employment. After three years, they must pay interest.

Meanwhile, veterans hired before Oct. 1, 1982, and who have enough earnings under Social Security to qualify for benefits have two federal retirement options. 

They can make the 3 percent deposit and get full credit for their military service throughout retirement. Or, they can waive the deposit and get full credit for their military service until they reach age 62 and become eligible for Social Security benefits. At that point, the military portion of their retirement credit is taken away.

No Link to Agent Orange

Did the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently publish a list of diseases not attributable to Agent Orange? 

Yes. On May 20, 2003, the VA published a notice in the Federal Register titled “Diseases Not Associated With Exposure to Certain Herbicide Agents” stating that the secretary of veterans affairs has determined that exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War is not connected to the following health conditions: hepatobiliary cancers, nasopharyngeal cancer, bone and joint cancer, breast cancer, cancers of the female reproductive system, urinary bladder cancer, renal cancer, testicular cancer, leukemia (other than CLL [chronic lymphocytic leukemia]), abnormal sperm parameters and infertility, Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), chronic persistent peripheral neuropathy, lipid and lipoprotein disorders, gastrointestinal and digestive disease, immune system disorders, circulatory disorders, respiratory disorders (other than respiratory cancers earlier linked to Agent Orange), skin cancer, cognitive and neuropsychiatric effects, gastrointestinal tract tumors, brain tumors, light chain-associated amyloidosis, endometriosis, adverse effects on thyroid homeostasis, or any other condition that has not been specifically determined to be service-connected.

Credit Toward Leave

Can military time improve my federal leave-crediting rate?

No. Military retirees receive credit toward leave accrual only for:

• actual service during a war declared by Congress or while participating in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is authorized; or
• all active duty, when retirement is based on a disability received as a result of armed conflict or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred while in the line of duty during a period of war, including World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.