Military service time can be bought back and applied to a civil service career for a few thousand dollars.
Posted by Unsubscribe Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
Unsubscribe PodcastSep 13, 2026
Sources consistently confirm that veterans can buy back active-duty military time and add it to their civil service retirement, with the deposit set as a percentage of base pay (3% for FERS, 7% for CSRS) plus possible interest.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… We can double dip on our military time. We can get credit for this and that. We'll have two pensions. Is one pension good? 'Cause some pensions are good. More pensions are better. We could, like, duplicate processes and not waste time. So the military time that I already served and gave up all this for, I can now, like, for a few thousand dollars, buy all that back and apply it to my civil service career. And the shit the stuff that we did, I'm sorry, I've been swearing a lot on your podcast. Uuuh, watch your fucking language, kid. Thank you. …
Unsubscribe Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The U.S. Department of Transportation describes a Military Buyback Program that lets veterans with active-duty service receive credit for that time, added to civil service years and increasing the retirement annuity.[1]
Supports. DFAS describes Military Buy Back (Military Service Deposit) as a benefit of Federal Civil Service that gives retirement benefits based on military service, and notes no interest is charged if applied for within three years of civilian service.[2]
Supports. Army and Marine Corps guidance and a 2026 MOAA article describe the same buy-back process, with the employee paying a deposit before retirement to get credit for military time.[3][4][5]
Context. The deposit is calculated as a percentage of base pay over the military service period plus interest, so the total cost depends on pay level and years served; the sources do not give a dollar range, leaving the 'few thousand dollars' figure unconfirmed rather than contradicted.[1][3]
Context. Buying back time may require waiving military retirement pay for those already collecting active-duty retirement, which the post does not mention.[5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 primary, 4 not rated
- 1Military Buy Back for Veterans | US Department of Transportationtransportation.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 2Military Service Buy Back - DFASdfas.mil · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3Fort Riley civilian retirement: buybacks, deposits, re-deposits, credit for servicearmy.mil · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4“MILITARY BUY BACK” : THE PROCESS DIAGRAMhqmc.marines.mil · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5MOAA - Understanding the ‘Military Buy Back’moaa.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post