RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-01168 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

He be allowed to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to his 
daughter. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

1. He retired during the eligibility period to transfer but 
because the program was so new, he was not given a GI Bill 
briefing during his out-processing to make the proper elections. 

 

2. He returned from a one year permanent change of station 
(PCS) move in the combat zone and had one week to out-process. 
He thought he was eligible until he attempted to do the 
paperwork necessary to get his daughter enrolled in a local 
college and found out he was not eligible to transfer. 

 

3. He contacted HQ AFPC and was told to request a correction to 
his military record in order to transfer his benefits. 

 

In support of his request, the applicant provides copies of his 
DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 
Duty; checklists, DD Form 2648, Pre-separation Counseling 
Checklist for Active Component Service Members; Request for 
Travel to Separation Processing Base, AF Form 899, Request and 
Authorization for Permanent Change of Station – Military; DD 
Form 1351-2, Travel or Subvoucher; Certification of Survivor 
Benefit Plan (SBP) Briefing, Financial Services Office (FSO) 
Separation Briefing, AF Form 594, Application and Authorization 
to Start, Stop or Change Basic Allowance for Quarters (BAQ) or 
Dependency Redetermination; DD Form 2656, Data for Payment of 
Retired Personnel; Special Orders, and PCS Arrival Worksheet. 

 

The applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit A. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

On 1 October 2009, the applicant retired in the grade of colonel 
after serving 26 years, 6 months and 22 days on active duty. 

 


Post-9/11 GI Bill: Any member of the Armed Forces (active duty 
or Selected Reserve (SelRes), officer or enlisted) on or after 
1 Aug 09, who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and: 

 

• Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces on the 
date of election and agrees to serve a specified additional 
• period in the Armed Forces from the date of election. 


 

• Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces 
(active duty and/or SelRes on the date of election, is 
precluded by either standard policy (service or DoD) or 
statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees 
to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such 
policy or statute, or 


 

• Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from 
1 Aug 09 through 1 Aug 13. A service member is considered 
to be retirement eligible if he or she has completed 20 
• years of active duty or 20 qualifying years of reserve 
service. 


 

• For those individuals eligible for retirement on 1 Aug 
09, no additional service is required. 


 

• For those individuals who have an approved retirement 
date after 1 Aug 09, and before 1 Jul 10, no additional 
service is required. 


 

• For those individuals eligible for retirement after 
1 Aug 09, and before 1 Aug 10, 1 year of additional 
service after approval of transfer is required. 


 

• For those individuals eligible for retirement on or 
after 1 Aug 10, and before 1 Aug 11, 2 years of 
additional service after approval of transfer are 
required. 


 

• For those individuals eligible for retirement on or 
after 1 Aug 11, and before 1 Aug 12, 3 years of 
additional service after approval of transfer are 
required. 


 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

HQ USAF/A1PA states if the Board finds there was an injustice to 
the extent that the applicant did not receive adequate pre-
separation counseling, as required by law and DoD regulation, 
and was not personally notified about the need to transfer 
benefits while serving in the Armed Forces, DoD has provided the 
Air Force with the technical/operational capability to execute 


the transfer without the need for the Board to return the member 
to active service. 

 

A1PA states the Air Force, in implementing its guidance, 
developed a communication plan that used the Air Force Personnel 
Center Commander and the Education and Training Section at each 
installation to serve as spokespersons to communicate the Post-
9/11 GI Bill transfer-to-dependent program using internal media, 
internal communication tools, and external trade publications. 
There were various news articles about the Post-9/11 GI Bill to 
be eligible to transfer benefits. Some articles mentioned that 
service members on active duty or in the SelRes could transfer 
benefits. Notably, since 1 August 2009, the Air Force approved 
over 41,000 transferability applications. 

 

A1PA states the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), the DoD 
and the Military Services widely publicized the Post-9/11 GI 
Bill and the transferability feature. DoD developed a special 
website, hosted by Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), to 
facilitate the transfer of educational benefits. The website 
system was operational on 27 June 2009 for the purpose of 
accepting transfer of benefits applications. The Directive Type 
Memo (DTM) and Air Force Instruction state the transfer must be 
made while the member is serving in the Armed Forces. Both 
documents were published on government-hosted websites prior to 
1 August 2009, the effective date of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. 

 

A1PA notes the Board could find that there was an injustice if 
the members were on active duty on 1 August 2009, were not 
personally counseled about the need to execute a transfer while 
serving in the Armed Forces, and did not have ready access to 
DOD and Air Force guidance because of their terminal leave 
status. The transfer date could be effective as early as 
1 August 2009 and there would be no need to place the service 
member on active duty since the Transfer of Educational Benefits 
(TEB) system allows for correction of the record by Air Force 
personnel. 

 

The complete A1PA evaluation is at Exhibit B. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the 
applicant on 13 May 2011 for review and comment within 30 days 
(Exhibit C). As of this date, this office has not received a 
response. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

 

 

 


THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by 
existing law or regulations. 

 

2. The application was timely filed. 

 

3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of error or injustice. While we note 
the steps the Air Force office of primary responsibility 
indicates were taken to inform eligible personnel of this new 
benefit, it appears that through no fault of the applicant he 
was not timely made aware of his eligibility and the steps 
necessary to transfer his benefits to his dependents. In 
addition we find no basis to question the applicant's account in 
this matter and do not find it reasonable that he would have 
knowingly elected not to pursue use of this important 
entitlement. Therefore, we elect to resolve any doubt in this 
matter in behalf of the applicant and recommend the records be 
corrected as indicated below. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 

 

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air 
Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that he elected 
to transfer his Post 9/11 GI Bill Educational Benefits to his 
dependent, effective 30 September 2009. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR BC-2011-
01168 in Executive Session on 29 July 2011, under the provisions 
of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 Panel Chair 

 Member 

 Member 

 

All members voted to correct the record, as recommended. The 
following documentary evidence was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 25 March 2011, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. HQ USAF/A1PA, Letter, dated 4 May 2011. 

 Exhibit C. SAF/MRBR, Letter, dated 13 May 2011. 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair