AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

 
DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2011-05109 
COUNSEL:  NONE 
HEARING DESIRED:  NO 

IN THE MATTER OF: 
   
   
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 
 
He be allowed to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to his 
dependent. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 
 
He  started  terminal  leave  at  the  end  of  Jun  2009  and  did  not 
receive  information  about  the  DoD  Policy,  dated  22  Jun 
2009 providing guidance on transferability. 
 
Prior to his retirement ceremony on 25 Jun 2009 he was actively 
completing all necessary appointments for separation from active 
duty.  He started terminal leave and had no official access to 
information  concerning  the  Post  9/11  GI  Bill.    In  addition,  no 
one on the installation attempted to contact him concerning this 
very important information. 
 
He recently became aware that transferability of the GI Bill was 
only allowed while he was on active duty.  If he had known about 
the  transferability  rules  at  the  time  he  would  have  certainly 
applied. 
 
He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees while on active 
duty  and  had  every  intention  of  transferring  his  Post  9/11  GI 
Bill benefit to his daughter.  In light of the policy timing and 
his  retirement  time  frame  he  urges  the  Board  to  allow  him  to 
transfer this benefit to his dependent daughter. 
 
The applicant's complete submission is at Exhibit A. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
STATEMENT OF FACTS: 
 
The applicant began terminal leave on 25 Jun 2009 and retired in 
the grade of senior master sergeant effective 30 Sep 2009. 
 
Post 9/11 GI Bill:  Any member of the Armed Forces (active duty 
or  Selected  Reserve,  officer  or  enlisted)  on  or  after  1  Aug 
2009, who is eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and:  
 

 

  

  

  Has  at  least  six  years  of  service  in  the  Armed  Forces  on 
the  date  of  election  and  agrees  to  serve  four  additional 
years in the Armed Forces from the date of election.  

  Has  at  least  10  years  of  service  in  the  Armed  Forces 
(active  duty  and/or  selected  reserve)  on  the  date  of 
election,  is  precluded  by  either  standard  policy  (service 
or  DoD)  or  statute  from  committing  to  four  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  2009,  through  1  Aug  2013.   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 

2009, no additional service is required. 

  For those individuals who have an approved retirement 
date  after  1  Aug  2009,  and  before  1  Jul  2010,  no 
additional service is required. 

  For  those  individuals  eligible  for  retirement  after 
1 Aug  2009,  and  before  1  Aug  2010,  one  year  of 
additional  service  after  approval  of  transfer  is 
required. 

  For  those  individuals  eligible  for  retirement  on  or 
after 1 Aug 2010, and before 1 Aug 2011, two years of 
additional  service  after  approval  of  transfer  are 
required.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  For  those  individuals  eligible  for  retirement  on  or 
after  1  Aug  2011,  and  before  1  Aug  2012,  three  years 
of  additional  service  after  approval  of  transfer 
required.  

 
________________________________________________________________ 
 

 

  
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AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
 
AFPC/DPSIT  recommends  denial.    DPSIT  states  if  the  Board  finds 
there  was  an  injustice  to  the  extent  that  the  member  did  not 
receive  adequate  pre-separation  counseling,  as  required  by  law 
and  DoD  regulation,  and  was  not  personally  notified  about  the 
need  to  transfer  while  serving  in  the  Armed  Forces,  the  Board 
may approve the applicant’s request. 
 
DPSIT  states  in  part,  service  members  enrolled  in  38  U.S.C., 
Chapter  33  (Post  9/11  Educational  Assistance),  are  able  to 
transfer unused educational benefits to their dependent spouses 
or  children.    Any  member  of  the  Armed  Forces,  active  duty  or 
Selected  Reserve,  officer  or  enlisted,  on  or  after  1  Aug  2009, 
who  is  eligible  for  the  Post  9/11  GI  Bill,  has  at  least  six 
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  (if  applicable),  may  transfer 
unused  Post  9/11  benefits  to  their  dependents  pursuant  to 
Service regulations.  The transfer of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits 
must  be  initiated  while  the  member  is  serving  in  the  Armed 
Forces, which is defined as limited to those on active duty or 
in the Selected Reserves.  
 
