RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2003-02384
INDEX CODE:137.00
(Deceased) COUNSEL: None
HEARING DESIRED: NO
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:
Her late-husband records be corrected to reflect he elected Survivor
Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage to allow her to receive an annuity.
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:
She feels she is entitled to receive military retirement for a
surviving spouse. Her husband served 20 years in the Air Force and
was wounded in World War II. She is suffering from his failure to
enroll her in SBP.
Applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is attached at
Exhibit A.
_________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
The applicant and the servicemember were married on 25 October 1948.
The applicant retired 1 January 1965. There is no evidence the
servicemember elected coverage under the Retired Serviceman’s Family
Protection Plan (RSFPP) or during any of the open enrollment periods
for SBP for which he was eligible. He served 20 years, 2 months and
29 days of active service. The servicemember died on 4 March 1998.
_________________________________________________________________
AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
AFPC/DPPTR states that survivors of military retirees may continue to
receive a portion of the servicemember’s retired pay if the
servicemember was a participant in one the annuity plans offered by
the Department of Defense. There is no legal authority for the Air
Force to pay the survivor an annuity if the servicemember did not
choose to provide coverage on the survivor’s behalf. AFPC/DPPTR also
states that there is no evidence in the servicemember’s records to
indicate that he elected to participate in the RSFPP or SBP during any
of the authorized enrollment periods. AFPC/DPPTR finds no evidence of
error or injustice and therefore, recommends the requested relief be
denied.
A complete copy of the Air Force evaluation is at Exhibit B.
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
A complete copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the
applicant on 15 August 2003, for review and response. As of this
date, no response has been received by this office.
_________________________________________________________________
THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:
1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing
law or regulations.
2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the
interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely filed.
3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate
the existence of error or injustice. We took notice of the
applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case;
however, we agree with the opinion and the recommendation of the Air
Force and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion that
the applicant has not been the victim of an error or injustice. SBP
is similar to commercial life insurance in that you must elect to
participate and pay the associated premiums in order to be covered by
the insurance. The servicemember had several opportunities to elect
SBP coverage and failed to do so. Therefore, in the absence of
evidence to the contrary, we find no compelling basis to recommend
granting the relief sought in this application.
_________________________________________________________________
THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:
The applicant be notified that the evidence presented did not
demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; that the
application was denied without a personal appearance; and that the
application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly
discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application.
_________________________________________________________________
The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-
2003-02384 in Executive Session on 30 September 2003, under the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:
Mr. David C. Van Gasbeck, Panel Chair
Mr. Roscoe Hinton, Jr., Member
Mr. Mike Novel, Member
The following documentary evidence was considered:
Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 14 Jul 03, w/atchs.
Exhibit B. Letter, HQ AFPC/DPPTR, dated 8 Aug 03.
Exhibit C. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 15 Aug 03.
DAVID C. VAN GASBECK
Panel Chair
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2003-02187
AFPC/DPPTR also states that there is no evidence in the servicemember’s records to indicate that he elected to participate in the RSFPP or SBP during any of the authorized enrollment periods. A complete copy of the Air Force evaluation is at Exhibit B. We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the opinion and the recommendation of the Air Force and adopt their rationale as the basis for our conclusion that the applicant...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2003-01398
_________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPPTR indicates that the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) was established by Public Law (PL) 92-425 on 21 September 1972, authorizing a one-year open enrollment period for servicemembers to elect coverage. However, if the Board recommends granting the request, the servicemember’s record should be corrected to show the servicemember elected SBP spouse only coverage based on full retired pay effective 21...
The RSFPP election form provided by the applicant reflects he elected spouse and child coverage with Option 4. However, if the Board recommends granting the request, the decedent’s record should be corrected to show RSFPP spouse and child coverage based on one-half of his retired pay was established effective 1 June 1970. We therefore agree with the recommendation of the Air Force and adopt the rationale expressed as the basis for our decision that her late husband’s intent not to extend...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2003-02682
During all open enrollment periods, members were advised by direct mail of their eligibility to make an election. It would be inequitable to those members who chose to participate when eligible and subsequently received reduced retired pay to permit this applicant an additional opportunity to provide SBP coverage. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered Docket Number BC-2003- 02682 in Executive Session on 7 October...
AF | BCMR | CY2002 | BC-2002-00038
Public Law (PL) 92-425, which established the SBP on 21 September 1972, authorized an 18-month enrollment period for retired members to elect SBP coverage. There were no provisions in the laws during either of these open enrollment periods requiring the Services to notify a spouse if the member did not enroll. We took notice of the applicant's complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force and adopt their...
Public Law (PL) 92-425, which established the SBP on 21 September 1972, authorized an 18-month enrollment period for retired members to elect SBP coverage. There were no provisions in the laws during either of these open enrollment periods requiring the Services to notify a spouse if the member did not enroll. We took notice of the applicant's complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force and adopt their...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2002-01999
The member could have elected former spouse SBP coverage on the applicant’s behalf when he applied for commencement of his retired pay, but failed to do so. A complete copy of the evaluation is at Exhibit C. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A complete copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to applicant on 9 August 2002 for review and response within 30 days. After a thorough review of the evidence of...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2003-02492
Law has established that SBP requires information be provided to servicemembers and spouses concerning the options and effects of SBP prior to the servicemember’s retirement. _________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPPTR states the applicant provided her written concurrence on the DD Form 2656 declining SBP coverage. We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case; however, we agree with the...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2002-01037
_________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPPTR states Public Law (PL) 99-145, established on 8 November 1985, required as of 1 March 1986 spousal concurrence of the SBP election, if the election was providing less than maximum spouse coverage. According to the Defense Finance and Service - Cleveland Center (DAFS- CL) the servicemember elected full spouse and child coverage under SBP, but later submitted a corrected election to decline SBP...
AF | BCMR | CY2003 | BC-2003-00076
_________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPPTR recommends the application be denied and states, in part, that the applicant was required by law to submit a written request in order to terminate RSFPP coverage. After a thorough review of the evidence of record and applicant’s submission, we are not persuaded that relief should be granted. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board...