WARNING! This is going to anger most if not ALL of you! re: retro pay

[jorgeandonie]

My approval letter was dated to 21 AUG. I still do not see anything in MyPay. I have not recieved anything since the letter was published in IPERMS. No payments.
I know one of the other users who has the same approval letter date, has already received back pay and MyPay CRSC section populates for him.

When i talked to DFAS a week ago, they said my submission was "new" so they haven't looked at it. Now I may not make the OCT pay date...

 

[BigV]

My approval letter was dated to 21 AUG. I still do not see anything in MyPay. I have not recieved anything since the letter was published in IPERMS. No payments.
I know one of the other users who has the same approval letter date, has already received back pay and MyPay CRSC section populates for him.

When i talked to DFAS a week ago, they said my submission was "new" so they haven't looked at it. Now I may not make the OCT pay how many years of back pay do they owe you

How many years of retro pay (back pay ) do they owe you?

 

[jorgeandonie]

43 months.

 

[BigV]

43 months.

So you are in the same boat as me. They need more time to review or audit your dfas account as I’m sure you have a bigger amount of retro paid owed.

 

[Bamboonga]

It just says APR 22 on my effective date

After receiving mine today on iPERMS, I can confirm that APR 22 refers to April of 2022

 

[BigV]

After receiving mine today on iPERMS, I can confirm that APR 22 refers to April of 2022

Yeah I just checked my MyPay and effective date confirms 01APR22

 

[Bamboonga]

lol give you 100 take back 99. True to the words. Hopefully major richard star acts get approved soon.

Probably not this year. Some senators tried adding it as an amendment to the 2026 NDAA but they invoked cloture and the MRSA addition didn't make it into the manager's package of things they were willing to debate. Not hard to believe, since they had over 800 amendments to discuss.

I REALLY wish the acronym for it wasn't MRSA. Just on a personal note. I've almost lost family members and friends to MRSA.

 

[BigV]

Probably not this year. Some senators tried adding it as an amendment to the 2026 NDAA but they invoked cloture and the MRSA addition didn't make it into the manager's package of things they were willing to debate. Not hard to believe, since they had over 800 amendments to discuss.

I REALLY wish the acronym for it wasn't MRSA. Just on a personal note. I've almost lost family members and friends to MRSA.

For now we just count our blessings and live.

 

[trip5896]

Anybody know if we will be awarded any additional interest/damages on the Soto backpay in the final order?

 

[Humble]

DOD-wide Policy Change re: CRSC retro pay

Do NOT shoot the messenger! Do NOT shoot the different branches as this comes from DOD! Reach out to your Congressional members and complain to them. I am trying to get the policy memo and will post it when I do.

All claims going forward will ONLY have the date of said claim's receipt by the branches as the effective date when/if approved. Just like how the VA does it without the "Intent to File" option.

You heard me right, DOD has directed that there will NO longer be retro pay going back six years or more, UNLESS one has a retroactive retirement due to a BCMR action. The only retro pay will be from the claim receipt and the first payment, which'll benefit the fact that the Navy/USMC takes 15-18 months to complete their claims.

Just because the Barring Rule was struck down did NOT obligate DOD to pay retro pay beyond the claim date. I obviously do NOT agree with it as there are many reasons why someone does not know/remember about CRSC, the biggest is lack of communication, a single line of mention on the PEBLO Counseling Checklist or during TAP training is certainly not enough imho as it is usually way too far in advance to be remembered months after retirement. But, DOD decided what's good for the goose (VA) is good for the gander (DOD). I do not know of any other recourse short of contacting one's congressional delegation and we all know how that usually ends

Find Your Representative | house.gov
U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators

I do not know if that was due to the lower Federal Courts decision or if Soto v US (under $10k) is still being litigated, along with Casey v US for those owed $10k or more, so this "could" theoretically change; however, the writing could very well be on the wall.

