New Bill allows National Guard and Reserve Members to Draw Early Retirement

The National Guard and Reserve Retired Pay Equity Act was pushed today in a bipartisan movement to allow guard and Reserve members to draw from their retirement 90 days early for every 90 of continuous mobilization since September 11th, 2001.

The 2008 Defense Authorization Act was passed in January, which allowed the early retirement benefits, however the law only allowed credit for time spent on active duty from the time the law was passed. Outcries from a host of military and veterans groups, including the major National Guard and reserve associations sparked a push for retroactive credit. This bill does not allow guard or reserve members to retire any earlier, it simply allows them to start drawing benefits earlier. Service members are required to fulfill 20 years of positive service in order to draw retirement benefits, which begin at age 60. The date of September 11th was chosen because that was the day the role of the guard and reserve was changed forever. The days of one weekend a month and two weeks a year no longer exist, and the growing need of recognition and protection benefits is tantamount to the "part timers" who increasingly face discrimination from civilian employers and co-workers who simply do not understand the role of the military. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate, however it is expected to face more obstacles when it reaches the House, as they are more fiscally bound. Tougher budgetary rules in the House of Representatives require lawmakers to pinpoint a source of funding for the retroactive benefits, and the source of the funding has not been identified. The bill was sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and was cosponsored iby Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; Norm Coleman, R-Minn.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan.