• Frequently Asked Questions

  FAQs for Commissioned Corps Instruction (CCI) 384.01 “Creditable Service for Retirement”
  
  

  What is new in this version of the policy?

  Older (18 December 1980) Version	New (12 January 2021) Version
  Defines the types of retirement.	Removes definitions of types of retirements but adds glossary at end.
  No mention of warrant officers or the Silvio O. Conte Senior Biomedical Research Service (SBRS).	Clarifies service as a warrant officer and service in the SBRS as creditable service for retirement
  States that creditable service includes any PHS employment, subsequent to receipt of a baccalaureate degree, in professional positions.	Clarifies the types of Civil Service appointments that are creditable service for retirement eligibility determination.
  Does not require civil servants to have met the USPHS Commissioned Corps’ appointment standards.	Clarifies that for Civil Service employment with the Public Health Service to be creditable for USPHS Commissioned Corps retirement eligibility, the employment must have occurred during a period when the officer met the USPHS Commissioned Corps’ appointment standards (e.g., citizenship, license, receipt of the qualifying degree).
  Only excludes (from disability retirements only) civil service employment for officers on active duty in the reserve corps on June 30, 1960.	Specifies that the USPHS Commissioned Corps will not grant credit to a member of the Ready Reserve Corps for the purpose of determining retirement eligibility for any period of a Civil Service appointment that coincides with the member’s appointment in the Ready Reserve Corps.
  Does not set a deadline for PHS applicants or officers to document any Civil Service employment.	Specifies the timeframe in which applicants to the USPHS Commissioned Corps and officers on active duty must submit documentation of Civil Service employment.
  No mention of Absence without Leave (AWOL).	Clarifies that periods of AWOL are not creditable towards service for an officer’s retirement eligibility.
  No mention of retirement for Reserve officers.	Adds types of service that are creditable towards a Ready Reserve Corps officer’s eligibility for a non-regular retirement.

  What counts as creditable service for eligibility for a retirement from the Regular Corps?

  The U. S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps will grant credit for all active duty service (enlisted, warrant, or commissioned) that is creditable for retirement purposes in any of the Uniformed Services under the laws governing the regular retirement of active duty members of any of the Uniformed Services. This includes all full-time active duty service performed while in a reserve component. The USPHS Commissioned Corps will grant credit for any training after graduation from medical school that is performed while in on active duty status, including residency and internship training. Once the USPHS Commissioned Corps has awarded credit toward retirement, it cannot rescind this credit unless an error was made.

  What does NOT count as creditable service for eligibility for a retirement from the Regular Corps?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps will not grant credit:

  • For Inactive Duty Training (IDT) and membership points while in a reserve component;
  • To a medical officer for the period of time the officer spent on active duty as a medical student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) medical school (See 10 U.S.C. § 2126)
  • For periods when the officer is Absent Without Leave (AWOL) nor for periods when the Public Health Service officer was unable to fulfill that officer’s duties due to drugs, alcohol, or disease or injury due to misconduct.

  What service is creditable towards a Ready Reserve Corps officer’s eligibility for a non regular retirement?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps bases creditable service for purposes of determining eligibility for retirement for a member of the Ready Reserve Corps of the USPHS Commissioned Corps on whether the officer has a qualifying year of active service. A qualifying year is one in which a Reserve Corps officer earns at least 50 points toward retirement. The USPHS Commissioned Corps will grant an officer this credit according to the following rules:

  • One point for each day of satisfactory attendance at a drill or period of equivalent instruction that is prescribed by the Surgeon General or designee.
  • Points at the rate of 15 a year for membership and active service in the Corps’ Selected Ready Reserve (SELRES).
  • One point for each day of active duty service in any of the Uniformed Services.
  • All points that another Uniformed Service has credited to the officer in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 12732(a)(2)(B), (C), or (D).
  • One point for each day of full-time service that a federally recognized National Guard has credited the officer in accordance with 32 U.S.C. §§ 502, 503, 504, and 505 while performing annual training duty or while attending a prescribed course of instruction at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.
  • All points that another Uniformed Service or federally recognized National Guard has credited the officer for performing funeral honors duty in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 12503 or 32 U.S.C. § 115.
  • Not more than 50 points for each year, not to exceed 4 years, credited to the individual as a member of an armed forces health professions scholarship and financial assistance program when the Secretary concerned authorizes such service in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2126(b).

  What does NOT count as creditable service for eligibility for a retirement from the Ready Reserve Corps (i.e., non-regular retirement)?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps will not use any service in Public Health Service in the civil service towards a Ready Reserve Corps officer’s eligibility for retirement.

  What types of Civil Service appointments held by an officer before joining the USPHS Commissioned Corps will the USPHS Commissioned Corps count as creditable towards retirement from the Regular Corps?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps may grant credit for Civil Service employment with the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, other than as a USPHS Commissioned Corps officer, that is comparable to active duty service performed by an officer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps as determined by the Director, Commissioned Corps Headquarters (CCHQ). Creditable service can include up to the last five years of employment as a member of the Silvio O. Conte Senior Biomedical Research Service (SBRS) and up to the last five years of employment in the Civil Service in professional positions (i.e., positions normally classified at two-grade intervals under the General Schedule (GS) pay system) at grade levels GS-9 and above including Senior Executive Service level positions. This service must be in the competitive service (i.e., Career Conditional or Career appointments).

