Military Buyback for Federal LEO Retirement: How Military Time Affects Your Pension

Military Service Does Not Count as Covered LEO Time

Post-1956 military service is generally creditable under FERS after you complete a military service deposit, subject to rules that can bar credit if you receive military retired pay. But even with the deposit paid, military time is never classified as covered 6(c) law enforcement service — regardless of whether your military role involved law enforcement, criminal investigation, or military police duties.

This means military buyback years go into the 1.0% tier of the LEO annuity formula, not the 1.7% tier. They add to your total pension, but they do not count toward the 20 years of covered service needed for LEO retirement eligibility under 5 U.S.C. § 8412(d).

An officer with 4 years of military service and 20 years of covered 6(c) time gets 20 × 1.7% + 4 × 1.0% = 38.0% of High-3, rather than 24 × 1.7% = 40.8%. The military time is valuable — adding $4,200 per year to a pension on a $105,000 High-3 — but it does not earn the enhanced rate.

The Deposit Calculation

The military service deposit for FERS is 3.0% of your base military pay for each period of post-1956 service. If you served from 2002 to 2006 and earned $120,000 in total military base pay during that period, the basic deposit before interest is $3,600.

Interest begins two years after your FERS service starts and compounds annually at variable rates published by OPM; no interest is charged if you complete the deposit within three years. An officer who joined CBP at age 25 and waits until age 45 to pay the deposit will owe significantly more than the base 3% due to 17 years of accrued interest. The exact amount depends on the interest rates in effect during each year of accrual — OPM publishes a table of rates going back decades.

To get your exact deposit amount, request a military service deposit estimate from your agency's benefits office or calculate it yourself using your military earnings record and OPM's interest rate table.

The Deadline: Pay Before Separation

The military service deposit ordinarily must be paid in full before you separate from federal civilian service. If you leave without completing the deposit, your military time generally is not creditable; OPM may allow a belated deposit only in narrow cases, such as when an administrative error prevented timely payment.

Without the deposit or an approved belated payment, an officer who retires at age 50 with a $2,800 unpaid deposit loses 4 years of creditable service (4.0% of High-3) from their pension. On a $105,000 High-3, that is $4,200 per year — over $126,000 across a 30-year retirement — for the sake of a $2,800 deposit that could have been paid in installments from payroll deductions.

Start the deposit process at least two years before your planned separation date. Payroll deduction installments are available, and most agency benefits offices can set up a payment schedule that completes before your retirement effective date.

How Military Time Interacts With LEO Eligibility

Military buyback time does not count toward the 20-year covered service threshold or the 25-year any-age threshold under 5 U.S.C. § 8412(d). It also does not count toward the mandatory separation trigger at age 57 with 20 years.

Military time counts toward total creditable service for the 1.0% pension tier and may count toward standard FERS retirement eligibility thresholds if you transfer to a non-covered position — which matters if you leave LEO service before completing 20 covered years and need to reach age 60 with 20 years total or MRA with 30 years total under regular FERS. It does not count toward TSP vesting.

Military Time and the FERS Supplement

OPM calculates the FERS Special Retirement Supplement using civilian service creditable under FERS. The formula counts active, honorable military service performed during civilian military leave under USERRA if the required deposit is paid; it does not count ordinary prior military service purchased with a deposit.

Adding 4 years of pre-federal military service purchased with a deposit to 20 years of civilian service leaves the supplement divisor at 20/40. For an officer whose estimated age-62 Social Security benefit is $2,200 per month, the supplement remains $1,100/month before reductions; the military buyback increases the basic annuity through the 1.0% tier instead.

Social Security Considerations After WEP/GPO Repeal

Following the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset under the Social Security Fairness Act (signed January 2025), military buyback no longer carries the secondary concern of interacting with WEP reductions. Your federal pension does not reduce your Social Security benefit, and your military service — which earned Social Security credits — counts fully toward your Social Security eligibility and benefit calculation.

Officers who previously chose not to complete the military deposit because they believed WEP would offset any pension gain should reconsider. The pension gain from military buyback stands alone now, undiminished by any Social Security reduction.

Filing the Paperwork

The military service deposit process requires:

1. SF-180 to request military service records from the National Personnel Records Center, if needed
2. RI 20-97 to request estimated military earnings from the applicable military finance center
3. SF-3108 (or agency equivalent) to formally request the deposit from your employing agency
4. Payment in full or via payroll deduction installments

Your agency benefits office calculates the exact deposit amount including accrued interest. The Federal LEO Retirement Guide walks through the entire military buyback process with a specific focus on how the deposited time integrates with the LEO annuity formula and supplement calculation.

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