The  Air  Force  issued  AFI  36-2306,  Voluntary  Education  Program, 
on  23  Jul  2009,  which  was  subsequently  replaced  with  AFI  36-
2306,  Attachment  9.  Paragraph  A9.4.3.15.4,  requires  pre-
separation  counseling,  documented  on  DD  Form  2648,  Pre-
Separation Counseling Checklist.  However, the Air Force did not 
engage  in  a  Service-wide  effort  to  seek  out  members  who  were 
already  on  terminal  leave,  or  who  had  already  completed  their 
pre-separation  counseling,  in  order  to  provide  them  with 
additional counseling on the Post 9/11 GI Bill. 
 
The complete DPSIT evaluation is at Exhibit C. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
 
His  retirement  ceremony  took  place  on  25  Jun  2009  and 
subsequently he began terminal leave.  He did not return to his 
military 
out-processing 
appointment.    The  effective  date  of  his  retirement  from  active 
duty  was  1  Oct  2009.    Three  to  four  weeks  prior  to  his 
retirement  ceremony  he  was  out-processed  and  no  longer  had 
access to his Air Force network.  He was aware that he would be 
eligible  to  transfer  his  Post  9/11  GI  Bill  benefits  because  he 
would still be on active duty as of 1 Aug 2009 as specified in 
the initial announcements, but the very specific rules governing 
transferability  were  still  being  determined.    Due  to  starting 
terminal  leave  and  not  having  access  to  information  flowing 

organization 

final 

until 

his 

 

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through  official  Air  Force  communications  he  was  unaware  that 
transferability  to  dependents  had  to  be  completed  while  on 
active  duty.    He  was  unaware  of  the  specific  requirement  until 
he completed the application for transferability on 19 Oct 2011. 
 
None  of  the  information  he  received  prior  to  his  retirement 
provided  the  specific  requirement  that  transferability  had  to 
occur  while  the  member  was  on  active  duty.    In  Feb  2010,  he 
applied  for  his  own  Post  9/11  GI  Bill  benefits  through  the 
Veterans Online Application (VONAPP) process.  On 9 Mar 2010 he 
received  his  Certificate  of  Eligibility  to  receive  benefits.  
Even at this time, he was unaware that he would not be able to 
transfer his education benefits to his daughter.  His process of 
understanding was very simple (a) he was on active duty on 1 Aug 
2009,  therefore  eligible  for  transferability,  (b)  he  received 
his  Certificate  of  Eligibility,  and  (c)  his  daughter  was 
registered  in  the  Defense  Enrollment  Eligibility  Reporting 
System  (DEERS)  since  2005.    Based  on  his  service  records  and 
these  three  facts,  he  assumed  he  would  be  able  to  transfer 
benefits at any time.  He was totally unaware that his window to 
transfer benefits had closed.  On 19 Oct 2011, he completed the 
application  to  transfer  his  Post  9/11  GI  Bill  benefits  to  his 
dependent daughter through the VONAPP process.  He submitted the 
application,  but  the  results  returned  an  ineligible  response.  
After  exhaustive  research  he  finally  found  the  specific 
requirement  that  “transferability  to  dependents  had  to  occur 
while the member was on active duty.” 
 
His complete response, with attachments, is at Exhibit E. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
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, in the interest of justice, we find the 
evidence sufficient to grant the requested relief and recommend 
his records be corrected as indicated below. 
 

 

  
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________________________________________________________________ 
 
THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 
 
The  pertinent  military  records  of  the  Department  of  the  Air 
Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show that on 30 Sep 
2009  he  elected  to  transfer  his  Post  9/11  GI  Bill  Educational 
Benefits. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
The  following  members  of  the  Board  considered  AFBCMR  Docket 
Number BC-2011-05109 in Executive Session on 13 Sep 2012, under 
the provisions of AFI 36-2603: 
 

  Panel Chair 
  Member 
  Member 

 
All  members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.    The 
following documentary evidence was: 
 
     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 21 Dec 2011. 
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 1 Feb 2012. 
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 10 Feb 2012.  
     Exhibit E.  Rebuttal, Applicant, dated 27 Feb 2012, w/atchs. 
 
 
 
 
 
  
                                   Panel Chair 
 

 

 

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