Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73
§1405 Years of service
Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 71— - COMPUTATION OF RETIRED PAY › § 1405
Summary
Compute a member’s years of service by adding three things: the years of active service, any years that were counted for basic pay on May 31, 1958 that aren’t already included, and any other years that would count under section 12733 if the member would be eligible for retired pay under section 12731. Credit each extra full month as 1/12 of a year and ignore any leftover fraction of a month. Time an enlisted member must “make up” under section 972(a) (and for Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard after October 5, 1994) cannot be counted, and section 972(b) excludes certain officer time.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §1405
Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)For the purposes of the computation of the years of service of a member of the armed forces under a provision of this title providing for such computation to be made under this section, the years of service of the member are computed by adding—
(1)his years of active service;
(2)the years of service, not included in clause (1), with which he was entitled to be credited on May 31, 1958, in computing his basic pay; and
(3)the years of service, not included in clause (1) or (2), with which he would be entitled to be credited under section 12733 of this title if he were entitled to retired pay under section 12731 of this title.
(b)In determining a member’s years of service under subsection (a)—
(1)each full month of service that is in addition to the number of full years of service creditable to the member shall be credited as 1⁄12 of a year; and
(2)any remaining fractional part of a month shall be disregarded.
(c)(1)Time required to be made up by an enlisted member of the Army, Air Force, or Space Force under section 972(a) of this title, or required to be made up by an enlisted member of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard under that section with respect to a period of time after October 5, 1994, may not be counted in determining years of service under subsection (a).
(2)section 972(b) of this title excludes from computation of an officer’s years of service for purposes of this section any time identified with respect to that officer under that section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
1958 Act Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 1405[No source].[No source]. The amendment reflects section 11 of the Act of May 20, 1958, Pub. L. 85–422 (72 Stat. 130). 1962 ActThe change corrects a typographical error. 1982 ActThis amends 10:1405 to correct an inadvertent error in the codification of title 10 in 1956 relating to retirement pay of warrant officers advanced on the retired list. Under provisions of law first enacted in 1948 through the codification of title 10 in 1956 and until 1965, warrant officers advanced on the retired list received credit for inactive service in the computation of retirement pay. The Comptroller General in 1965 (B–156576) held in effect that computation of such retirement pay was governed by the wording of new title 10 that based the computation on years of active service only even though this had the result of making a substantive change. The Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives concurs that an error was made in the codification of title 10 and has indicated that corrective legislative action is properly a responsibility of the House Judiciary Committee. See, also, the
Amendments
to 10:3992 and 8992 made by section 1(40) and 1(52), respectively.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “, Air Force, or Space Force” for “or Air Force”. 2001—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 107–107 substituted “
October 5, 1994,” for “the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995,”. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–106, as amended by Pub. L. 104–201, substituted “Made Up or Excluded” for “Made Up” in heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “section 972(a) of this title, or required to be made up by an enlisted member of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard under that section with respect to a period of time after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995,” for “section 972 of this title”, and added par. (2). 1994—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 103–337, § 1662(j)(3), substituted “12733” for “1333” and “12731” for “1331”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–337, § 635(d), added subsec. (c). 1986—Pub. L. 99–348 designated existing provision as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and in provision preceding par. (1) substituted “the computation of the years of service of a member of the armed forces under a provision of this title providing for such computation to be made under this section, the years of service of the member” for “section 1401 (formulas 4 and 5), 3991 (formula A), 3992 (formula B), 6151(b), 6323(e), 6325(a)(2) and (b)(2), 6383(c)(2), 8991 (formula A), or 8992 (formula B) of this title, the years of service of a member of the armed forces”, and added subsec. (b). 1982—Pub. L. 97–295, § 1(17), substituted “3991 (formula A), 3992 (formula B)” for “3991 (formula B)”, struck out “or” first time appearing, and substituted “8991 (formula A), or 8992 (formula B)” for “8991 (formula B)”. 1980—Pub. L. 96–513 struck out provisions that permitted the crediting of certain periods of constructive service in computing the retired pay of medical and dental officers and provided that members would compute their years of service for retirement pay by adding (1) years of active service, (2) years of service not otherwise counted with which the member was entitled to be credited on
May 31, 1958, and (3) years of service not otherwise counted with which he would be credited under section 1333 if he were entitled to retired pay under section 1331. 1967—Pub. L. 90–130 struck out references to section 6399(c)(2) of this title. 1962—Pub. L. 87–651 struck out references to section 6391(h) and 6394(g)(2) of this title and inserted a reference to section 6394(h) of this title. Pub. L. 87–649 substituted “section 205(a)(7) and (8) of title 37” for “section 233(a)(7) of title 37” in cl. (2). 1958—Pub. L. 85–861 inserted references to section 6323(e) and 6391(h) of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–106 effective Feb. 10, 1996, and applicable to any period of time covered by section 972 of this title that occurs after that date, see section 561(e) of Pub. L. 104–106, set out as a note under section 972 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1994 Amendment Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title VI, § 635(e), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2789, provided that: “This section [amending this section and section 3925, 3991, 3992, 6333, 8925, 8991, and 8992 of this title] shall apply to— “(1) the computation of the retired pay of any enlisted member who retires on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 5, 1994]; “(2) the computation of the retainer pay of any enlisted member who is transferred to the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve on or after the date of the enactment of this Act; and “(3) the recomputation of the retired pay of any enlisted member who is advanced on the retired list on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.” Amendment by section 1662(j)(3) of Pub. L. 103–337 effective Dec. 1, 1994, except as otherwise provided, see section 1691 of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 10001 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Sept. 15, 1981, but the authority to prescribe
Regulations
under the amendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective on Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701 of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1962 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 87–649 effective Nov. 1, 1962, see section 15 of Pub. L. 87–649, set out as a note preceding section 101 of Title 37, Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services.
Effective Date
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. Transition Provisions Under Defense Officer Personnel Management ActFor provisions to prevent extinction or premature termination of rights, duties, penalties, or proceedings that existed or were begun prior to the
Effective Date
of Pub. L. 96–513 and otherwise to allow for an orderly transition to the system of officer personnel management put in place under Pub. L. 96–513, see section 601 et seq. of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 611 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 1405
Title 10 — Armed Forces
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73