[Query Concerning Applicability of Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to Retired Reserve Force Member]

A finance officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked whether one of its employees, who was a retired officer of the Army Reserve, was subject to the salary deduction applicable to Federal civilian employees who receive retirement pay from a uniformed service. The employee contended that deductions which FCC had made from his pay were improper and not applicable to him because they applied only to retired members of regular components of the Armed Forces and not to retired members of Reserve components. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 requires Federal agencies to make deductions from civilian pay equal to any increase in an individual's military retirement pay. Only individuals whose retired pay is based on a disability resulting from an injury received in the line of duty are exempt from this provision. Since the employee's retired pay was not based on disability and a member of the Army Reserve is a member of a uniformed service, GAO found that the employee was subject to the reduction in pay required by the act. Accordingly, FCC properly deducted the amount of the increase in the employee's military retired pay from his civilian salary, and he was not entitled to a refund of those deductions.