§638b Voluntary retirement incentive

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can allow each military department to offer a voluntary retirement bonus to certain officers. Up to 675 officers total may get the bonus, and the authority to offer it ends as the Secretary of Defense sets but no later than December 31, 2018. To be eligible, an officer must have more than 20 but not more than 29 years of active service on the approved retirement date, meet the minimum commissioned service rules under sections 7311, 8323, or 9311, have at least 12 months left before hitting the service-year or retirement-age limits, and meet any extra rules the service secretary sets. Not eligible are officers under disability evaluation (chapter 61), those projected to be retired under sections 1201 or 1204, those projected to be discharged with disability severance under section 1212, members moved to the temporary disability retired list under sections 1202 or 1205, or officers facing pending disciplinary or administrative separation or mandatory discharge. The bonus can be up to 12 times the officer’s monthly basic pay and may be paid as a lump sum at retirement. If an officer who took the bonus returns to active duty, the service may deduct the bonus from their basic pay in monthly installments until repaid, except when the return is an involuntary recall to active duty or full‑time National Guard duty. The Secretary of Defense may waive repayment if recovery would be unfair or against the United States’ interest; that waiver power may only be delegated to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness or the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.