RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF: 			DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2014-03525

						COUNSEL:  NONE

						HEARING DESIRED:  NO 


APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

She be allowed to transfer her Post 9/11 GI Bill educational 
benefits to her dependents.


APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

She was told that she only needed to transfer one month of the 
Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) to her 
eldest daughter prior to retirement and that she would be able 
to reallocate benefits to her other dependents in the future.  
However, she was miscounseled.

When she contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), she 
was advised that she was ineligible to transfer her benefits 
because she was retired.

Had she been properly briefed, individually or as a group about 
the TEB, she would have transferred her benefits to “each” of 
her children prior to her retirement.

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at 
Exhibit A.


STATEMENT OF FACTS:

On 20 July 1988, the applicant initially entered the Regular Air 
Force.

On 30 June 2012, the applicant was relieved from active duty and 
retired with a reason for separation of voluntary retirement: 
sufficient service for retirement.  She was credited with 
23 years, 11 months, and 11 days of active service.   

Any Service member on or after 1 August 2009, who is 
entitled to the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the time of the 
approval of his or her request to transfer that entitlement 
under this section, may transfer that entitlement provided 
he or she meets one of these conditions:
Has at least 6 years of service in the Military 
Services (active duty or Selected Reserve), National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned 
Officer Corps (NOAA) Corps, or Commissioned Corps of 
the Public Health Service (PHS) on the date of 
approval and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the 
Military Services, NOAA Corps, or PHS from the date of 
election.
Has at least 10 years of service in the Military 
Services (active duty or Selected Reserve), NOAA 
Corps, or PHS on the date of approval, is precluded by 
either standard policy (Service or DoD) or statute 
from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to 
serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such 
policy or statute.
Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period 
from 1 August 2009, through 31 July 2012, and agrees 
to serve the additional period, if any, specified in 
the following subparagraphs.  A Service member is 
considered to be retirement eligible if he or she has 
completed 20 years of active Federal service or 
20 qualifying years as computed pursuant to Title 10, 
United States Code (USC) § 12732.  This subparagraph 
will no longer be in effect on 1 August 2013, and on 
or after that date all members must comply with 
subparagraphs above to be eligible for transfer of 
unused education benefits to family members.
For individuals eligible for retirement on 
1 August 2009, no additional service is required.
For individuals eligible for retirement after 
1 August 2009, and before 1 August 2010, 1 year 
of additional service is required.


AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPXXX recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of 
an error or an injustice.  DPSIT states the applicant did not 
allocate a month of benefits in MilConnect to all of her 
dependent children during her initial application and they are 
now ineligible.

The applicant was approved for TEB on 9 August 2010 and incurred 
no service obligation.

Since the stand-up of the TEB website on 1 August 2009, 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 the option to submit her request and was approved by 
Total Force Service Center personnel.

When the member retired, effective 1 Jul 12, her dependent 
children, who were not allocated months of benefits, became 
ineligible by regulation as she did not allocate at least one 
month of benefits (AFI 36-2306, Attachment 9, A9.18.7.2.3). 

Finally, on the applicant’s DD Form 2648, Pre-Separation 
Counseling Checklist, she declined counseling on Education 
Benefits.

The complete DPSIT evaluation is at Exhibit C.


APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant reiterates her original contentions that she was 
under the impression the months she transferred to her eldest 
daughter fulfilled the requirement and qualified her to 
reallocate the benefit to her other children when needed.  

The education counselor never stated that he meant one month for 
each dependent.

Although it was noted in the Air Force evaluation, she does not 
recall seeing a pop-up message stating that she had failed to 
transfer her benefits to her dependents.  If she had seen this 
message, “I would have asked my counselor what it meant and if I 
needed to do anything else.”

During her Pre-separation counseling, she declined educational 
counseling because she had already transferred benefits to her 
dependents and did not believe additional counseling was 
required.

It was her intention to ensure all three dependents received a 
portion of the TEB, not just one.  Had she been properly 
counseled on the TEB she would have given one month to each of 
her dependent children.

The applicant’s complete response 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.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice.  We took 
notice of the applicant’s complete submission in judging the 
merits of the case, to include her rebuttal of the Air Force 
advisory; 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.  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 members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket 
Number BC-2014-03525 in Executive Session on 11 May 15 under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603:

	, Panel Chair
	, Member
	, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

	Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 25 Aug 14, w/atchs.
	Exhibit B.  Pertinent Excerpts from Personnel Records.
	Exhibit C.  Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 20 Oct 14.
	Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 17 Nov 14.
	Exhibit E.  Letter, Applicant, dated 15 Dec 14.