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Retirement Service Credit for Military Service — State, Municipal and Teachers

Connecticut lets wartime veterans in the State Employees and Teachers Retirement Systems PURCHASE military service credit, and gives AUTOMATIC credit to municipal employees who left for wartime service and returned within six months — a window extendable for a service-related disability. The Teachers Retirement System allows up to 30 months, including peacetime service.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

Connecticut lets wartime veterans in the State Employees and Teachers Retirement Systems PURCHASE military service credit, and gives AUTOMATIC credit to municipal employees who left for wartime service and returned within six months — a window extendable for a service-related disability. The Teachers Retirement System allows up to 30 months, including peacetime service.

What it's worth: Purchased or automatic military service credit, up to 30 months in the Teachers system

  • State Employees and Teachers Retirement System members PURCHASE the credit; wartime service is the qualifying basis.
  • Municipal employees who left for wartime service and returned within SIX MONTHS receive credit AUTOMATICALLY, without purchase. That is the most valuable limb and the least known.
  • The six-month return window is extendable for a service-related disability.
  • The Teachers Retirement System allows up to 30 months of credit, and includes PEACETIME service — which the other limbs do not.
  • Hazardous-duty members with contributions have their own route under CGS 5-173.
  • What it is worth depends on your pension formula and service, so no figure is published. For most members it is worth considerably more than it costs.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served in the U.S. armed forces.
  • You are in one of Connecticut's public retirement systems.
  • You are in Connecticut.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Identify which system you are in — State Employees, Teachers, or Municipal Employees. The rules differ sharply between them.
  2. 2If you are a municipal employee who left for wartime service and returned within six months, ask about AUTOMATIC credit. You should not be asked to buy it.
  3. 3In the Teachers system, ask about the 30-month allowance and mention peacetime service — it counts there and not elsewhere.
  4. 4If the six-month window was missed because of a service-related disability, say so. The window is extendable on that ground.
  5. 5Ask for a cost quotation early on the purchase routes. Interest and salary bases generally make buying sooner cheaper.
Form
Enquire with your retirement system
File with
The State Comptroller, Teachers Retirement Board, or Municipal Employees Retirement System
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Known gapVerified in a 2016 legislative research report; the current agency pages were not opened. Confirm the purchase cost and the Teachers 30-month allowance with your own system before relying on them.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.