Title 37 — Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed ServicesRelease 119-73
§356 Continuation pay: full TSP members with 7 to 12 years of service
Title 37 › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - SPECIAL AND INCENTIVE PAYS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - CONSOLIDATION OF SPECIAL PAY, INCENTIVE PAY, AND BONUS AUTHORITIES › § 356
Summary
The Secretary must pay continuation pay to any full TSP member who has served at least 7 but not more than 12 years and who agrees to serve at least 3 more years. The amount is set as a multiple of the member’s monthly basic pay. For regular members, Space Force members on sustained duty, and reserve members on active Guard/Reserve duty the payment must be at least 2.5 times the monthly basic pay. For reserve members not on active duty and Space Force members in certain non-sustained statuses it must be at least 0.5 times the monthly basic pay the member would get as a regular member. The law limits how large the payment can be. For regular or sustained-duty Space Force members the cap is 2.5 times the monthly pay at 12 years plus, if the Secretary agrees, up to 13 more months of that pay. For certain reserve or non-sustained Space Force members the cap is 0.5 times the 12-year monthly pay plus, if allowed, up to 6 more months of that amount. The Secretary may offer extra continuation pay, members can take it in a lump sum or up to four payments, it is in addition to other pay, and failure to meet the agreed service triggers repayment under section 373. Each Secretary must write rules to run the program.
Full Legal Text
Title 37, §356
Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Secretary concerned shall make a payment of continuation pay to each full TSP member (as defined in section 8440e(a) of title 5) of the uniformed services under the jurisdiction of the Secretary who—
(1)has completed not less than 7 and not more than 12 years of service in a uniformed service; and
(2)enters into an agreement with the Secretary to serve for not less than 3 additional years of obligated service.
(b)The Secretary concerned shall determine the payment amount under this section as a multiple of a full TSP member’s monthly basic pay. The multiple for a full TSP member who is a member of a regular component, a member of the Space Force on sustained duty, or a member of a reserve component, if the member is performing active Guard and Reserve duty (as defined in section 101(d)(6) of title 10), shall not be less than 2.5 times the member’s monthly basic pay. The multiple for a full TSP member who is a member of a reserve component not performing active Guard or Reserve duty (as so defined) or a member of the Space Force in space force active status not on sustained duty shall not be less than 0.5 times the monthly basic pay to which the member would be entitled if the member were a member of a regular component. The maximum amount the Secretary concerned may pay a member under this section is—
(1)in the case of a member of a regular component or a member of the Space Force on sustained duty—
(A)the monthly basic pay of the member at 12 years of service multiplied by 2.5; plus
(B)at the discretion of the Secretary concerned, the monthly basic pay of the member at 12 years of service multiplied by such number of months (not to exceed 13 months) as the Secretary concerned shall specify in the agreement of the member under subsection (a); and
(2)in the case of a member of a reserve component or a member of the Space Force in space force active status and not on sustained duty—
(A)the amount of monthly basic pay to which the member would be entitled at 12 years of service if the member were a member of a regular component or a member of the Space Force on sustained duty, respectively, multiplied by 0.5; plus
(B)at the discretion of the Secretary concerned, the amount of monthly basic pay described in subparagraph (A) multiplied by such number of months (not to exceed 6 months) as the Secretary concerned shall specify in the agreement of the member under subsection (a).
(c)In addition to the continuation pay required under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned may provide continuation pay under this subsection to a full TSP member described in subsection (a), and subject to the service agreement referred to in paragraph (2) of such subsection, in an amount determined by the Secretary concerned.
(d)The Secretary concerned shall pay continuation pay under subsection (a) to a full TSP member when the member has completed not less than 7 and not more than 12 years of service in a uniformed service.
(e)A full TSP member may elect to receive continuation pay provided under subsection (a) or (c) in a lump sum or in a series of not more than four payments.
(f)Continuation pay under this section is in addition to any other pay or allowance to which the full TSP member is entitled.
(g)A full TSP member who receives continuation pay under this section (a) 11 So in original. and fails to complete the obligated service required under such subsection shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 373 of this title.
(h)Each Secretary concerned shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2025—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 119–60, § 601(c)(6)(A), substituted “, a member of the Space Force on sustained duty, or a member of a reserve component” for “or a reserve component” and inserting “or a member of the Space Force in space force active status not on sustained duty” after “(as so defined)” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 601(c)(6)(B), inserted “or a member of the Space Force on sustained duty” after “of a regular component” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 601(c)(6)(C)(i), inserted “or a member of the Space Force in space force active status and not on sustained duty” after “of a reserve component” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(2)(A). Pub. L. 119–60, § 601(c)(6)(C)(ii), inserted “or a member of the Space Force on sustained duty, respectively,” after “of a regular component”. 2023—Pub. L. 118–31, § 611(a)(1), substituted “7” for “8” in section catchline. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 118–31, § 611(a)(2), substituted “7” for “8”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 118–31, § 611(a)(2), substituted “7” for “8”. 2016—Pub. L. 114–328, § 633(d)(1), substituted “Continuation pay: full TSP members with 8 to 12 years of service” for “Continuation pay: full TSP members with 12 years of service” in section catchline. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–328, § 633(a)(1), added par. (1) and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: “completes 12 years of service; and”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 114–328, § 633(a)(2), substituted “not less than 3 additional years” for “an additional 4 years”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–328, § 633(b), substituted heading and introductory provisions for former heading and introductory provisions which read as follows: “Amount.—The amount of continuation pay payable to a full TSP member under subsection (a) shall be the amount that is equal to—”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–328, § 633(c), amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Secretary concerned shall pay continuation pay under subsection (a) to a full TSP member when the member completes 12 years of service. If the Secretary concerned also provides continuation pay under subsection (c) to the member, that continuation pay shall be provided when the member completes 12 years of service.”
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2016 Amendment Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VI, § 633(e), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2163, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on January 1, 2018, immediately after the coming into effect of the
Amendments
providing for section 356 of title 37, United States Code, to which the
Amendments
made by this section relate.”
Effective Date
Implementation Section effective Jan. 1, 2018, with certain implementation requirements, see section 635 of Pub. L. 114–92, set out as an
Effective Date
of 2015 Amendment; Implementation note under section 8432 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
37 U.S.C. § 356
Title 37 — Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73