scope:

Purpose:

Title 10 United States Code (USC), § 12686(a) and 12646(e) establish an active duty (AD) retirement sanctuary for members of all Air Reserve Components (ARCs). ―Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned, which shall be as uniform as practicable, a member of a Reserve component who is on AD (other than for training), and is within two years of becoming eligible for retired pay or retainer pay under a purely military retirement system…may not be involuntarily released from that duty before he becomes eligible for that pay, unless release is approved by the Secretary‖ (Title 10 USC § 12686(a)). In general, AD sanctuary means any Air National Guard (ANG)/United States Air Force Reserve (USAFR) officer/enlisted member who attains 18 (but less than 20) years of AD must be retained on AD unless he/she: voluntarily separates; is medically disqualified for continued service; or is separated or discharged for cause. Additionally, all AD served ―counts‖ for the computation of the 18 years of Total Active Federal Military Service (TAFMS) required toward reaching the sanctuary zone. Note: Reserve sanctuary statutes are addressed separately in Chapter 5 of this document.