Retirement/payscale

[Tigger2]

Next year I will have 13 years of enlisted active duty Navy service, and I plan to leave the Navy and attend law school at Texas Southern University. The Texas Guard has full time posistions avalible (where they work everyday just like active duty and are paid on the regular military scale) and I am making arrangements to get one of those posistions. I will be in the Texas Guard for 4 years while I work in the evening for my law degree. Upon completion, it will be my intention to return to active duty (Navy or Army JAG hopefully, but I will return enlisted if I have too) to finish my time and retire. What will my payscale be when I re-enter? Will at be at the 17 year scale for my paygrade? Where will I be at in my retirement? Will I be at 17 years for retirement purposes, or will full time guard duty count for less?

[matthew.ritchie]

Your creditable years of service in the military, no matter where or how served or in what status, count for pay purposes. Those same years may be calculated differently for retirement purposes, based on duty status and pay grade. Many people have a year or two in the IRR, which counts for pay purposes but not for retirement (unless they earned the right number of retirement points during that IRR year, which most people don't do).

If you get 20 active duty years in any combination of military service components, it all counts the same for retirement.