A state pension of $105 a month at 20 years of creditable service, rising $10.50 for each additional year to a $210 ceiling, from age 60, for a Guard member with 15 years in the North Carolina Guard. It is paid on top of federal reserve retired pay, but not to anyone drawing regular-component retired pay.
Also called: National Guard pension, 127A-40, $105, $210, 20 years, age 60, creditable service, state pension.
North Carolina pays its own pension to National Guard retirees, separate from and on top of the federal reserve retired pay they receive from the Department of Defense. General Statute 127A-40 sets it out.
The amount starts at $105 per month for 20 years of creditable military service and increases by $10.50 per month for each additional year of service above 20. The ceiling is $210 per month, which is reached at 30 years.
Four conditions have to be met together. The retiree has to be at least 60 years old. They need 20 or more years of creditable military service, Guard, reserve and active duty counted together, under the federal test for non-regular retired pay. At least 15 of those years have to have been served in the North Carolina National Guard. And the discharge from the North Carolina Guard has to be honorable.
Who is shut out. Subsection (c): "No individual receiving retired pay as a result of length of service, age or physical disability retirement from any of the regular components of the Armed Forces of the United States will be eligible." A Guard member who retired from active duty first is outside it. Payments stop at death, with no survivor benefit beyond the month of death, and if the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund falls short every pension is cut pro rata.
The 15-year North Carolina requirement is the binding one for most people. A Guard member who moved between states during a career, or who mixed active duty with Guard service, can reach 20 creditable years comfortably and still fall short of 15 years in the North Carolina Guard specifically.
Because it is keyed to service rather than to disability, there is no rating test anywhere in it.
The payment is modest in isolation but it is for life and it compounds with the federal reserve pension, so over a twenty-year retirement the difference between 20 and 30 years of service is substantial here as well as federally.
The Department of Public Safety certifies eligibility to the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System's Board of Trustees, and the Department of State Treasurer pays; a Guard retiree applies through the North Carolina National Guard.
Thresholds
Thresholds for North Carolina National Guard State Pension
Gate
Rule
20 years of creditable service, 15 in the North Carolina Guard, and age 60
G.S. 127A-40: age 60 or older, 20 or more years of creditable service under the non-regular retirement test, at least 15 years in the North Carolina National Guard, an honorable discharge from it, and no regular-component retired pay. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
Eligibility rule “20 years of creditable service, 15 in the North Carolina Guard, and age 60” now reads: “G.S. 127A-40: age 60 or older, 20 or more years of creditable service under the non-regular retirement test, at least 15 years in the North Carolina National Guard, an honorable discharge from it, and no regular-component retired pay. No disability rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.”
Summary reworded.
Citation updated to “North Carolina General Statute 127A-40, pensions for members of the North Carolina National Guard (read 2026-10-24)” (was “North Carolina General Statute 127A-40, National Guard pension fund”).
And 3 more changes.
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VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.