Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/retirement

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Question
i was forced to leave the us army in 08/92 due to reduction in force.  after a year of leaving the military, a 15 retirement benefit package was offered to those meeting the criteria   i requested to be considered for the retirement benefit retroactively but was denied.

Answer
Hi Pete,

I'm not sure what your question is? If your question, "Is it possible that I could receive benefits for retirement after 15 years of service retroactively?"

If so, then -- to the best of my knowledge -- the anser is "no."

In 1993, Congress authorized certain benefits (by passing a law) for certain Military members who were forced out of the Military due to the Military downsizing, including an early (15 year) retirement program. But, Congress didn't elect to make the law retroactive. Why? I don't know. But, only Congress could possibly change this. The Military doesn't have the authority to go outside of the law.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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