Last Updated: September 13, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min
Most guides to the military service deposit assume one clean enlistment with one DD-214. A Guard or Reserve career does not look like that. It looks like basic training in one decade, three mobilizations in the next, a dozen annual trainings, two hundred drill weekends, and a points statement that proves a pension but not a single creditable day. The rules for sorting that pile are precise, they live in the OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook, and most of them cut against what a drilling member expects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my monthly drill weekend count toward my FERS military deposit?
No. The OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook, Chapter 22, classifies weekly and biweekly training periods as reserve duty, not active duty, and they are not creditable. Only periods when you were actually on active duty count: Title 10 mobilizations, annual training, and comparable full-time-pay periods.
Does my two-week annual training count?
Yes. The Handbook specifically names the annual 15-day training camp or cruise performed for pay and allowances as active duty that is creditable, separate from routine drill weekends.
What about basic training and school tours?
Active duty for training performed under Title 10 orders with full military pay and allowances fits the Handbook's definition of active military service and is creditable on the same basis as annual training. Keep the orders for each tour, because they are what prove the period.
Can Title 32 or state active duty ever count?
Generally no. National Guard duty performed exclusively for a state under Title 32, or called by a governor alone, is excluded from creditable military service regardless of whether the unit is federally recognized. The exception is full-time National Guard duty that interrupts your federal civilian employment and ends in restoration under USERRA, which 5 U.S.C. 8411(c)(4) makes creditable. Outside that case, only Title 10 federal orders count.
I have no DD-214 for most of my Guard time. What proves my service?
You will not have a DD-214 for every stint. Guard separations are documented on NGB Form 22, and retirement points on the NGB Form 23 series, but neither proves which specific days were under Title 10 orders. OPM's own verification procedure directs agencies to the State Adjutant General's office because federal record centers often cannot separate Title 10 from Title 32 service. Your orders and leave and earnings statements for each period are the primary proof.
My activations were spread over 15 years in three deployments. Do I file one earnings request or three?
You can request a partial estimate. Form RI 20-97 explicitly allows a request for estimated military earnings for only a portion of your active duty, which is the standard path for fragmented Guard and Reserve service. List each creditable period with its dates and attach the orders.
I will draw Reserve retired pay at 60. Do I have to waive it to buy back my active-duty time?
No. Retired pay awarded under Chapter 1223 of Title 10, the standard Guard and Reserve non-regular retirement, is exempt from the waiver requirement under 5 U.S.C. 8411(c)(2)(B) and the OPM Handbook. A regular 20-year active-duty retirement is different and generally does require a waiver to credit the same years.
How much is the deposit?
For FERS, 3% of the military basic pay earned during the creditable periods under 5 U.S.C. 8422(e), plus interest that begins accruing after a two-year grace period from your first civilian appointment. Allowances such as BAH and BAS are not part of the base.
What Counts and What Does Not, by the Handbook
Chapter 22 of the OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook sets the categories. Four kinds of Guard and Reserve time look alike on old paperwork and are treated differently.
| Type of service | Creditable for the FERS deposit? | Handbook basis |
|---|---|---|
| Title 10 active duty (mobilizations, deployments, federal call-ups) | Yes | §22A2.1-2.C.2: Guard service "pursuant to orders issued under authority of a provision of title 10" |
| Annual training (the yearly 15-day camp or cruise) | Yes | §22A2.1-2.E.2: "the annual 15-day training camp or cruise ... is active duty and, therefore, creditable" |
| Active duty for training (basic, AIT, schoolhouse tours under Title 10 with full pay and allowances) | Yes, under the general active-service definition | §22A2.1-2.D: full-time duty, military pay and allowances, time at the disposal of military authorities |
| Weekly or biweekly drill (UTA) | No | §22A2.1-2.E.2: "reserve duty ... not creditable" |
| Title 32 duty, state active duty, governor call-ups | Generally no | §22A2.1-2.C.3: excluded "when called for duty solely by the Governor of a State" or "performed exclusively for a State under section 316 or sections 502 to 505, title 32". Exception: full-time National Guard duty that interrupts a federal civilian job and ends in USERRA restoration is creditable under 5 U.S.C. 8411(c)(4); the Handbook itself notes its Guard rules predate USERRA |
The drill exclusion is the one that changes the arithmetic most. A traditional drilling member with 18 years in the Guard and no mobilizations has 18 annual trainings, roughly 270 creditable days, and several hundred drill weekends that count for nothing. The pension side counts all of it in points. The deposit side counts only the 270 days.
Which Form Proves What
Three documents get conflated, and only one of them proves a creditable day.
DD Form 214 documents an active-duty separation. A Guard member who mobilized under Title 10 typically receives one at the end of that tour. A member who never had a discrete active-duty separation will not have one for annual trainings or short schools.
