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Customer Service
800-321-1080 M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET
Forms Frequently Asked Questions
Gray Area Retirees can now stay connected and informed between the time they stop drilling and the time they start receiving retired pay. It’s a new kind of myPay account especially for Gray Area Retirees. This basic “Future Retiree” myPay account provides Gray Area Retirees a convenient way to keep your contact information updated with DFAS during the gray area period, so you can receive important information from DFAS and from the Air Force. With your current contact information, DFAS can keep you informed about changes in the law or policy that may affect you, send you the Air Force Afterburner Retiree Newsletter and the DFAS Retiree Newsletter, and remind you when the window to apply for retired pay is approaching. In addition, with current contact information in the new myPay account, when DFAS receives a completed Gray Area Retiree application for retired pay, DFAS will send email status notifications to you, including: when DFAS receives the application, when DFAS begins working on the application, and when DFAS completes it. Remember, you should always be working first with the Air Force on your retired pay application.
How to Stay Connected During the Gray Area
Gray Area Retirees are members who served in the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve, are qualified for retired pay, and have retired from their service (stopped drilling),but are not yet at the age where they can start receiving retired pay. The time between their retirement from the service and the date when they are eligible to begin receiving retired pay is the “gray area.” The “gray area” applies even if the member is in the Retired Reserve. If you are unsure if you are a Gray Area Retiree and eligible for retired pay, contact the Total Force Service Center – San Antonio at 1-800-525-0102.
For Air Force Reserve and ANG Airmen, the retirement packet will be completed by the individual (retirement is not an automatic process). No earlier than 12 months and no later than 6 months in advance of pay effective date, you must apply by logging into myFSS (you may need to create an account):
Once the application is received and processed at ARPC, the packet will be forwarded to DFAS for pay processing. Only then will DFAS track and advise the customer of the status.
Some members of the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard may be eligible to receive retired pay earlier than their 60th birthday, depending on how their creditable service is calculated. To find out what date you can begin collecting retired pay, you must apply by logging into myFSS:
If you are past your date to apply for retired pay as a Gray Area Retiree, you should log into myFSS:
Our service level goal is to have retirement applications completed and to DFAS 30-60 days prior to the servicemembers pay effective date. If an application is submitted late, it will be processed approximately within 60 days upon receipt.