The defense policy bill for fiscal 2015, which could be discussed today in the Senate after passing the House last week, has much for National Guardsmen to like, including a change to how Guard members can receive early retirement pay.
Last week’s Washington Report noted that the Army’s move to transfer AH-64 Apache helicopters from the Guard and the Air Force’s plan to retire all A-10 aircraft were put on hold until at least 2016. But there’s more that should put a smile on a Guardsman’s face in the National Defense Authorization Act.
For one thing, restrictions have been loosened on how a deployment affects a retiree’s ability to receive retirement pay. Under current law, a Guardsman is able to receive retirement pay 90 days early for every three months spent deployed. But current law recognizes only time spent on deployment in one fiscal year. The new law would honor time spent on a deployment that crosses two fiscal years and would begin with deployments after Sept. 30, 2014.