NGB Form 22 is the Guard's report of separation, issued when you leave the Guard. It summarizes service; it does not itemize Title 10 periods.
NGB Form 23 (and 23A, 23B) is the retirement points statement. It proves points toward the Reserve pension under Chapter 1223. Points are earned for drills, which the deposit does not credit, so a points statement cannot be used as proof of creditable days for the deposit.
What the deposit needs is the orders and leave and earnings statements for each Title 10 period. The Handbook's Subchapter 22C directs agencies verifying Guard service to the State Adjutant General's office rather than the federal record centers, because the Army and Air Reserve Personnel Centers often report Title 10 and Title 32 time together as "federal service" and cannot separate them.
If a period is missing from your records, fix it while the unit still exists and the orders are retrievable. Our DD-214 correction guide covers the process for active-duty records.
Filing for Fragmented Service: Form RI 20-97
The earnings estimate that sets the deposit comes from DFAS on Form RI 20-97, Estimated Earnings During Military Service. The form includes a request for "estimated military earnings for only a portion of my active military duty." That line exists for you.
A worked example, FedTools-constructed, for a traditional Guard member with 18 years of service and three separate Title 10 periods:
| Period | Type | Dates | Creditable days | Basic pay earned (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic training and AIT | ADT, Title 10 | 2008, 5 months | 150 | $7,500 |
| Mobilization 1 | Title 10 | 2011 to 2012, 12 months | 365 | $32,000 |
| Mobilization 2 | Title 10 | 2019, 9 months | 270 | $33,000 |
| 18 annual trainings | AT | 2008 to 2026, 15 days each | 270 | $16,000 |
| ~200 drill weekends | UTA | 2008 to 2026 | 0 | not creditable |
| Creditable total | 1,055 days (about 2.9 years) | $88,500 |
FERS deposit at 3% of basic pay under 5 U.S.C. 8422(e): about $2,655 before interest. The 2.9 years of credit added to a FERS annuity computed on a $95,000 High-3 at the 1.0% multiplier is roughly $2,750 a year for life, so the deposit pays for itself in the first year of retirement. The basic-pay figures are illustrative; DFAS supplies the actual amounts from your pay records.
The filing sequence: list each period with dates and the orders that support it, submit RI 20-97 to DFAS for those periods only, take the certified earnings to your agency HR with SF 3108 (or SF 2803 for CSRS), and pay the deposit before the interest-free window closes. Interest starts accruing two years after your first civilian appointment, so a member who waits ten years pays materially more. Once paid, get the Paid in Full letter into your official personnel folder; DFAS does not keep a record of who paid.
The Waiver Rule That Works in Your Favor
One rule in this area is better than most members expect. If your Reserve retired pay is awarded under Chapter 1223 of Title 10, the non-regular retirement that starts at 60 (or earlier with qualifying active service), you do not have to waive it to receive FERS credit for the active-duty periods you bought back. 5 U.S.C. 8411(c)(2)(B) exempts Chapter 1223 retired pay from the waiver requirement, and the Handbook repeats the exemption at §22A3.1-3.A(2).
A regular active-duty retirement after 20 years is the opposite case: those years cannot be credited toward FERS unless you waive the military retired pay, and almost nobody does. The full comparison, with a worked example, is in our military buyback guide. The waiver exception is real, but it protects your Reserve pension; it does not make an undocumented period creditable.
Two related rules for Reserve members: the points system that determines your Chapter 1223 pension is covered in our Guard and Reserve retirement points guide, and the health-coverage gap between separation and age 60 changed for reservists in 2026, covered in the TAMP eligibility post.
Estimate Your Deposit Across All Creditable Periods
Use the free Military Buyback Calculator with your combined basic pay and combined creditable years across every Title 10 period. The deposit math is additive, so one run with the totals gives the deposit and the annuity gain; assemble the per-period documentation and the RI 20-97 request separately.
Related Resources
- Military Buyback Calculator: Deposit and annuity gain from combined creditable periods.
- Military Buyback Guide for Federal Employees: The full FERS deposit process and the Chapter 1223 worked example.
- Guard and Reserve Retirement Points: How the Chapter 1223 pension is computed.
- DD-214 Correction Guide: Fixing missing deployments and awards in the record.
- TAMP Eligibility Change for Reservists: Transitional health coverage rules for 2026.
Sources: OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook, Chapter 22, Creditable Military Service (§§22A2.1-2, 22A3.1-3, 22A4.1-1, Subchapter 22C) · 5 U.S.C. 8411(c) · 5 U.S.C. 8422(e) · OPM Form RI 20-97, Estimated Earnings During Military Service · 10 U.S.C. Chapter 1223 (§§12731 to 12739).