"Wartime Service" Definition

A State employee in Florida asked whether military service at the time of the 1958 Lebanon crisis may be classified as "wartime service." Under Florida law, a State employee may receive retirement credit for periods of wartime service as defined by the Veterans Administration. The employee, a former Marine, stated that United States Marines were dispatched in 1958 to Lebanon to restore order, and that casualties were sustained there. A search by GAO disclosed that the 1958 Lebanon crisis is not defined as a period of war under statute or the implementing Veterans Administration regulations. Since the status of members of the expeditionary force dispatched to Lebanon in 1958 is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration, it was suggested that the Florida employee contact the Administrator of Veterans Affairs.