Edit: effective with claims received by the respective branch o/a 20 August 2025

Edit 2: Attached Soto Guidance, key in on the second to last paragraph on the second page for anyone whose claim was received by their specific service branch o/a 20 August 2025. My interpretation for those prior to that date *should* get the full amount of their retro pay due, however, until I actually see it in the wild, I'm not going to lean too heavily on that assumption.
View attachment 11711

@Jason Perry

Am I imagining things, or did they revise the memo dated August 20th without updating the date or signatures? It looks different now, and it seems like they quietly removed the August 19th cutoff after realizing the announcement went out after the effective date.

 

[RetiredColonel-MikeT]

Am I imagining things, or did they revise the memo dated August 20th without updating the date or signatures? It looks different now, and it seems like they quietly removed the August 19th cutoff after realizing the announcement went out after the effective date.

Unless you have a different copy, the date and signature block of the memo was 20 August 2025.

 

[Humble]

Unless you have a different copy, the date and signature block of the memo was 20 August 2025.

After reviewing the memo that I saved earlier, I realized I am mistaken. The memo was not changed.

 

[RetiredColonel-MikeT]

After reviewing the memo that I saved earlier, I realized I am mistaken. The memo was not changed.

All good

 

[Rehabn]

Until you're on the receiving end, no one really knows. My FB group alone has over 9k members, granted, a lot of them are spouses or people going through IDES now. Also, that 100-200 number includes reconsiderations as well. There are so many that never knew about it and file years after which increases the sheer number of claims being received. But, yeah, there are a lot of people out there that still don't know about it, and that, my friend, is just sad.

Can confirm. I med retired in 2014. Don’t know anything about this. Read something on social media about the Starr act, led me down the rabbit hole to CRSC. I submitted my packet this morning. I did go back to my first VA letter and sure as shit- buried in a paragraph after my compensation and additional benefits was 1 sentence about “if you think you are eligible for CRSC contact DFAS at 1-888…” ultimate kick in the nuts to miss out on back pay by 90 days All I can do is pray that the interim guideline does not withstand and reverts to the intent of the Supreme Court to provide full back pay.

 

[Humble]

Can confirm. I med retired in 2014. Don’t know anything about this. Read something on social media about the Starr act, led me down the rabbit hole to CRSC. I submitted my packet this morning. I did go back to my first VA letter and sure as shit- buried in a paragraph after my compensation and additional benefits was 1 sentence about “if you think you are eligible for CRSC contact DFAS at 1-888…” ultimate kick in the nuts to miss out on back pay by 90 days All I can do is pray that the interim guideline does not withstand and reverts to the intent of the Supreme Court to provide full back pay.

I'm in the same boat brother. I medically retired in 2013. I missed the entired PACT back in 2022 and hazardous duty being part of CRSC. So, here I am....just now applying and missed the back pay cut off by 2 months.

 

[db25U]

I applied on the 26th of August, so i think i missed the cut off as well. I medically retired in 2020 and spent 5 years thinking i didn't qualify for CRSC and that it was too late to apply. I am hoping whenever i get my decision (hoping i get approved) they may provide more insight into the backpay situation.

I am not sure if anyone else is nearing the 90-day mark, but i spoke with "HRC" on Monday and was told that they are working through a 40-day backlog for CRSC Claims.

 

[Rehabn]

I applied on the 26th of August, so i think i missed the cut off as well. I medically retired in 2020 and spent 5 years thinking i didn't qualify for CRSC and that it was too late to apply. I am hoping whenever i get my decision (hoping i get approved) they may provide more insight into the backpay situation.

I am not sure if anyone else is nearing the 90-day mark, but i spoke with "HRC" on Monday and was told that they are working through a 40-day backlog for CRSC Claims.

It’s all good information. I am not a legal expert (just a dumb grunt lol). But my hope is that someone with enough power negates the current interim guidance as it doesn’t align with the precedence of the law that was passed in 2008 nor does it (appear) to align with the supreme courts ruling in June. Hopefully, they will grant temporary relief (at a minimum) for everyone with a retirement date prior to the August interim guidance. My feeling is that if they want to handle the claims in the manner the VA does, they need to pass a law outlining that. Otherwise Dept of War is using other verbiage to impart a timeline restriction that is no different than the fundamental restriction removed by the Soto ruling.
Anyway- packet is in. The waiting game begins.

