RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        21 September 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060002652


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. William F. Crain              |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Jeffrey C. Redmann            |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. David W. Tucker               |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests, in effect, that his records be corrected to
show he enrolled his spouse in the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan
(RCSBP) within one year of his marriage.

2.  The applicant states he would like his records corrected without
utilizing the current Open Season with its 2-year survivability rule.  He
states he was not married in 1987 when he enrolled in the RCSBP for
children only coverage.  His notification of eligibility for retired pay at
age 60 (his 20-year letter) informed him that he had 90 days to make an
RCSBP election or he would remain uncovered until he reached age 60.  He
remarried in October 1995.  In 1996, he sent a letter and a copy of his
marriage certificate to the U. S. Army Reserve Personnel Center as
requested.  In January 2005, he submitted his retirement packet.  On the DD
Form 2656 (Data for Payment of Retired Personnel), he indicated that he
elected to participate in the standard SBP for spouse only coverage.

3.  The applicant states he discovered this error in October 2005, when his
first retiree pay statement indicated he had children only coverage.

4.  The applicant states he requested correction of his SBP election
several times, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) at
first told him the correction would be made if he would send them a cover
letter with the request and a copy of his marriage certificate.  Later,
DFAS told him to contact his local Retirement Services Officer or to submit
an application to the Board.  The local Retirement Services Officer never
responded to his calls.

5.  The applicant provides his 20-year letter; his DD Form 1883 (Survivor
Benefit Plan Election Certificate); two DD Forms 214 (Report of Separation
from Active Duty); the first two pages of his DD Form 2656; a note to DFAS
dated 3 October 2005; and his marriage certificate.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was born on 13 September 1945.  After having had prior
enlisted service, he was commissioned in the U. S. Army Reserve and entered
active duty on 27 June 1967.  He was released from active duty on 13
October 1978.

2.  The applicant’s 20-year letter is dated 25 February 1987.  It informed
him that he had to make an RCSBP election within 90 days or he would remain
uncovered by the Plan until he reached age 60.  He was also informed that
more detailed information concerning participation in the RCSBP was
contained in an enclosed Reserve Components Personnel and Administration
Center pamphlet 135-2.  On 30 May 1987, he completed a DD Form 1883
electing to participate in the RCSBP for children only coverage.  He was
not married at that time.

3.  The applicant was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 24 June 1987.  He
was transferred to the Retired Reserve on 27 October 1994.

4.  The applicant married on 2 October 1995.

5.  On 27 January 2005, the applicant applied for retired pay by completing
a   DD Form 2656.  In item 26 he checked that he elected spouse only SBP
coverage, and in item 27 he checked that he elected SBP based on full base
amount.  Page 4 of the DD Form 2656 would have informed him that he was to
complete item 26 only if he had declined the RCSBP.

6.  Public Law 95-397, the RCSBP, enacted 30 September 1978, provided a way
for those who had qualified for reserve retirement but were not yet age 60
to provide an annuity for their survivors should they die before reaching
age 60.  Three options are available:  (A)  elect to decline enrollment and
choose at age 60 whether to start SBP participation; (B)  elect that a
beneficiary receive an annuity if they die before age 60 but delay payment
of it until the date of the member’s 60th birthday; (C)  elect that a
beneficiary receive an annuity immediately upon their death if before age
60.  If death does not occur before age 60, the RCSBP costs for options B
and C are deducted from the member’s retired pay.  Once a member elects
either Options B or C in any category of coverage, that election is
irrevocable.  Option B and C participants do not make a new SBP election at
age 60.  They cannot cancel SBP participation or change options they had in
RCSBP – it automatically rolls into SBP coverage.  If RCSBP Option B or C
is elected, a Reservist Portion cost is added to the basic cost of the SBP
to cover the additional benefit and assured protection had the member died
prior to age 60.

7.  Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1448(a)(5) provides that a person who is
not married and has no dependent child upon becoming eligible to
participate in the SBP but who later marries or acquires a dependent child
may elect to participate in the SBP.  Such an election must be written,
signed by the person making the election, and received by the Secretary
concerned within one year after the date on which that person marries or
acquires that dependent child.

8.  The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 established
an Open Season to be conducted 1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006.  It
required that enrollees live two years from the effective date of election
for
beneficiaries to be eligible for an annuity.  The retiree must pay monthly
premiums starting on the date of enrollment and a buy-in premium covering
all the costs that would have been paid for the election if it had been
made at the first opportunity to do so.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant stated that, in 1996, he sent a letter and a copy of his
marriage certificate to the U. S. Army Reserve Personnel Center.  However,
he provides no evidence to show what he requested in that letter (if he
specifically requested that his spouse be added to his RCSBP or if it was
just notification that he remarried).

2.  It is acknowledged that the body of the applicant’s 20-year letter
informed him that he had to make an RCSBP election within 90 days or he
would remain uncovered by the Plan until he reached age 60.  However, the
letter also informed him that more detailed information concerning
participation in the RCSBP was contained in an enclosed pamphlet.  That
pamphlet should have informed him that, if he was not married at the time
he received his 20-year letter but later married, he would have one year in
which to enroll in the RCSBP for spouse coverage.  He provides insufficient
evidence to show that he was not provided such information at the time.

3.  Because the applicant failed to enroll in the RCSBP for spouse coverage
within one year of his marriage (i.e., by October 1996) his election of
spouse coverage on his DD Form 2656 was invalid.

4.  It is also acknowledged that the applicant would like his records
corrected without utilizing the current Open Season to avoid its 2-year
survivability rule.  Regrettably, he provides insufficient evidence which
would warrant granting this relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__wfc___  __jdr___  __dwt___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.




                                  __William F. Crain____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060002652                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060921                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |137.04                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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