Claim for Disability Retirement Pay

A request was made for a decision concerning the method to be used in computing the disability retired pay of an Army member for periods following his separation from active military service. The member was retired from the regular Army on grounds of permanent physical disability and was given a disability rating of 30 percent. At the time the member was permanently retired, he became entitled to disability retired pay computed under an applicable U.S. Code which provides for retired pay computed as an amount equal to a service member's monthly basic pay multiplied by either 2.5 percent of his years of credible service, or his percentage of disability. Subsequently, the member was appointed as a commissioned officer in the Army reserve. During his period of active duty, he incurred no additional physical disabilities, nor were his existing injuries aggravated. After serving 1 year, the member was released from active duty accompanied by orders indicating that he was being retired on grounds of permanent physical disability. When the member was released from active duty, he was ineligible to establish a new disability retirement for a higher grade. His original retirement orders were still in effect and, since he had not served on active duty long enough to establish eligibility for retirement based on longevity of service, he simply reverted to his original retirement orders when he was released from active duty. Alternatively, if it were to his advantage, he was entitled to disability retired pay recomputed under the appropriate statutory formula which provides certain prescribed methods for computation of retired pay to reflect active duty performed subsequent to retirement. Under this recomputation, the member was limited to the basic pay rate multiplied by the applicable percent of his years of creditable service, and he could use his 30 percent disability rating as the percentage multiplier.