Disability retirement is sometimes called Chapter 61 retirement,since the law governing such a retirement is in Chapter 61 of title 10United States Code. Members who have been determined to be unfit forduty with a disability rated by the military Service as 30% or greaterare eligible for disability retirement. A member whose condition is notstable may be placed on the temporary disability retired list (TDRL) forup to five years at which point they must be either discharged, retiredor returned to duty. Members whose condition has stabilized at adisability rating of 30% or higher may be placed on the permanentdisability retired list (PDRL).
The basic retirement formula is:
Retired Pay Base X Multiplier %
The retired pay base for a qualified disability retirement isdetermined under either the final pay method or the high-36 month methoddepending upon when they first entered military service. SeeRetirement tab for details.
The multiplier percentage is at the option of the member who maychose either the percentage of disability assigned or the years ofcreditable service times 2½%. In either case, the multiplier is limitedto 75% by law.
In the case of a member on the TDRL, the minimum percentage is 50% while on the TDRL.
Years of Service
The years of creditable service for computation of the retired paypercentage multiplier include all active duty and all credited reservepoints divided by 360.
