If you are a veteran of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marines), who served at least 180 days of active duty and was discharged or released under honorable conditions, you may immediately be eligible to purchase and convert up to four years of military time into creditable retirement service. Members no longer need wartime service to meet the Commonwealth's veteran qualification standard under G.L. c.32, § 4(1)(h). In addition, a member awarded a service connected disability or if s/he died in service will be considered a veteran without serving 180 days of active duty.

In conjunction, those who served full time duty in the National Guard for at least 90 consecutive days, with one of those days being in wartime service (see chart), will also be considered a veteran for purposes of military service buy-back credit provided discharge or release was under honorable conditions. Full time National Guard service is defined as activation to regular service and does not include weekend drill or active duty for training. Please be advised that veteran's N.G. service is converted at a 5 to 1 ratio. That is, each five years of service may be used to purchase one year of creditable service in SBRS.

Veteran's Eligibility as Defined in Chapter 32, Section One, Requires Both of the Following:

	At Least One Day of Active Service Between These Dates	Minimum Length of Active Service
World War II	9-16-40 to 12-31-46	90 days
Korea	6-25-50 to 1-31-55	90 days
Korea-Vietnam (interim)	2-1-55 to 8-4-64	90 days
Vietnam	8-5-64 to 5-7-75	90 days
Lebanon*	8-25-82 to be determined	90 days
Grenada*	10-25-83 to 12-15-83	90 days
Panama*	12-20-89 to 1-31-90	90 days
Persian Gulf	8-2-90 to be determined	90 days

* Campaign Medal for service required for eligibility.

If your military tour of duty meets these standards, please download an application here (in PDF format).

A returned & completed application must include a copy of your DD214 plus an employment verification letter and salary history from your employer at the time of your initial contribution to SBRS. However, any refund of contributions, even those subsequently paid back upon or during re-employment, changes your initial contribution date to that date of your re-employment.

Please direct all questions and concerns for participation in this program in writing to:

Military Service Credit
Boston Retirement Board
Boston City Hall, 816
Boston, MA 02201

or call 617-635-2614.