Claim Raven explanation
What this means
VA compensation cannot be paid for the same covered periods as active service pay. This rule addresses stopping and resuming benefits when a veteran returns to qualifying duty, including particular training situations.
Returning to duty does not necessarily erase the underlying service-connected status. Payment handling and the evidence needed to resume benefits depend on the kind of duty and the timing of the request after release.
How this helps your claim
Keep orders and release documents so VA can use the correct dates. When duty ends, review the resumption requirements promptly instead of assuming payments will restart automatically.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Confirm the type of duty and exact paid service dates.
- Compare military pay records with VA compensation paid for the same period.
- Keep the request to resume benefits and evidence of release from duty.
Keep duty pay periods clearly identified
A return to military duty raises a payment-coordination question. List the actual duty periods and retain the pay documentation rather than using a broad annual service total. The type of duty and timing of release can affect how benefits are stopped or resumed.
When reviewing resumption, keep the release document and the request to restart benefits with the earlier award. This helps distinguish the continuing service-connected status from the period during which overlapping pay affected compensation. A payment interruption should not be assumed to erase the original award finding.
Does returning to duty automatically cancel service connection?
No. This provision concerns payment during specified service-pay periods and resumption afterward. The underlying disability status is a separate matter. Read any decision about reevaluation on its own terms rather than assuming that a pay adjustment alone changed the legal connection to service.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.654
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.654 Active service pay.
(a) General. Pension, compensation, or retirement pay will be discontinued under the circumstances stated in § 3.700(a)(1) for any period for which the veteran received active service pay. For the purposes of this section, active service pay means pay received for active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty training.
(b) Active duty or active duty for training.
(1) Where the veteran receives active service pay as a result of returning to active duty status or active duty for training as described in § 3.6(c), with the exception of annual active duty for training typically performed 15 days each year by reservists and members of the National Guard and Active Duty for Special Work to receive training (see paragraph (c) of this section), the award will be discontinued effective the day preceding reentrance into active duty or active duty for training status. If the exact date is not known, payments will be discontinued effective date of last payment, and the effective date of discontinuance will be adjusted to the day preceding reentrance when the date of reentrance has been ascertained from the service department.
(2) Payments, if otherwise in order, will be resumed effective the day following release from active duty or active duty for training if notice from the Department of Defense of such release or a claim for recommencement of payments is received within one year from the date of such release; otherwise, payments will be resumed effective one year prior to the date of receipt of a new claim. Prior determinations of service connection will not be disturbed except as provided in § 3.105. Compensation will be resumed based on the combined evaluation in effect at the time payments were discontinued. If a reduction in evaluation that lowers the combined evaluation is considered warranted, the provisions of § 3.105(e) will apply. If a disability is incurred or aggravated, or a service-connected disability worsens in the most recent period of service, compensation for that disability or increase in disability cannot be paid unless a claim therefor is filed.
(c) Training duty. Prospective adjustment of awards may be made where the veteran waives his or her Department of Veterans Affairs benefit covering anticipated receipt of active service pay because of expected periods of active duty for training (annual active duty for training typically performed 15 days each year by reservists and members of the National Guard or Active Duty for Special Work to receive training) or inactive duty training. Where readjustment is in order because service pay was not received for expected training duty, retroactive payments may be authorized if a claim for readjustment is received within one year after the end of the fiscal year for which payments were waived.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a) and 5304(c))
[27 FR 11890, Dec. 1, 1962, as amended at 88 FR 86062, Dec. 12, 2023]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 3.700: Military Pay, Separation Pay and VA Offsets
- 38 CFR § 3.6: Active duty, Reserve training, and VA claims
- 38 CFR § 3.105: VA decision revision, CUE, and rating reductions
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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