|
AFSAA Position on L.E. Credit for Military SA Time
|
Failure to Credit Armed Forces Specials Agents
Deters Our Troops From Federal Service
|
Objective
Armed forces special agents who subsequently enter the federal civil service should be able to obtain law enforcement retirement credit under 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) for up to five years of such military service.
Background
On release from active duty, military members who are credentialed as Special Agents (i.e., Air Force OSI, Army CID, Coast Guard Investigative Service) may obtain credit for their uniformed service within the federal employment retirement systems by paying an appropriate redeposit to the retirement fund. None of that time, however, is credited for purposes of special law enforcement retirement under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336 (c), even though the duties undertaken by those individuals – as federal law enforcement personnel – were identical to those of federal civilian special agents (1811s and alike).
This situation creates disparate treatment within the federal agent workforce and stands in contrast to current law which allows civilian special agents who are called to military duty to count the military time toward law enforcement retirement.
Justification
By failing to properly credit armed forces special agents with law enforcement “time served,” current policy acts as a disincentive to retaining trained and productive special agents in the federal workforce. The policy also acts as a disincentive for someone considering a career in federal law enforcement from first serving in such a capacity on active duty in the United States armed forces, where those skills are critically short-staffed.
Armed forces special agents and their federal civilian counterparts (some of whom operate within the military investigative organization itself) work side by side performing the same duties and undertaking the same risks of danger – often more dangerous for military agents because they regularly operate in war zones. All are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. All carry firearms, make arrests, serve subpoenas, seek and execute search warrants, and transport prisoners - exactly the requirements for federal civilian law enforcement retirement eligibility.
Those who transition to federal civilian special agent positions after military service continue to perform the duties they undertook as military members, often on the very same investigative teams, and usually without additional training requirements. We note that under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA – Public Law 103-353), civilian federal employees, including civilian special agents, can be credited for up to five years toward their retirement for time served when they are recalled to active duty. Granting the benefit on the “front end” of an individual’s federal law enforcement career under this proposal will restore the balance of equities relating to creditable military service and, most importantly, act as an incentive to keep trained personnel in federal law enforcement when they are leaving the military and weighing civilian employment opportunities.
|
|
|