For Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve Gray Area Retirees, there is a new avenue to stay connected and informed between the time they stop drilling and the time they start receiving retired pay.

According to Mark Overberg, director of Army retirement services, “It’s a new kind of myPay account especially for Gray Area Retirees.”

“About three years ago now, my Army Reserve Liaison Officer brought me a problem she’d discovered. It was something I had thought about, but she had the data,” posted Overberg.

“To make a long story short, many Reserve Component service members (and I mean many thousands in just the Army) were reaching the age they were eligible to start receiving retired pay, but they weren’t applying for it.,” he added. “Some, unfortunately, were already deceased.”

According to a Defense Finance Accounting Service news release, this basic “Future Retiree” myPay account provides Gray Area Retirees a convenient way to keep their contact information updated with DFAS during the gray area period, so that they can receive important news from DFAS and from their Branch of Service.

With their current contact information, DFAS and their Branch of Service can keep them informed about changes in the laws or policies that may affect them, send them their Services’ Retiree Newsletter and the DFAS Retiree Newsletter, and remind them when the window to apply for retired pay is approaching.

In addition, with current contact information in the new myPay account, when DFAS receives a completed Gray Area Retiree application for retired pay from the Branch of Service, DFAS will send email status notifications to the retiree: when DFAS receives the application, when DFAS begins working on the application, and when DFAS completes it. Note: Gray Area Retirees should always work with their Branch of Service to complete their retired pay application. Please see specific information from your Service for the procedure and contacts.