 

[CristinaJ]

It’s all just bureaucratic nonsense......DoD wants a clear cutoff for claims going forward so they don’t have to pay out huge sums all at once. They’re punishing veterans for things completely out of their control. That’s why some veterans’ groups are taking legal action, and I hope they’re successful in getting DoD to follow the Supreme Court ruling and make sure everyone gets the full retro pay they’re owed.

 

[scottymotech]

Likely this will land back in the courts unless congress does something anything and legislates. Still wondering what the $2.5 billion a year paid in taxes to fund congress actually goes to.

 

[Eve1]

DOD-wide Policy Change re: CRSC retro pay

Do NOT shoot the messenger! Do NOT shoot the different branches as this comes from DOD! Reach out to your Congressional members and complain to them. I am trying to get the policy memo and will post it when I do.

All claims going forward will ONLY have the date of said claim's receipt by the branches as the effective date when/if approved. Just like how the VA does it without the "Intent to File" option.

You heard me right, DOD has directed that there will NO longer be retro pay going back six years or more, UNLESS one has a retroactive retirement due to a BCMR action. The only retro pay will be from the claim receipt and the first payment, which'll benefit the fact that the Navy/USMC takes 15-18 months to complete their claims.

Just because the Barring Rule was struck down did NOT obligate DOD to pay retro pay beyond the claim date. I obviously do NOT agree with it as there are many reasons why someone does not know/remember about CRSC, the biggest is lack of communication, a single line of mention on the PEBLO Counseling Checklist or during TAP training is certainly not enough imho as it is usually way too far in advance to be remembered months after retirement. But, DOD decided what's good for the goose (VA) is good for the gander (DOD). I do not know of any other recourse short of contacting one's congressional delegation and we all know how that usually ends

Find Your Representative | house.gov
U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators

I do not know if that was due to the lower Federal Courts decision or if Soto v US (under $10k) is still being litigated, along with Casey v US for those owed $10k or more, so this "could" theoretically change; however, the writing could very well be on the wall.

Edit: effective with claims received by the respective branch o/a 20 August 2025

Edit 2: Attached Soto Guidance, key in on the second to last paragraph on the second page for anyone whose claim was received by their specific service branch o/a 20 August 2025. My interpretation for those prior to that date *should* get the full amount of their retro pay due, however, until I actually see it in the wild, I'm not going to lean too heavily on that assumption.
View attachment 11711

@Jason Perry

For anyone affected by the 8/20/25 interim guidance memo that limited retro CRSC to only the date of submission instead of the date of retirement:

NVLSP and two major law firms have filed a class action lawsuit arguing that this memo directly contradicts the purpose and outcome of the Soto Supreme Court decision. It’s not guaranteed, but there are people fighting this on your behalf.

Because of the memo, thousands lost years of retro. The lawsuit argues the DoD’s new rule violates the law, ignores Congress’s intent, and cuts veterans out of the retro CRSC the Supreme Court already affirmed.

The lawsuit is seeking to restore full retro for everyone affected by the 8/20/25 change- including anyone whose retro was limited to just the month after applying.

So, if you filed on or after 8/20/25, or your decision was issued after that date, this lawsuit is fighting specifically for you. The memo is not the final word - it’s being actively challenged in federal court.

NVLSP, Sidley Austin, and Hogan Lovells File Class Action Lawsuit Supporting Veterans’ Rights to Receive Retroactive Combat-Related Special Compensation - NVLSP

NVLSP, Sidley Austin, and Hogan Lovells File Class Action Lawsuit Supporting Veterans’ Rights to Receive Retroactive Combat-Related Special Compensation FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2025 ARLINGTON, VA— On June 12, 2025, in a case brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program...

nvlsp.org