Military Service Calculator
Calculate years of service, your active-duty retirement eligibility date, or your terminal leave start date. Built with input from a retired veteran on the team.
How this is calculated
Years of Service is a plain calendar difference between your entry date and today (or another date you choose), using the actual number of days in each month, not a flat 30-day assumption. Retirement Eligibility adds exactly 20 years to your entry date, the standard non-disability active-duty retirement mark under 10 U.S.C. Terminal Leave subtracts your accrued leave balance from your separation date; leave accrues at 2.5 days per month of active service (30 days a year) under 10 U.S.C. § 701, though this calculator uses the balance you enter rather than trying to reconstruct your full leave history. For the full explanation, including why Reserve and National Guard retirement works differently, see How Military Retirement and Terminal Leave Dates Work.
Frequently asked questions
How is active-duty retirement eligibility calculated?
Non-disability active-duty retirement requires 20 years of active service, counted from your date of initial entry. This is the same for all branches. Reserve and National Guard retirement works differently, it's based on qualifying years and retirement points, and pay generally doesn't start until age 60 (as low as 50 with qualifying active service since 2018), so this calculator's retirement mode is for active-duty service only.
How is terminal leave calculated?
Terminal leave is your accrued, unused leave used at the very end of your service. Its start date is simply your separation date minus your accrued leave balance. This calculator doesn't calculate your balance for you, since that depends on how much leave you've already taken across your career, enter the balance from your LES.
How much leave do service members accrue?
2.5 days per month of active service, or 30 days a year, under 10 U.S.C. § 701. There's a career-lifetime cap of 60 days that can be sold back for pay under 37 U.S.C. § 501(b)(1); this calculator doesn't compute dollar amounts, only dates.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service, Military Retirement: Background and Recent Developments
- Military OneSource, Military Retirement Calculators
- Army Benefits, Retired Pay for Soldiers
Built and maintained by Ready Utilities, founded by Cedrick Reese, a retired veteran and web developer. Every formula and convention on this site is checked against real, current sources before publishing. This calculator runs entirely in your browser, nothing you enter is sent anywhere. Spot something that looks wrong? Let us know.