DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-00409 
COUNSEL:  NONE 
HEARING DESIRED:  NO 

 
                       RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 
         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 
 
IN THE MATTER OF: 
 
   
   
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
THE APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 
 
He be entitled to the Post 9/11 GI Bill educational benefits. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
THE APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 
 
He  was  not  aware  and  at  the  time  of  retirement  he  was  given 
erroneous  information  and  therefore  would  like  the  opportunity 
to complete this transfer. 
 
In support of his appeal, the applicant provides a copy of his 
DD  Form  214,  Certificate  of  Release  or  Discharge  from  Active 
Duty,  issued  in  conjunction  with  his  1  Apr  10  retirement; 
Department  of  Veterans  Affairs  (DVA)  Transfer  of  Educational 
Benefits (TEB) package and other supporting documents. 
 
The  applicant’s  complete  submission,  with  attachment,  is  at 
Exhibit A. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
STATEMENT OF FACTS: 
 
The applicant was relieved from active duty, on 31 Mar 10, with 
a  reason  for  separation  of  Voluntary  Retirement:  Sufficient 
Service for Retirement.   
 
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  Department 
  of  Defense  (DoD))  or    statute  from  committing  to 

 

 

 

 

 

 Is  or  becomes  retirement  eligible  during  the  period  from    

For  those  individuals  eligible  for  retirement  after    

For those individuals eligible for retirement on 1 Aug 09, no 

  four additional years, and agrees   to serve for the   maximum 
amount of time allowed by such policy or statute, or 
 
 
  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. 
 
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. 
 
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: 
 
AFPC/DPSIT  recommends  denial,  stating,  in  part,  the  member  did 
not provide adequate justification/documentation.  The applicant 
contends  that  the  personnel  representative  at  his  unit  
erroneously  stated  that  there  would  be  an  additional  service 
commitment.  Although the member may have received the incorrect 
information  of  an  additional  service  commitment  there  was  no 
follow  up  with  the  Education  Center  to  ascertain  whether  this 
information was indeed correct or incorrect.  Had the applicant 
gone to the Point of Contact (POC) for the Education Center he 
would have received proper counseling and been able to apply for 
the  benefit.    Education  personnel  were  given  guidance  through 
the Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 09-003, dated 22 Jun 09.  He 
did  receive  pre-separation  counseling  13  May  2009,  member 
indicated on his pre-separation form, DD Form 2648, that he did 
want  counseling  for  educational  benefits  prior  to  his 
retirement. 
 
He states that "it was implied member would be grand-fathered to 
the  newer  9-11  GI  Bill  at  a  later  date;"  however,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  law  that  would  indicate  that  to  be  the  case.  
There  is  no  record  of  member  applying  for  the  benefit  through 

 

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the  “Virtual  Military  Personnel  Flight  (vMPF).    The  applicant 
also references the VA website.  If the member had read on the 
VA  website  when  he  switched  from  MGIB  to  Post  9/11  that  the 
option  to  transfer  to  dependents  was  available  by  clicking  on 
the  Official  DoD  TEB  Website  link  (www.defense.gov)  it  would 
have lead him to the DMDC website link for Transfer of Education 
Benefits. 
 
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 member's request.  
 
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.  Notably, since 1 August 2009, 
the Air Force approved over 50,000 transferability applications. 
 
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  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 Aug 09, the effective date 
of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.   
 
The  complete  AFPC/DPSIT  evaluation,  with  attachments,  is  at 
Exhibit C. 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF THE AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
 
A  copy  of  the  Air  Force  evaluation  was  forwarded  to  the 
applicant  on  30  Apr  12  for  review  and  response.    As  of  this 
date, no response has been received by this office (Exhibit D). 
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 
 
1.  The  applicant  has  exhausted  all  remedies  provided  by 
existing law or regulations. 
 

 

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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  properly  counseled  regarding  the  steps  necessary  to 
transfer  his  benefits  to  his  dependents.    We  do  not  find  it 
reasonable  that  he  would  have  knowingly  elected  not  to  pursue 
use of this important entitlement.  As such, in the interest of 
justice we find the evidence is sufficient to resolve any doubt 
we have in this matter in behalf of the applicant.  Therefore we 
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  on 
31 March  2010,  he  elected  to  transfer  his  Post  9/11  GI  Bill 
Educational Benefits.   
 
________________________________________________________________ 
 
The  following  members  of  the  Board  considered  AFBCMR  Docket 
Number BC-2012-00409 in Executive Session on 13 September 2012, 
under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: 
 
All  members  voted  to  correct  the  records,  as  recommended.    The 
following documentary evidence was considered: 
 
     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 1 Feb 12, w/atchs. 
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 
     Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 29 Mar 12, w/atchs. 
     Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 30 Apr 12. 
 
 
 
 
                                   Panel Chair 

 

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