I knew more than one officer who walked before 20, did a few years in Federal employment, and then retired with their top year salary calculating their pension.
“I just saw an 18 year officer walk this year.”
What didn’t you see?
I’m not saying the 18-year officer did this but a lot of those folks that get out and with less than 20 go to the Civil Service immediately, get a job pay a little bit into their civilian retirement and work till they’re 72 and they’ll probably start them out as a GS-9 or 10.
Their time in service is calculated into the total retirement package computation from the government.