Previous service

A question about : Previous service

3 years reckonable service with Army, break of 3 years and then joined RAF with 18yrs RAF service completed so far.

I signed for 22yrs, but my actual contract is for 19yrs as the RAF have counted my previous army service - so in their eye i will have completed 22yrs (make sense?!)

However, i have 2 colleagues who have previous service, but they will complete the full 22yrs and the previous service only counts for pension, NOT for actual length of service.

I have approached my HR and JPAC, but i am being given conflicting advice on this matter.

Any thoughts on what is right/wrong or best people to speak to?!

Ta!

Best answers:

• Guess no-one knows the answer here too!
• Maybe if you said which pension scheme you are on? It's difficult to advise without more information.
• AFPS75, moving onto AFPS15 in Apr.
  However, this is a terms of contract question, not pension.
• Basically, you are very lucky that you rejoined when AFPS 75 was still available. Because both your periods of sevice fall under the same pension scheme your years can be aggregated.
  Anyone with service under AFPS 75 who rejoined after AFPS 05 couldn't do this. Their earlier years did not count towards IDP or EDP.
  The policy was reviewed and changed in December 2013 so as not to disadvantage some people regarding their pensions.
  I suspect your two colleagues are eligible for this:
  Quote:
• Hey Apollina,
  I appreciate your input and the links, but this isn't about pensions. My query is about terms of service.
  Basically, when joining RAF should i have been given 22yrs service or 19yrs as i already had 3 years army behind me?
• TOS and pensions are inextricably linked and especially for re-enlisters one very much influences the other.
  If you look at the armed forces pension & benefits calculator that is made clear in the first sentence.
  Quote:
• OK,
  Army join date: 1990
  Left 1994 with 3 years pensionable service.
  RAF Join date: 1997, still serving to 2016 (only 19 RAF service but 22 military service if combined with army.).
  Soon to be offered 30yr contract, but should it 27yrs total RAF or 30yrs. Because it appears people with the same circumstances are getting different contracts (all on AFPS75).
• Hee hee, is your day job a politican? YOu have given a load of information (thank you!) but this isn't what i am asking.
  My contract of service was signed in 1997 - way before AFPS15 - and the contract was for 19 years not 22 years. Whereas my colleagues at the same time signed for 22yrs even though they had the same previous service.
  My question is, why did they get 22 and i get 19?
• I appreciate everybody's situation is different, but from what i know some were offered a full 22yrs while i was only offered 19yrs.
  When AFPS15 comes in i will still have the same exit date - nothing to do with the new pension scheme. I will still be out in 2024 or 2027 depending on whether they have me work for 27yrs or 30yrs.
  I appreciate AFPS15 is important but it isn't relevant here - actually it's not relevant at all as my signing on date is next month, before the change, so i need to know where i stand before the new one comes in.
• Oh dear - the new pension scheme is not changing my ToS, my promotion is.
  Forget AFPS15, if that didn't come in, i will still be signing to LOS30, but will i actually serve 27 years or 30 years due to my past military service.
  I am not trying to decide what is best for me, i am trying to find out why i was only offered 19yrs service and not 22yrs service like my 2 colleagues were. All this happened back in 1997, long before pensions were changed.
  That is the question.
  I do appreciate the new pension is a game changer, but even when the new changes come in i will still be serving for either 27 or 30 irrespective of what pension scheme i am on.