1993-2001 Temporary Early Retirement Authority

Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA) authorized members with over 15, but less than 20 years of total active duty service to apply for early retirement. The opportunity to retire under this TERA program ended in September 2002.

TERA retired pay is initially computed using the length of service retirement formula. It is then multiplied by a reduction factor based on the number of months the retiree is short of 20 years.

          Active duty pay x Percent Multiple x Reduction Factor = TERA Retired Pay

TERA gross retired pay is also still rounded down to the nearest dollar.
 

Public and Community Service Program

The Public and Community Service (PACS) Program allowed TERA retirees to apply some post-retirement employment (with certain pre-approved employers) towards their military retirement starting at age 62.  PACS credit was authorized up to the time the member would have met 20 years of military service had they remained on active duty.  This period was called the Enhanced Retirement Qualification Period (ERQP).
 
The timeline to submit PACS applications to the Defense Military Data Center (DMDC) ended one year to the day after the member’s ERQP expired.

DMDC is not authorized to accept any new PACS applications.  The program officially expired in August 2008 (one year after the last official TERA recipient’s ERQP expired). Therefore, all inquiries regarding new applications must be directed to your Board for Correction of Military Records.
 

Page updated March 26, 2019