Creditable Military
Service.
Military service can count toward your federal retirement — both for eligibility and for computing your annuity. But the rules around civilian minimums, deposits, and redeposits are nuanced and differ between FERS and CSRS. Here's what you need to know.
Military credits &
the civilian minimum.
Military service and civilian service play different roles in your retirement eligibility. Understanding the distinction — and when military time starts to count — prevents costly misconceptions about when you can actually retire.
Retirement eligibility can be confusing when military service is involved. You need a minimum of 5 years of civilian service to be eligible for any civilian retirement annuity — military buy-back time does not satisfy this requirement.
However, once that 5-year civilian minimum is met, military service becomes fully creditable toward years of service for all other voluntary retirement eligibility thresholds — MRA+10, MRA+30, age 60 with 20 years, and even the VERA requirements (age 50 with 20 years, or any age with 25 years of service).
Military time doesn't count toward the 5-year civilian minimum — but after that bar is cleared, it counts toward everything else.
FERS Creditable Service
Federal Employees Retirement System
CSRS Creditable Service
Civil Service Retirement System
Getting credit for
non-covered service.
A deposit is a payment covering the retirement deductions — plus interest — that would have been withheld if you had been in a covered position during a period when they were not. A redeposit is the repayment of deductions that were withheld, refunded to you, and now need to be paid back. Neither is required, but both affect your annuity if not made.
FERS Deposit — SF 3108
Complete Standard Form 3108 (Application to Make Service Credit Payment / FERS). Use this form even if a portion of your FERS annuity will be computed under CSRS rules. Send to your agency for certification.
Within 6 months of retirement: Submit the deposit request at the same time as your retirement application. OPM will notify you of amounts due. OPM cannot authorize regular annuity payments until your decision on payment is received.
No longer a federal employee: Mail directly to:
OPM Retirement Operations Center, Deposit SectionP.O. Box 45, Boyers, PA 16017-0045
FERS Redeposit — refunded contributions
You can repay any refund received for civilian service during which deductions were withheld and later returned to you. Interest accrues from the date of the refund, compounded annually, through the date full payment is made or your annuity begins — whichever is earlier.
Critical: If you do not redeposit, you will not receive credit for that service period in either retirement eligibility determination or annuity computation.
CSRS Deposit — SF 2803
Complete Standard Form 2803 (Application to Make Deposit or Redeposit / CSRS). Send to your agency for certification if currently employed. Do not file if you plan to retire within 6 months — submit alongside your retirement application instead.
No longer a federal employee: Mail directly to OPM at the address above.
CSRS Redeposit — the October 1990 dividing line
CSRS redeposit rules depend entirely on when your refunded service ended:
| Service end date | Without redeposit | With redeposit | Interest rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before Oct 1, 1990 | Service credited — but annuity subject to permanent actuarial reduction based on unpaid amount and age at retirement. Exception: actuarial reduction does not apply to survivor annuity. | Full credit, no reduction — avoid the actuarial cut by repaying the refund | Pre-10/1/82 refunds: interest through billing date at 3%. Post-10/1/82: compounded annually through Dec 31 of prior year |
| On or after Oct 1, 1990 | Service cannot be included in annuity computation — but still used toward retirement eligibility if reemployed | Full credit for both eligibility and annuity computation | Annual compound interest — same as post-1982 above |
Disability exception for CSRS redeposit
The exception that allows pre-October 1, 1990 service to be credited without redeposit (with an actuarial reduction) does not apply if you retire under the disability provisions of the law. Disability retirees must make the redeposit to receive credit for that service.
Forms &
OPM guidance.
Official deposit and redeposit forms, OPM creditable service guidance, and the CSRS/FERS Handbook chapters covering military and civilian service credit.