AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-02422
COUNSEL: NONE
HEARING DESIRED: NO
IN THE MATTER OF:
(APPLICANT)
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:
Her former spouse’s records be corrected to show he made an
election for “former spouse” coverage under the Survivor Benefit
Program (SBP), naming her as the beneficiary.
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:
She should be the “former spouse” beneficiary for SBP, as ordered
in their divorce decree.
On 30 Nov 09, she was named as the SBP beneficiary in the divorce
decree. The member led her to believe that she was covered and
in March 2011, she began asking him for proof. However, in
February 2012, she contacted the Defense Finance and Accounting
Service (DFAS) office and was told that he did not enroll her in
the SBP. She was not aware of the one-year “deemed election”
period.
The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at
Exhibit A.
_________________________________________________________________
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
The relevant facts pertaining to this application, extracted from
the member’s records are contained in the letter prepared by the
appropriate office of primary responsibility at Exhibit B.
Accordingly there is no need to recite these facts in this Record
of Proceedings.
_________________________________________________________________
AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
AFPC/DPSIAR states that absent evidence of a competing spouse, it
would be appropriate to correct the member’s record to reflect
that effective 1 Dec 09, he elected “former spouse” coverage
under the SBP, based on full retired pay. The applicant and the
member were divorced on 30 Nov 09. The divorce decree awarded
SBP to the applicant. There is no record of either party
submitting a valid election to establish former spouse SBP
coverage within the first year following their divorce. SBP
premiums continued to be deducted from the member’s retired pay.
There is no indication that either party has remarried.
The DPSIAR complete evaluation is at Exhibit B.
_________________________________________________________________
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to the
applicant and the member on 7 Aug 12 for review and comment
within 30 days. As of this date, this office has received no
responses.
_________________________________________________________________
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 to warrant corrective action.
In this respect, we note the opinion and recommendation of the Air
Force office of primary responsibility and agree with their
recommendation that since there is no evidence of a competing
spouse, it is appropriate to correct the record. Furthermore,
since SBP premiums continue to be deducted from the former
member’s retired pay, we find this illustrates his intent to
continue SBP for his former spouse. Therefore, we recommend that
the records be corrected as indicated below.
______________________________________________________________
THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:
The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force
relating to MEMBER be corrected to show that on 1 December 2009,
he elected to change his Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) from "spouse
only coverage" to "former spouse coverage" based on full retired
pay, naming APPLICANT as the eligible beneficiary.
______________________________________________________________
The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number
BC-2012-02422 in Executive Session on 27 Nov 12, under the
provisions of AFI 36-2603:
, Panel Chair
, Member
, Member
2
All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The
following documentary evidence for Docket Number BC-2012-02402 was
considered:
Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 31 May 12, w/atchs.
Exhibit B. Letter, AFPC/DPSIAR, dated 19 Jul 12.
Exhibit C. Letters, SAF/MRBR, dated 7 Aug 12.
Panel Chair
3
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