For military personnel, CA law allows the normal 5-year residence requirement for the capital gain exclusion to be suspended for up to ten years. This applies when the duty station is at least 50 miles from the residence - or while the person is residing under orders in government housing - for a period of more than 90 days or for an indefinite period. See Exclusion of Gain on Sale of a Principal Residence on page 4 of this CA tax publication:
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2023/2023-1032-publication.pdf
Since you lived in the home as your primary residence from 2015 to 2021, which is well within the framework allowed, it appears that you do qualify for the exemption, assuming you also meet the "50-mile" or "government housing qualification". The fact that you rented out the house for a period of time does not disqualify you as long as you otherwise meet the adjusted-for-military "principal residence" requirement.
**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.
This answer has been verified for accuracy by an Intuit expert employee