  Under what circumstances will the USPHS Commissioned Corps not consider requests or award credit for prior Civil Service as creditable towards a USPHS Commissioned Corps’ retirement?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps will not use civil service employment:

  • That occurred during a period when the officer did not meet the USPHS Commissioned Corps’ appointment standards (e.g., citizenship, license, receipt of the qualifying degree, etc.).
  • That is in a Health and Human Services (HHS) component that is not designated as a PHS component in statute or not designated by the Secretary as a part of a PHS agency.
  • In a designated HHS component that does not coincide with the time period that HHS designated the component as part of a PHS agency.
  • That is made through an appointment without regard to the laws and regulations governing the Civil Service.
  • That is not in the competitive service (i.e., Career Conditional or Career appointments).
  • That is not full-time employment.
  • That did not utilize the officer’s qualifying degree (CCHQ will allow credit for an individual who converts from a civil service position to the Corps in same position).
  • That would not have been filled by an officer of the same or similar profession if the position were occupied by a Public Health Service commissioned officer.
  • That is in a non-HHS organization.
  • That coincides with the officer’s appointment in the USPHS Commissioned Corps’ Ready Reserve Corps.
  • That is submitted with appropriate documentation to CCHQ after 12 January 2022, for officers appointed on or before 12 January 2021, or one year from their appointment date for officers appointed after 12 January 2021.

  When must applicants to the USPHS Commissioned Corps and officers on active duty submit documentation of Civil Service employment with PHS agencies in order for the USPHS Commissioned Corps to credit that service towards their retirement?

  The USPHS Commissioned Corps requires applicants to the Regular Corps to submit suitable documentation of Civil Service employment with PHS agencies during the appointment process or within one year of their initial appointment, otherwise the USPHS Commissioned Corps will not consider such requests or award credit for prior Civil Service. If an officer has not previously submitted suitable documentation, they have until 12 January 2022 to submit the documents (or one year from their initial appointment if appointed after 12 January 2021). The USPHS Commissioned Corps requires applicants to the Ready Reserve Corps to submit all documentation of prior Uniformed Service, including active duty service as well as any active and inactive service in a reserve component or a federally recognized National Guard. The USPHS Commissioned Corps considers an officer’s failure to submit such documentation as misconduct and the Director, CCHQ, may take further actions against such officers. The USPHS Commissioned Corps requires applicants to the Regular Corps and Regular Corps officers who were on active duty on 12 January 2021 to submit all documentation for prior Uniformed Service by 12 January 2022. This requirement includes active duty service as well as active and inactive service (e.g., IDT and membership points) in a reserve component or a federally recognized National Guard. An officer’s failure to timely submit all documentation may subject the officer to disciplinary action.

  What factors does the USPHS Commissioned Corps consider when determining whether PHS civil service employment is acceptable?

  The PHS civil service employment must:

  • Be a full-time position;
  • Be filled by an officer of same or similar profession if the position were occupied by a Public Health Service commissioned officer;
  • Utilize the individual’s qualifying degree (an individual who converts from a civil service position to the Corps in same position meets this criterion); and
  • Meet any additional criteria established by the SG in a Personnel Operations Memorandum (POM).

  What documents will the USPHS Commissioned Corps accept as documentation of PHS civil service employment?

  Such appointments are normally documented on a Standard Form 50 (SF-50), “Notification of Personnel Action.” You must submit to Recruitment and Assignments Branch (RAB), CCHQ, at PHSCCAssignments@hhs.gov the following:

  • A written request that states that you are requesting that CCHQ use your PHS civil service employment towards your creditable service for retirement;
  • Your name and PHS#;
  • The SF-50 that appointed you to the civil service;
  • Any SF-50s that assigned you to a different position(s); and
  • The SF-50 that removed you from the civil service.

  I don’t have copies of my SF-50s from my PHS Civil Service employment – what do I do?

  You should:

  • Contact the Human Resources (HR) office for the PHS component where you served because they will often have copies of your Official Personnel Folder (OPF) and will be able to provide the copies you need.
  • If the HR office has already sent your OPF to the National Archives & Records Administration, you will need to submit a written request to them. (https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel)
  • If copies of your SF-50s are not available from either the HR office or the National Archives, please contact the RAB, CCHQ, at PHSCCAssignments@hhs.gov for guidance.

  I have requested copies of my SF-50s from the National Archives, but I will not receive them by 12 January 2022 – what do I do?

  Prior to 12 January 2022, you should submit a written request to RAB, CCHQ at PHSCCAssignments@hhs.gov. The request must include the following:

  • Your name and PHS#;
  • A statement that you are requesting that CCHQ use your PHS civil service employment towards your creditable service for retirement;
  • The agency/component in which you were employed in the civil service;
  • The date, or approximate date, of appointment to the civil service;
  • The title of the position that you held (if you held multiple positions, include the title of each position and the start and end dates, or approximation of the dates, that you held each position);
  • The date, or approximate date, of separation from the civil service;
  • A copy of the request that you made to the HR office for the PHS component where you served;
  • A copy of the response from the HR office;
  • A copy of the request that you submitted to the National Archives; and
  • The date on which you anticipate receiving the copy of your SF-50s.

  CCHQ will use this request as the date that you requested that the USPHS Commissioned Corps use your PHS civil service employment towards your creditable service for retirement and CCHQ will accept the SF-50s once you receive them from the National Archives even if you receive them after 12 January 2022. However, CCHQ will not accept periods of employment that were not included in the officer’s request nor award credit for such periods.
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