Gray Area Retirees – Marine Corps Reserve 

How to Stay Connected During the Gray Area

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 created 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 Marine Corps.
 
With your up-to-date contact information in myPay, DFAS can keep you informed about changes in the law or policy that may affect you and send you the Marine Corps Retiree Newsletter and the DFAS Retiree Newsletter.
 
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.
 

Who Are Gray Area Retirees?

Gray Area Retirees are members who served in the Marine Corps 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 Awaiting Pay.
 
If you are unsure if you are a Gray Area Retiree and eligible for retired pay, contact USMC Manpower Management Separation & Retirement (MMSR-5) at (703) 784-9306/9307, or by email at smb.manpower.mmsr5@usmc.mil.
 

Important Information for Marine Corps Reserve Gray Area Retirees

For Gray Area members who are approaching their with-pay eligibility date, HQMC (MMSR-5) will send you a DD Form 108 (Application for Retired Pay Benefits) and DD Form 2656 (Data for Payment of Retired Personnel), approximately 5 months prior to reaching your date of eligibility. This will happen automatically, so there is no need to contact MMSR-5 to initiate this action. Please ensure contact information is up to date in Marine Online. Once MMSR-5 receives the forms, there is no further action to take.
 
Once the signed documents have been returned to HQMC, they will be processed and sent to DFAS to establish a pay account. This process may take up to 30-45 days.
 
You will receive a red retirement binder in the mail, which includes the notification transferring you to the retired list with pay and a career retirement credit report.

For more information about this process please visit MMSR-5’s webpage here.
 
Once your pay account has been established, you may contact USMC Retired Services & Pay (MMSR-6) or DFAS for further assistance.
 

Early Receipt of Retired Pay

Some members of the Marine Corps Reserve may be eligible to receive retired pay prior to your 60th birthday. This is calculated during the retirement process and provided on the notification transferring you to the Retired List Awaiting Pay. If you cannot locate this information or would like additional verification of this date, you may contact MMSR-5. Be sure to include your Electronic Data Interchange Person Identifier (EDIPI – found on your ID card) in all email correspondence.
 
Note, if you retired on or prior to April 1st, 2008, you are Ineligible for reduced age retirement. Also, if you served on active duty prior to joining the Marine Corps Reserve, your active duty time counts toward retirement but NOT toward reduced age retirement.
 

Late Applications

If you are past your date to apply for retired pay as a Gray Area you should login to your MOL account, to verify your contact information and then contact MMSR-5 to get the required forms for processing as soon as possible.


 

Get Connected

Find out how to log in to your new myPay account.

We have a helpful downloadable Gray Area Future Retiree myPay Login Tips PDF with specific instructions on our new Gray Area Retirees webpage
 https://www.dfas.mil/grayarea