§ 205. Computation: service creditable

3,009 words·~14 min read·/usc/title-37/section-205

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(a)Subject to subsections

(b)and (c), for the purpose of computing the basic pay of a member of a uniformed service, his years of service are computed by adding—

(1)all periods of active service as an officer, Army field clerk, flight officer, aviation midshipman, or enlisted member of a uniformed service;

(2)all periods during which he was enlisted or held an appointment as an officer, Army field clerk, or flight officer of—

(A)a regular component of a uniformed service;

(B)a reserve component of a uniformed service;

(C)the Space Force;

(D)the Regular Army Reserve;

(E)the National Guard;

(F)the National Guard Reserve;

(G)the Naval Militia;

(H)the National Naval Volunteers;

(I)the Navy Reserve Force;

(J)the Army without specification of component;

(K)the Air Force without specification of component;

(L)the Marine Corps Reserve Force;

(M)the Philippine Scouts; or

(N)the Philippine Constabulary;

(3)for a commissioned officer in service on June 30, 1922, all service that was then counted in computing longevity pay and all service as a contract surgeon serving full time;

(4)all periods during which he held an appointment as a nurse, reserve nurse, or commissioned officer in the Army Nurse Corps as it existed at any time before April 16, 1947, the Navy Nurse Corps as it existed at any time before April 16, 1947, or the Public Health Service, or a reserve component of any of them;

(5)all periods during which he was a deck officer or junior engineer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(6)all periods that, under law in effect on January 10, 1962, were authorized to be credited in computing basic pay; and

(7)all periods while—

(A)on a temporary disability retired list, honorary retired list, or a retired list of a uniformed service;

(B)entitled to retired pay, retirement pay, or retainer pay, from a uniformed service or the Department of Veterans Affairs, as a member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; or

(C)a member of the Honorary Reserve of the Officers’ Reserve Corps or the Organized Reserve Corps.

Except for any period of active service described in clause

(1)and except as provided by subsections (b), (c), and

(d)of section 1402 and subsections (b), (c), and

(d)of section 1402a of title 10, a period of service described in clauses

(2)through

(7)that is performed while on a retired list, in a retired status, or in the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve, may not be included to increase retired pay, retirement pay, or retainer pay. For the purpose of clause (5), periods during which a member was a deck officer or junior engineer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration includes periods during which a member was a deck officer or junior engineer in the Environmental Science Services Administration or the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

(b)A period of time may not be counted more than once under subsection (a).

(c)The periods of service authorized to be counted under subsection

(a)shall, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, include service performed by a member of a uniformed service before he became 18 years of age.

(d)Notwithstanding subsection (a), a commissioned officer may not count in computing basic pay a period of service after October 13, 1964, that the officer performed concurrently as a member of the Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, except for service that the officer performed on or after August 1, 1979, other than for training as an enlisted member of the Selected Reserve may be so counted.

(1)Notwithstanding subsection (a), a period of service described in paragraph

(2)of a member who enlists in a reserve component may not be counted under this section.

(2)Paragraph

(1)applies to the following service:

(A)Service performed while a member of a reserve component under an enlistment under section 12103(b) or 12103(d) of title 10 before the member begins service on active duty under such section (including a period of active duty for training) unless the member performs inactive-duty training before beginning service on active duty or active duty for training;

(B)Service performed while a member of a reserve component under an enlistment under section 513 of title 10 (other than a period of active duty to which the member is ordered under chapter 1209 of title 10 or another provision of law).

(f)Notwithstanding subsection (a), the periods of service of a commissioned officer appointed under section 12203 of title 10 after receiving financial assistance under section 16401 of such title that are counted under this section may not include a period of service after January 1, 2000, that the officer performed concurrently as an enlisted member of the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class program and the Marine Corps Reserve, except that service after that date that the officer performed before commissioning (concurrently with the period of service as a member of the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class program) as an enlisted member on active duty or as a member of the Selected Reserve may be so counted.

(Pub. L. 87–649, Sept. 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 458; Pub. L. 88–647, title II, § 202(1), Oct. 13, 1964, 78 Stat. 1070; Pub. L. 89–718, § 49(a)(1), (b), Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1121; Pub. L. 90–623, § 3(3), Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1314; Pub. L. 93–545, § 2, Dec. 26, 1974, 88 Stat. 1741; Pub. L. 96–342, title VIII, § 813(b)(3)(D), Sept. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1104; Pub. L. 96–513, title IV, § 402, title V, § 516(3), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2904, 2937; Pub. L. 98–525, title VI, § 607(a), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2538;

Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title V, § 501(c), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1435; Pub. L. 102–25, title VII, § 702(b)(1), (2), (c), Apr. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 117; Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title V, § 517(b), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2407; Pub. L. 103–35, title II, § 204(a)(1), May 31, 1993, 107 Stat. 102; Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, § 1676(b)(2), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3019; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, § 507(b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2512; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1073(b), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1904;

Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 551(c), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 614; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title V, § 533(e)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–111; Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title V, § 515(d)(1)(C), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3236; Pub. L. 119–60, div. A, title VI, § 601(b)(3), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 901.)

In subsection (a), the introductory clause is substituted for section 233(a) (introductory clause) of existing title 37. In clauses

(1)and (2), the word “officer” is substituted for the words “commissioned officer, commissioned warrant officer, warrant officer” to conform to the definition of “officer” in section 101(11) of this revised title. In clause (1), the words “Regular or Reserve component” are omitted, since, under the definition of “reserve component” in section 102(k) of the source statute, those words are defined to include members without component status. Together, these categories compose the entire structure of any uniformed service. In clause (2)(F), the words “a reserve component of a uniformed service” are substituted for the words “the National Guard of the United States, or in the Organized Reserve Corps, or in the Officers’ Reserve Corps, or in the Enlisted Reserve Corps, or in the Medical Reserve Corps, or in the Medical Reserve Corps of the Navy, or in the Dental Reserve Corps of the Navy . . . or in the Naval Reserve . . . or in the Air National Guard of the United States, or in the Air Force Reserve, or in the officers’ section of the Air Force Reserve, or in the enlisted section of the Air Force Reserve, or in the Air Corps Reserve . . . or in the Marine Corps Reserve, or in the Coast Guard Reserve, or in the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service,” since all of the named organizations were or are reserve components. In clause (4), the words “as it existed at any time before April 16, 1947” are inserted for clarity, since the reference is intended to apply to the corps established by law before April 16, 1947. Service in the Army Nurse Corps or Navy Nurse Corps now existing would be included under clause

(1)or (2), since there is now no legal distinction between the service of nurses and that of other members of the Army and Navy. In clause (6), the date “January 1, 1961,” is substituted for the words “the effective date of this section,” to reflect laws enacted after that effective date which authorized certain service to be credited for pay purposes. See, for example, Public Law 86–142. Clause

(9)is substituted for section 233(b) (less proviso) of existing title 37. The last sentence is substituted for section 233(b) (proviso) of existing title 37.

In subsection (b), the first 33 words of section 233(d) of existing title 37 are omitted as covered by the words “are computed by adding” in subsection (a). The words “for any reason,” in section 233(d) of existing title 37, are omitted as surplusage.

In subsection (c)(3), the words “chapter 67 of title 10” are substituted for the words “title III of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948,” since that title was repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956, ch. 1041 (70A Stat. 641), and is now codified as chapter 67 of title 10 by section 1 of that Act.

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