RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-01502 

 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

His official records be corrected to show he is eligible for the 
Post-9/11 GI Bill Transferability of Educational Benefits (TEB). 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT 

 

He applied to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill educational 
benefits on the first available date, 3 Aug 09. When the 
Defense Management Data Center (DMDC) website did not return any 
results, he contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) 
and asked what he could do. The DVA told him the DMDC website 
was swamped with extremely high volume and would take longer to 
process the applications. He out processed on 17 Aug 09, and no 
longer had access to his military computer or the Common Access 
Card (CAC) that was necessary to log into the DMDC website. The 
DVA assured him his request would go through given extra time. 
Without a notice of a denied request, he did not find out his 
request did not go through until his son applied for his 
eligibility certificate. 

 

The applicant's complete submission is at Exhibit A. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

On 31 Oct 09, the applicant was relieved from active duty and 
retired for length of service, effective 1 Nov 12. He was 
credited with 28 years, 7 months, and 10 days of total service. 

 

For the first time in history, service members enrolled in the 
Post-9/11 GI Bill Program 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 09, who is eligible for 
the Post-9/11 Bill, has at least six years of service in the 
Armed Forces on the date of election, and agrees to serve 4 
additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election 
can transfer their unused Post-9/11 benefits to their dependents 


(Title 38 USC, Chapter 33, § 3319(b)(1)). For those service 
members eligible to retire between 1 Aug 09 and 31 Jul 10, no 
additional service is required. Title 38 USC, Chapter 33, § 
3319(f)(1) adds that the transfer of such entitlement can only 
be done while serving as a member of the armed forces when the 
transfer is executed. 

 

The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are 
contained in the letter prepared by the Air Force office of 
primary responsibility, which is attached at Exhibit C. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFRC/A1K recommends denial, indicating there is no evidence of 
an error or injustice. All Department of Defense (DoD) requests 
and transactions must be completed through the Transferability 
of Educational Benefits (TEB) application website at DMDC. 
Research reveals that the applicant never applied for the 
transfer of benefits in the TEB system. The DMDC system shows 
no evidence that he applied. Every effort was made by DoD, the 
Veteran Affairs (VA), and the services to make sure that every 
eligible service member understood the process for transferring 
benefits. The VA itself did not have its final Rules and 
Regulations published until 31 Mar 09 (Department of Veterans 
Affairs (38 CFR part 21, Post 9/1 1 GI Bill)). While the rules 
and regulations were being formulated, DoD and the services were 
busy trying to build an infrastructure that could transmit the 
transfer of benefit data between DoD and the VA. In the haste 
to implement the transfer of benefits there was a lot of 
information that was misrepresented. Many were lead to believe 
that the law only required that one be serving on active duty 
1 August 2009. For this reason, many individuals were planning 
and adjusting their retirement date so that they were on active 
duty on 1 August 2009. As the effective date of the program got 
closer, the "rules of engagement" became clearer. Based on the 
legislative provisions of USC Title 38, Chapter 33, section 3319 

(f)(1), which states, in part, that "an individual ... may 
transfer such entitlement only while serving as a member of the 
armed forces when the transfer is executed", the applicant’s 
request should be denied. 

 

The complete AFRC/A1K evaluation is at Exhibit C. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the 
applicant on 24 May 12 for review and comment within 30 days. 
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. 

 

2. The application was timely filed. 

 

3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. The 
applicant contends that the Defense Management Data Center 
(DMDC) was unable to process his application while he was on 
active duty due to extremely high volume. After a thorough 
review of the evidence of record and in light of the evolving 
nature of the guidance available acknowledged by the Air Force 
office of primary responsibility, we find it reasonable to 
believe the applicant, through no fault of his own, was unable 
to execute the transfer of his benefits during the initial 
implementation of this comprehensive and far-reaching program in 
the very limited time that remained until his planned 
retirement. In addition, we do not find it reasonable that he 
would have knowingly elected not to pursue use of this important 
entitlement. 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 the APPLICANT be corrected to show that on 
31 October 2009, he elected to transfer his Post 9/11 GI Bill 
Educational Benefits. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket 
Number BC-2012-01502 in Executive Session on 8 Jan 13, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 Panel Chair 

 Member 

 Member 

 

 


All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The 
following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket 
Number BC-2012-01502 was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 23 Mar 12. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 17 May 12. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 24 May 12. 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair