Colonel Eligible to Retire Next May

Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, point man in the Iran- contra affair, will be eligible to retire from the military with a pension next May, but he has not said what his plans are.

North is free to request retirement without a pension at any point. But if he left the military before completing 20 years of service he would forfeit his pension rights, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

The 43-year-old officer and his attorney, Brendan V. Sullivan Jr., have not disclosed any of North’s plans.

However, North has made it clear in testimony that he is aware of one important outside factor that could affect him: the possibility that the grand jury directed by independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh will file criminal charges against him.