Age Waiver and Retirement

[Pitbullgirl]

If the military grants an age waiver to join active duty, does this mean that you cannot retire from the military at all, and at age 60 they force you to leave with no benefits? Or does this mean you waive the possibility of retiring at 60, but can stay in and retire at 62 or 64 (I will be 44 shortly) in order to retire after 20 years?

I am very interested in joining the AF as active duty, but obviously there is no benefit to me if I am forced to leave at age 60 with no retirement. I have been doing my research but have been unable to find the answer to this one; I may have to contact yet another recruiter, as my recruiter does not know either.

Thanks very much for your help!

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I was looking for the actual regulations for you, but all I can find is little blurbs. There are waivers to be eligible to retire at 64, but they are only for general officers. The mandatory age for military retirement is 62y/o........As a nurse you can only receive your conditional reserve status "CRS" up to age 40. Without your CRS status you will probably never make it past the rank of major as a nurse in the AirForce.

If retirement is the biggest concern why not go with a civil service job? You could still be in the reserves and have most of the same benefits as an active duty member...

Good Luck!

[GeorgiaBoy61]

I too have explored this question, as I am 44 and considering military nursing. They basically have you sign a waiver but my bet is that the retirement age is going to be raised before too many years go by. The govt. already faces a crushing pension liability burden, and raising the age cutoff for retirement is one way to fix that some. How that will impact those who signed a waiver? Who knows. I've heard that once you get close to retirement, if they need your skills, you can get exteneded into your 60s.

One last thing: My advice - such as it is - is this: Don't join for the pension alone. Even if you get it, it isn't going to be worth all that much. A lot can happen between now and then anyway. Best of luck.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I too have explored this question, as I am 44 and considering military nursing. They basically have you sign a waiver but my bet is that the retirement age is going to be raised before too many years go by. The govt. already faces a crushing pension liability burden, and raising the age cutoff for retirement is one way to fix that some. How that will impact those who signed a waiver? Who knows. I've heard that once you get close to retirement, if they need your skills, you can get exteneded into your 60s.

One last thing: My advice - such as it is - is this: Don't join for the pension alone. Even if you get it, it isn't going to be worth all that much. A lot can happen between now and then anyway. Best of luck.

I can't speak for the other services, but in the Air Force you are not permitted to serve past 62y/o unless you are a general officer.

Good Luck,

No matter what the military is a great experience.