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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§12738 Limitations on Revocation of Retired Pay

Title 10 › Subtitle E — Reserve Components › PART II — PERSONNEL GENERALLY › CHAPTER 1223 — RETIRED PAY FOR NON-REGULAR SERVICE › § 12738

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

If a person has been granted retired pay or told they have enough years to get it, their right to that pay cannot be taken away just because of a mistake, wrong calculation, wrong information, or an administrative error about how many years they served, unless the person committed fraud or lied. If the count of creditable years is wrong, the count can be fixed. When fixed, the person gets retired pay based on the corrected years starting from the date they were first granted retired pay.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §12738

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)After a person is granted retired pay under this chapter, or is notified in accordance with section 12731(d) of this title that the person has completed the years of service required for eligibility for retired pay under this chapter, the person’s eligibility for retired pay may not be denied or revoked on the basis of any error, miscalculation, misinformation, or administrative determination of years of service performed as required by section 12731(a)(2) of this title, unless it resulted directly from the fraud or misrepresentation of the person.
(b)The number of years of creditable service upon which retired pay is computed may be adjusted to correct any error, miscalculation, misinformation, or administrative determination and when such a correction is made the person is entitled to retired pay in accordance with the number of years of creditable service, as corrected, from the date the person is granted retired pay.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–337 renumbered section 1338 of this title as this section and amended text generally, making changes in style and references to other sections. 1986—Pub. L. 99–348 renumbered section 1406 of this title as this section, designated first sentence as subsec. (a) and substituted “this chapter” for “chapter 67 of this title” in two places, and designated second sentence as subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1994 AmendmentAmendment by 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. Entitlement to Retirement Pay After October 14, 1966; Conclusiveness Pub. L. 89–652, § 3, Oct. 14, 1966, 80 Stat. 902, provided that: “Notwithstanding section 1406 [now 12738] of title 10, United States Code, as added by this Act— “(1) the granting of retired pay to a person under chapter 67 [now 1223] of that title is conclusive as to that person’s entitlement to such pay only if the payment of that retired pay is begun after the

Effective Date

of this Act [Oct. 14, 1966]; and “(2) a notification that a person has completed the years of service required for eligibility for retired pay under chapter 67 [now 1223] of that title is conclusive as to the person’s subsequent entitlement to such pay only if the notification is made after the

Effective Date

of this Act.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 12738

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102