RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2014-02726
COUNSEL: NONE
HEARING DESIRED: NO
APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:
His spouses ineligibility status for Transfer of Education
Benefits (TEB) be changed to eligible.
APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:
In 2010, he transferred one month of education benefits to his
wife and 10 months to each of his children. He is unsure the
reason, but the one month of eligibility for his wife dropped from
the system. The system now shows she is ineligible to receive the
TEB.
The applicants complete submission, with attachments, is at
Exhibit A.
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
On 28 Jun 84, the applicant entered the Regular Air Force.
On 5 Jun 10, the applicant was approved for TEB.
On 30 Jun 14, the applicant received an honorable discharge, and
he was credited with 30 years and 3 days of active service.
The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are
contained in the memorandum prepared by the Air Force office of
primary responsibility (OPR), which is attached at Exhibit C.
AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
AFPC/DPSIT recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of an
error or an injustice. The system does not arbitrarily drop a
month of benefits previously allocated to a dependent via
MilConnect. Months of benefits may be zeroed out only through the
revoke option. The member did not allocate a month of benefits
in MilConnect to his spouse during initial application and by
regulation she is now ineligible.
Since the stand-up of the TEB website on 1 Aug 09, when a member
submits a TEB request and does not allocate months of benefits to
a dependent, a message pops up which states: Warning: You have
one or more eligible family members to whom you have not
transferred months. If you do not transfer months to these
individuals before you separate from the Armed Forces, you will
not be able to do so afterwards. These family members will no
longer be eligible for transferred educational assistance. Would
you like to continue submitting your transfer request? The two
options provided are: a) OK (submits the request for approval in
MilConnect) or b) Cancel (allows the member to make changes prior
to submission). The applicant clicked option to submit his
request and was approved by Total Force Service Center personnel.
When the member retired effective 30 Jun 14, his spouse became
ineligible by regulation as he did not allocate at least one month
of benefits (REF: AFI 36-2306, The Air Force Education System
Programs, Attachment 9, A9.18.7.2.3).
The complete DPSIT evaluation is at Exhibit C.
APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:
The applicant responded in a letter dated 23 Oct 14 refuting the
advisory opinion on the timeliness of his application. He did not
find out there was an error until 3 Jul 14 when he went on-line in
eBenefits to check on his dependents eligibility. He then
immediately processed an application for correction at that time.
With respect to the explanation regarding the application process,
he understands the steps a member has to take to transfer
education benefits because he did it back in 2010 right after a
deployment. However, he does not recall the exact procedures he
followed at that time and he obviously made a mistake not
following-up before his actual retirement date. His intent was
that all three of his dependents be eligible for transferability.
Subsequently, he disagrees with the recommendation to deny his
request. He states he did not submit irrefutable evidence
supporting his request but believes he would have had to take a
screen shot of each and every page as he progressed through the
sign-up process to do so. Though he admits he may have possibly
made a mistake not entering a month of eligibility, he believes
the system could have made an error as well.
He hopes the Board members will recognize his full and honest
intent was for all of his dependents to be eligible for
transferability of education benefits and that he took the
necessary steps to sign them up well before retirement.
The complete APPLICANT review is at 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. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. We took
notice of the applicants complete submission, including his
rebuttal of the Air Force advisory, in judging the merits of the
case; however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the
Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt its rationale
as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the
victim of an error of injustice. While we acknowledge the
applicants request to change his spouses Post-9/11 GI Bill
transfer of education benefits eligibility status, we do not
believe he has demonstrated evidence of an injustice, as compared
to others in his similar situation. Therefore, in the absence of
evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting
the requested relief.
THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:
The applicant be notified the evidence presented did not
demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; the
application was denied without a personal appearance; and the
application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly
discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application.
The following documentary evidence pertaining to AFBCMR Docket
Number BC-2014-02726 was considered:
Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 14 Jul 14, w/atchs.
Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
Exhibit C. Memorandum, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 22 Aug 14.
Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 10 Oct 14.AF | BCMR | CY2014 | BC 2014 03525
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