New Federal employee with Combat-Related retirement. Is there any reason NOT to buy-back military time towards FERS?

C

ClassFAirspace

New Member
Registered Member
My understanding from OPM's and DFAS's websites states that Combat-Related retirees with "A service-connected disability either incurred in combat with an enemy of the United States or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war" are exempt from having to waive their military retirement income when initiating a Military Service Buy Back into FERS.

This seems to mean that you can then keep VA, any leftover retirement income from DFAS, any CRSC awarded, AND Buy Back your time into FERS with essentially zero penalty. Reading some previous forum threads on this topic seem to say otherwise though, as there are some folks have stated that you would need to still waive your income regardless. Seems to me that all of the regulations back up my interpretation though, thoughts? If I am correct, there is no downside to a Buy Back if you are a combat-related retiree.

Lastly, for combat-related retirees, how would the Major Richard Star Act if passed affect all of this? Would we then get to keep ALL of our retirement income without offset anymore AND get to keep our FERS Buy Back time?

Thank you.
 
I too am curious how the FERS buyback impacts CRSC. Also with the follow-on impacts of the potential impacts of Maj Richard Star Act... I have applied for CRSC and was mid application for Federal employment when I realized this might be a problem...

I was under the impression CDRP restricts you from claiming time you already claimed for retiment under FERS buyback... The CRSC is tied to you waiving your retirement pay for VA benefits... so if you don't get the retirement time credited to you you don't get the retirement or you don't get the buyback it seems from what I have read via others... Nobody seems to have personal testimony to one or the other.

I too would appreciate someone with a bit more ability to adjudicate this stepping in to report.
 
Yeah, it's a fuzzy area even for me with my length of time dealing with CRSC. The regs that state "combat-related" generally refer to the PEB findings of being "combat-related" IAW 26 USC 104, which also includes being taxable vs non-taxable income. It has popped up a few times in my FB group, but if you're a longevity retiree and did NOT go through an MEB, filed for CRSC then chose CRSC over CRDP/CMRP, you might not be able to buy into FERS. I am in NO way an expert in FERS, and rather err on the side of caution.
 
ClassFAirspace said:
My understanding from OPM's and DFAS's websites states that Combat-Related retirees with "A service-connected disability either incurred in combat with an enemy of the United States or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war" are exempt from having to waive their military retirement income when initiating a Military Service Buy Back into FERS.

This seems to mean that you can then keep VA, any leftover retirement income from DFAS, any CRSC awarded, AND Buy Back your time into FERS with essentially zero penalty. Reading some previous forum threads on this topic seem to say otherwise though, as there are some folks have stated that you would need to still waive your income regardless. Seems to me that all of the regulations back up my interpretation though, thoughts? If I am correct, there is no downside to a Buy Back if you are a combat-related retiree.

Lastly, for combat-related retirees, how would the Major Richard Star Act if passed affect all of this? Would we then get to keep ALL of our retirement income without offset anymore AND get to keep our FERS Buy Back time?

Thank you.
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If you are medically retired from the military then there are no restrictions regarding buying back your military time.

I checked in to this because I was medically retired through an ABCMR action well after I started working for the government. As long as your retirement specifically states the chapter then those OPM regulations don’t apply
 
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