Title 10Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§8331 Members of the Fleet Reserve and Fleet Marine Corps Reserve: transfer to the retired list; retired pay

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle C— - Navy and Marine Corps › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 841— - VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT › § 8331

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

When a member of the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve finishes 30 years of service, or is found not physically fit after an exam under section 8385, they must be moved to a retired list. If they were in the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps when they first went into the Fleet Reserve, they go to that service’s retired list. If they were in the Navy Reserve or Marine Corps Reserve then, they go to the Retired Reserve. Years of service for this move are the total of three things: the years credited when they entered the Fleet Reserve, any active or inactive service before that not already credited, and the years served in the Fleet Reserve. Their retired pay is the same as the retainer pay they had when moved, unless they qualify for higher pay.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §8331

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)When he has completed 30 years of service, or when he is found not physically qualified in an examination under section 8385 of this title, a member of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve shall be transferred—
(1)to the retired list of the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps, as appropriate, if he was a member of the Regular Navy or the Regular Marine Corps at the time of his transfer to the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; or
(2)to the appropriate Retired Reserve, if he was a member of the Navy Reserve or the Marine Corps Reserve at the time of his transfer to the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve.
(b)For the purpose of subsection (a), a member’s years of service are computed by adding—
(1)the years of service credited to him upon his transfer to the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve;
(2)his years of active and inactive service in the armed forces before his transfer to the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve not credited to him upon that transfer; and
(3)his years of service, active and inactive, in the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve.
(c)Unless otherwise entitled to higher pay, each member transferred to the retired list or the Retired Reserve under this section is entitled to retired pay at the same rate as the retainer pay to which he was entitled at the time of his transfer to the retired list or the Retired Reserve.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 633134 U.S.C. 854c (4th proviso).
June 25, 1938, ch. 690, § 204 (4th proviso), 52 Stat. 1179; Aug. 10, 1946, ch. 952, § 2, 60 Stat. 993. 34 U.S.C. 854e (2d and 4th provisos).
June 25, 1938, ch. 690, § 206 (2d and 4th provisos), 52 Stat. 1179; Apr. 25, 1940, ch. 153, 54 Stat. 162. 34 U.S.C. 854 (note).
July 9, 1952, ch. 608, § 803 (3d sentence), 66 Stat. 505. In subsection (a) the words “transferred * * * in accordance with the provisions of this section and of section 853 and 854b of this title”, in the fourth proviso of 34 U.S.C. 854c, and the words “transferred after sixteen years’ or more service in the Regular Navy”, and “men coming under the cognizance of section 853 and 854b of this title”, in the second proviso of 34 U.S.C. 854e, are omitted as surplusage since the classes designated by these phrases comprise all members of the Fleet Reserve and Fleet Marine Corps Reserve. Subsection (b) is worded so as to cover all members of the Fleet Reserve and the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve regardless of the law under which they attained that status. A member transferring under 34 U.S.C. 854b may count only active naval service in computing the service required for that transfer, but in determining his eligibility for retirement he may add to his active naval service all previous active or inactive service in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard, and his time in the Fleet Reserve. A member transferring to the Fleet Reserve under 34 U.S.C. 854c may count active service in any armed force toward that transfer, and he determines his eligibility for retirement by adding to the service credited to him at the time of transfer any previous inactive service in the armed forces and his time in the Fleet Reserve. As to the latter member the words “active service” in clause (2) are superfluous, since such service would have been credited to him upon his transfer to the Fleet Reserve, but they are needed in the case of a member transferred under 34 U.S.C. 854b. In subsection (c) references to the “allowances to which enlisted men of the Navy are entitled on retirement after thirty years’ service”, in the second and fourth provisos of 34 U.S.C. 854e, are omitted because of the repeal, by § 19 of the Pay Readjustment Act of 1942, 56 Stat. 369, of the laws authorizing such allowances.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 807(b)(15), renumbered section 6331 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 8385” for “section 6485” in introductory provisions. 2006—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–163 substituted “Navy Reserve” for “Naval Reserve”. 1958—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–583, § 1(4), provided for the transfer to the appropriate Retired Reserve of those members of the Fleet Reserve or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve who had transferred thereto from the Naval Reserve or the Marine Corps Reserve. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 85–583, § 1(5), struck out “of clause (2)”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–583, § 1(6), inserted “or the Retired Reserve” after “retired list” wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 8331

Title 10Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73