Time running out for BRS opt-in eligible service members

  • Published
  • By Michael Brown
  • Sheppard Airman & Family Readiness Center

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – Please check your LES to ensure that your Retirement Choice is accurately reflected there. If you were Opt-In Eligible and opted into the Blended Retirement System this year, that should be reflected in two places on your Leave and Earnings Statement.

Firstly, in the box titled “RETPLAN” located in the far right column below “SUMMARY” will read “BLENDE” as opposed to “HIGH 3.”

Secondly, you should be receiving the match currently as the two-year waiting period that applies to New Accessions, or service members who joined after Jan. 1, 2018, has been waived for Opt-In Eligible personnel. Check the box on the far lower right titled “YTD TSP AGCY-MATCH” before the “REMARKS” section. If you have opted in at least two months prior, there should be a positive number in this box, i.e. not $.00.

If you attended the Air Force Academy or were in ROTC prior to Dec. 31, 2017, or signed up for the Delayed Entry Program prior to that date, you are Opt-In Eligible, that is to say you have a choice between the previous retirement (HIGH 3) and the new retirement (BRS). If you are in this category, you are automatically in the HIGH 3 and that is what should be listed on your LES, unless you selected the BRS through MY PAY.

If the RETPLAN box reads BLENDE and you did not actively select the BRS, look at the adjacent box to the left titled DIEMS (Date of Initial Entry into Military Service). If the date listed there is incorrect, call MYPERS at 210-565-0102 to correct that date to ensure that you have the choice between the two retirement plans.

For additional information on the different military retirement plans, please contact the Airman & Family Readiness Center at 940-676-4358.