§3296. Military service credit

Time served in the services of the armed forces of the United States of America shall constitute service in the fire department as used in this Part subject to the following conditions:

(1) A member shall be eligible for credit for military service even though he served with the armed forces of the United States before becoming a fireman with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(2)(a) A member employed prior to August 1, 1975, and who has served three years active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending an application to the board of directors upon completion of seventeen years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty years with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(b) A member employed on or after August 1, 1975, who has served three years of active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending a written application to the board of directors upon completion of twenty-two years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty-five years with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(3)(a) A member employed prior to August 1, 1975, and who has served two years of active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending a written application to the board of directors at the completion of eighteen years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty years with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(b) A member employed on or after August 1, 1975, and who has served two years of active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending a written application to the board of directors at the completion of twenty-three years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty-five years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(4)(a) A member employed prior to August 1, 1975, and who has served one year of active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending a written application to the board of directors at the completion of nineteen years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty years with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(b) A member employed on or after August 1, 1975, and who has served one year of active duty with the armed forces of the United States may apply for retirement by sending a written application to the board of directors at the completion of twenty-four years of service with the Lafayette Fire Department and shall receive the same benefits as though he had served twenty-five years with the Lafayette Fire Department.

(5) A member with less than one year of active duty with the armed forces of the United States, regardless of employment date, shall not be allowed to use this military service towards computing retirement credit.

(6) Parts of a year, months, and days from both the armed forces of the United States and the Lafayette Fire Department are to be included to determine the amount of time a member has accrued toward retirement, for the purpose of receiving retirement benefits. No credit shall be allowed for months and days which do not add up to a complete year.

(7) The maximum benefits allowable from military service time to firemen who have served on active duty with the armed forces of the United States shall be three years. Any military service time in excess of three years shall not be used for the purpose of computing benefits to be received from this Fund.

(8) A member with twenty years or more of service with the Lafayette Fire Department shall not be allowed to use time served with the armed forces of the United States to compute retirement benefits. However, this shall not apply to members who were employed by the Lafayette Fire Department prior to January 1, 1955.

(9) If a member is drafted or called into service duty with the armed forces of the United States, he shall not lose any of his benefits of this plan for a maximum of four years, or indefinitely if a United States national crisis occurs, to be determined by the members of the board of directors of this fund.

(10) Once hired by the Lafayette Fire Department, if a member leaves under voluntary enlistment, then it must be shown to the satisfaction of the board of directors that such voluntary service was undertaken due to the fact that the member was to be involuntarily taken into service through compulsory military training or through a federal selective service act.

(11) Upon being discharged from military service, the member must within sixty days from the date of his discharge reapply for employment as a member of the fire department. He must have received an honorable discharge from the branch of service in which he was a member.

Acts 1976, No. 615, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 33:2143 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991.