Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-480_b97c.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2022) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

tem  pension  payments  from  the  Office  of  Personnel  Man-
agement.  See  5  U. S. C.  §§2101,  8332(b)(6);  42  U. S. C.
§410(a)(6)(A)  (1970  ed.);  26  U. S. C.  §3121(b)(6)(A)  (1970 
ed.).1  Second, they participate as National Guard members
in  part-time  drills,  training,  and  (sometimes)  active-duty 
deployment.  See 32 U. S. C. §§502(a), 709(g)(2).  For this 
work, they receive military pay and pension payments from
a different arm of the Federal Government, the Defense Fi-
nance and Accounting Service.  See 37 U. S. C. §§204, 206; 
10 U. S. C. §113. 

B 
David Babcock worked as a dual-status technician from 
1975  to  2009.    In  his  technician  capacity,  he  worked  full 
time as a test pilot and pilot instructor supporting the Mich-
igan  Army  National  Guard.    Like  all  dual-status  techni-
cians, Babcock also served in the National Guard himself. 
In that capacity, he participated in part-time training and
weekend drills, and he deployed to Iraq on active duty for
about a year.  From 2009 to 2014, he worked for a private 
employer flying helicopters.

After retiring, Babcock applied to the Social Security Ad-
ministration for benefits.  The agency granted his applica-
tion  but  determined  that  his  civil-service  pension  pay-
ments,  which  he  received  for  his  work  as  a  civilian 
technician, triggered the windfall elimination provision.  So 
the agency applied the modified formula to reduce his So-
cial  Security  benefits  by  about  $100  per  month.    Babcock 
sought reconsideration, arguing that his pension payments
fell within the uniformed-services exception and so should
not  trigger  this  reduction  in  benefits.    The  agency  denied
reconsideration, and an Administrative Law Judge and the
agency’s Appeals Council upheld the decision. 

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1 Technicians hired since 1984, like other federal civil servants hired 
after that point, do not receive a Civil Service Retirement System pen-
sion.  See 42 U. S. C. §410(a)(5)(B)(i).