Periods of War

The following list identifies the periods of wartime designated by Congress for pension purposes. To be considered by the VA to have served during wartime, a Veteran need not have served in a combat zone, but simply during one of these designated periods. All other times are considered peacetime. Even if a majority of a veteran’s service occurred during peacetime, the service member would still meet the wartime service requirement for eligibility for pension benefits if he or she served 90 consecutive days, at least 1-day of which occurred during a period designated as wartime.

Other service qualifying criteria:

• Service in the Merchant Marine during World War II counts the same as Naval Service, providing the Veteran was at sea for 90 days
• Women who served in the World War II military, including nurses, qualify as Veterans
• Reserves and National Guard are not qualified unless they served 90 days active Federal duty with 1 day during a period of conflict
• The 90 days rule is excepted for those who served less than 90 days but were awarded the Purple Heart, suffered a service connected disability, or were killed in the line of duty
• If the active duty occurred after September 7, 1980, you must have served at least 24 months or the full period that you were called up (with some exceptions). 

Timeliness of Content because of the complexity of applicable VA statutes, regulations, and internal claim development issues, it is impossible to keep this website fully updated at all times. Therefore, we cannot take responsibility for the current accuracy of the information presented here. For the most updated information click here.