Guidance Updates

COVID-19 Good Year Relief Information

  • Published
  • HQ RIO
To our Individual Reservists:
 
I wanted to give an update for those of you who were unable to earn 50 points for a satisfactory year of service creditable toward retirement during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The FY21 NDAA (Section 516) has granted authority to the Secretary of Defense to grant UP TO A MAXIMUM of 35 retirement points during Declared National Emergency Proclamation 9994 to members facing this shortfall during this covered emergency period.
 
Members who were affected in such a way that travel and duty restrictions during this time resulted in inability to earn a satisfactory year of service MAY be granted additional non-pay points to achieve the total of 50 points required. The term "covered emergency period" means the period beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending on the day that is 60-days after the date on which the travel or duty restriction applicable to the person concerned was lifted. Members should check with their respective organizations as this differs by location.
 
If you believe this situation applies to you, please continue to read this message for requirements and actions IR members will need to take.
 
REQUIREMENTS - These retirement points will NOT be broadly awarded to all Reserve members, but will only be awarded with the following restrictions:
 
1. The member must be in good standing, as defined by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned.  Being in good standing means that you were scheduled and striving to participate with the intent of achieving a satisfactory year of service towards retirement. If you were not participating, and had not communicated your intent to participate, you would be considered not to be in good standing. Commanders and supervisors will verify a member’s good standing status.
 
2. The member will not be credited more than 35 retirement points in a 1-year (365-day) period. This will be in addition to the 15 membership points members receive automatically when in a selected reserve position. Together, these points will achieve the 50 total points required for a satisfactory year of service, which is creditable towards retirement.
 
3. The day(s) of active service or period(s) of drill or equivalent instruction must have been previously scheduled to be performed on or after March 1, 2020, to the date upon which the national emergency declared in Proclamation 9994 is lifted. Currently the national emergency declaration is in effect until 16 February 2023, however, it is important to note the President has the discretion to end a national emergency early. 
a) Previously scheduled is defined as a member was actively participating and had an approved schedule (i.e. documented in a system like UTAPs, or approved by their supervisor). 
b) Only the dates previously scheduled will be considered for credit after being validated by the active component commander or supervisor. 
c) Additionally, these scheduled day(s) of active service or period(s) of drill or equivalent instruction MUST HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DURING YOUR R/R DUE TO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE due to Proclamation 9994. 
 
4. The cancelled day(s) of active service or period(s) of drill or equivalent instruction must not have been rescheduled and performed during your R/R.
 
5. Retirement points are required for the member to achieve the minimum required number of points creditable toward retirement for that member's anniversary year, not to exceed 35 points.
 
6. No inactive duty pay or basic pay may be paid for the period(s) for which these retirement points are granted.
 
ACTIONS FOR THE MEMBER:
1.  Members must identify how many points they require (up to 35) to achieve a satisfactory year of service. For example, if you performed AT or IDT duty and accumulated 18 points then you would need an additional 17 points for a satisfactory year of service (adding the 35 participation points and 15 membership points for a total of 50). Members can accomplish this by reviewing their Point Credit History in vMPF for the timeframe for which they were seeking “Points Relief.”  (PCARS Quick Guide)
 
2.  Complete the “Coronavirus Disease 2021 Statutory Relief of Computation of Years of Service Request“ template memo found HERE (use Chrome). The memorandum will require three signatures for approval: 1) The IR member making the request, 2) the IR member’s active component supervisor, and 3) IR member’s Detachment Commander.  
 
3. Members will have multiple opportunities to submit their requests for points relief to their respective RIO Detachments. The initial suspense will be early November 2022. Please communicate with your detachment for additional suspenses in the coming months.

Use the following emails to submit your memo to your detachment:

Det 2— arpc.hqriodet2@us.af.mil
Det 3— rio.det.3.1@us.af.mil
Det 4— arpc.hqriodet4@us.af.mil
Det 5— hqriodet5readinessint@us.af.mil
Det 6— riodet6@us.af.mil
Det 7— arpc.hqriodet7@us.af.mil
Det 8— eucom.stuttgart.eccs.mbx.rio-det-8@mail.mil
 
ACTIONS FOR THE RIO DETACHMENTS:
HQ RIO Detachments will consolidate the information received from all IR members making requests and provide the information to HQ RIO for further processing based on the quarterly suspenses communicated from HQ RIO.
 
This is great news for those of you who tried to serve during the height of the pandemic, and for a variety of reasons related to the pandemic, were unable to do so in a way that earned you a year toward your retirement. Thank you for all you do as Individual Reservists in support of our Active Components!