Military Service
After your first retirement contribution has posted with ERS, you can buy up to 60 months of eligible active duty United States military service to establish service credit.
Requirements
You must not be eligible for a full military retirement benefit.
Your military discharge must not be dishonorable.
ERS needs a copy of your military service record (such as your DD214 or NGB23). If you have not submitted your military service record, you have four options to deliver it to us:
- EMAIL the completed and signed form to erscustomer.service@ers.texas.gov,
- FAX it to (512) 867-7438,
- MAIL it to PO Box 13207, Austin, TX 78711-3207 or
- HAND DELIVER it to 200 E 18th St., Austin, TX 78701. A drop box is available.
Military service credit that has been purchased cannot be used for retirement until you have accrued five years of ERS service credit.
- You must be in Retirement Group 1, 2 or 3. Visit the Retirement Group Overview page to find out which retirement group you're in
If you purchase this service during your first year of employment with the State, you’ll avoid paying interest. After your first year of employment, 10% interest will apply for each fiscal year (on September 1) from the date of employment to the purchase date.
Purchased military service will be included in the calculation of an active employee's death benefit and in the calculation of an annuity for an occupational disability retirement.
Military service under Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and extended leave
What happens if you’re called to active duty while working as a state employee? You may be able to purchase the months that you’re called to active duty, if you’re not earning service credit at your state agency during that time. You’d need to purchase all other military service before you could purchase your new active duty service credit. If you’ve already bought 60 months of military service and you want to buy your new active duty service, call ERS to learn how you can purchase this additional time.
If you’re on “extended leave,” your agency may continue to pay you the difference between your military salary and your state salary. Because you’re still getting a state paycheck, you’re still contributing to ERS and getting service credit for those months of active duty. If your agency does this for you, you cannot purchase additional military service because you can’t have duplicate service time.
The cost for each month of this service is based on the ERS retirement contribution that is reported to us for the full month of employment following the military service.