Are Reserve and National Guard Veterans Eligible for VA Burial Benefits?

The short answer

Yes — but only if the Reserve or National Guard member completed federal active duty. Time spent on inactive-duty training (drill weekends, two-week annual training) does not count toward the 24-month service requirement. A Reservist who served on active duty for at least 24 continuous months — for example, an Iraq War deployment under Title 10 orders — qualifies for the full federal benefits. A Reservist who only drilled does not.

The federal authority is 38 CFR 3.1702, which defines "active military service" for burial-benefit purposes. The regulation requires "continuous active duty for a period of 24 months or longer" (or discharge for service-connected disability, or death while on active duty).

Specific scenarios

Reservist deployed for OEF/OIF. Title 10 active-duty orders for 12+ months at a stretch generally trigger eligibility. A 14-month Iraq deployment plus a 6-month CONUS train-up period typically meets the 24-month threshold.

National Guard member federalized under Title 10. Title 10 federal activation (e.g., Hurricane Katrina response, COVID-19 federal mission, Operation Inherent Resolve) counts toward the 24-month requirement. Title 32 state activation does NOT count.

Reservist who served before September 8, 1980. The 24-month requirement applies only to those who entered service on or after September 8, 1980. Earlier service requires only 90 days of continuous active duty plus discharge under honorable conditions.

Reservist who died on a drill weekend. Counted as "active duty for training" and triggers full burial benefit eligibility regardless of total prior active-duty time. The Reservist's family receives the full allowance and burial entitlement.

Active-Guard-Reserve (AGR) member. AGR members serve full-time on active duty Title 10 orders despite belonging to a Reserve or Guard component. Their service counts in full toward the 24-month requirement.

Retired Reservist eligibility

A Reservist who reached 20 years of qualifying service (Reserve retirement under Title 10 §12731) and is drawing Reserve retired pay qualifies for full federal burial benefits at age 60 (or earlier in the case of disability retirement). The 24-month active-duty requirement is waived for retired Reservists.

Retired Reservists are entitled to burial at any VA national cemetery, the burial allowance, the plot allowance (if buried in a private cemetery), military funeral honors, and a government headstone.

State veteran cemetery alternatives

Many state veteran cemeteries operate under looser eligibility rules than the federal standard. Most accept any Reserve or National Guard member with an honorable discharge — regardless of active-duty time — provided the member meets state residency requirements.

Examples: Texas State Veterans Cemetery System, Florida National Cemeteries, California Veterans Memorial Cemetery — all accept honorable-discharge Guard/Reserve members without active-duty time gates.

Families of Reservists who don't meet federal eligibility should always check the state cemetery option before assuming no benefit applies.

If the claim is denied

Burial-benefit denials are unusual but not unheard of. The most common reasons are character-of-discharge disputes (the VA records show a discharge type the family disputes), missing service records (the National Personnel Records Center could not produce the DD-214), or eligibility timing (the veteran fell short of the 24-month service requirement).

If the claim is denied, the family has one year from the date of the denial letter to file a Notice of Disagreement. The form is VA Form 21-0958. The appeal goes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, which reviews the case de novo.

Engaging a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) for the appeal is strongly recommended — they file at no charge, know the case-law landscape, and can spot documentation gaps the family may have missed. About 35% of contested burial-benefit appeals result in reversal at the Board level.

Where to get help

VA Burial Benefits help line: 1-800-827-1000 — 8am–9pm Eastern, weekdays. Operators can pre-screen eligibility and answer specific questions.

National Cemetery Scheduling Office: 1-800-535-1117 — 24/7, for active funeral arrangements only. Not for general questions.

DoD Honors Coordination: 1-877-MIL-HONR (1-877-645-4667) — for honors requests inside 72 hours of service time.

Veterans Service Officers (VSO) at VFW, American Legion, AMVETS, DAV, or county Veterans Affairs offices — file claims and appeals at no charge.

VA.gov — official documentation, downloadable forms, claim status tracking.