MLR-12 · MILITARY LIFE RECORD
Retirement
MLR-12: Active or reserve retirement, retirement eligibility, grade, retired pay, concurrent receipt, survivor elections, healthcare, TSP, and final move.
Controlling research question
What retirement type, grade, effective date, pay computation, and elections govern the retired member and survivors?
Core records to preserve
Retirement orders; points statements; pay computations; SBP elections; VA ratings; CRDP/CRSC decisions; healthcare enrollment; TSP records.
Chronology and evidence testing
- Record the event date separately from the date a document was created.
- Identify the person, component, unit, duty status, location, and issuing office where they matter.
- Separate a record’s express statement from inference, family recollection, or a later summary.
- Preserve conflicts rather than silently harmonizing them; record negative searches by repository, query, dates, and coverage.
Key evidence pathways
- Separation & DD-214 Records
- Pay & Finance Records
- Family & Beneficiary Records
- Claims, Decisions & Appeals
Related navigation guides
- Retirement Application Timeline
- Retired Pay Crdp Crsc
- Survivor Benefit Plan Election
- Tsp Financial Transition
Authority and effective-date discipline
This Life Record chapter organizes chronology and evidence. It does not by itself state current eligibility, entitlement, deadline, or legal effect. For a rule-dependent question, identify the governing statute, regulation, departmental instruction, program guidance, or decision effective on the relevant date and use the linked Navigation Guide for the current pathway.
Preservation standard
Keep the best available source copy unchanged. Store edited, OCR, transcription, annotation, or working versions separately. Record creator, date/covered period, repository, exact locator, provenance, proposition supported, express limitations, and derivative lineage.
