RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        7 November 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060003841


      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             |
|     |Ms. Beverly A. Young              |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Patrick McGann                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Richard Sayre                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. David Haasenritter            |     |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 that his Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) election be
changed from natural interest person (NIP) coverage to spouse and
child(ren) coverage, this change to be retroactively effective within one
year of his marriage for the spouse coverage and to the dates of birth for
his two daughters for the dependent children coverage.

2.  The applicant states that he did not know or realize he could have
changed his original beneficiary [SBP] election within one year of his
marriage, then later add his children until he recently inquired during the
[then current] Open Season. He states that this change will benefit and
provide for his dependents.  He also states he has overpaid for NIP
coverage all of these years.

3.  The applicant provides a supplemental letter, dated 6 March 2006; a
letter from his mother, dated 6 March 2006; his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces
of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge); his NGB Form 22
(National Guard Bureau Record of Separation and Record of Service); his
Retiree Account Statement with an effective date of 6 December 2005; his
Certificate of Marriage; and two Certificates of Birth for his children.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant was born on 23 January 1947.  He enlisted in the New York
Army National Guard on 24 January 1967.

2.  The applicant retired on 8 October 1968 by reason of temporary
disability and was placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL)
due to a kidney condition.  He was removed from the TDRL on 30 June 1972
and was permanently retired on 1 July 1972 in the rank of private E-2.

3.  He was married on 16 November 1975.

4.  The applicant submitted two birth certificates, which show his first
daughter was born on 19 January 1980 and his second daughter was born on 2
November 1988.

5.  His Retiree Account Statement with an effective date of 6 December 2005
shows SBP NIP coverage, full base amount.

6.  Information obtained from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service
(DFAS) on 17 October 2006 revealed that the applicant enrolled in the SBP
and elected NIP coverage, which started on 1 September 1973.
7.  Public Law 92-425, enacted 21 September 1972, established the SBP.
Upon creation of the SBP, an 18-month Open Season was conducted from
21 September 1972 through 20 March 1974, in which all pre-1972 retirees
were given the option to enroll.

8.  Public Law 97-35, enacted 12 August 1981, established the second Open
Season from 1 October 1981 through 30 September 1982.  Extensive publicity
of this Open Season was given in Army Echoes, the Army bulletin published
and mailed to retirees to keep them abreast of their rights and privileges
and to inform them of developments in the Army.

9.  Public Law 98-94, enacted 24 September 1983, established an Open Season
from 23 September 1983 through 24 September 1984.  Extensive publicity was
given in Army Echoes.

10.  Public Law 101-189, enacted 29 November 1989, established an Open
Season to be conducted 1 October 1991 (but deferred to 1 April 1992)
through 30 September 1992.  Extensive publicity was given in Army Echoes.

11.  Public Law 105-261, enacted 17 October 1998, established an Open
Season to be conducted 1 March 1999 through 29 February 2000.  Extensive
publicity was given in Army Echoes.

12.  The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005
established an Open Season to be conducted 1 October 2005 through 30
September 2006.  Extensive publicity was given in Army Echoes.

13.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1448(a)(5), provides that a person who is
not married or 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was retired on 8 October 1968 due to physical disability
and was placed on the TDRL.  He was permanently retired on 1 July 1972 in
the rank of private E-2.

2.  The SBP was enacted in September 1972.  Records at DFAS show the
applicant enrolled in the SBP for NIP coverage on 1 September 1973 during
the first Open Season.  He was not married at that time.
3.  The applicant was married in November 1975.  There is no evidence of
record that indicates he requested to change his SBP coverage to spouse
coverage within one year of his marriage.  There is also no evidence he
requested to add dependent children coverage after his daughters were born.


4.  As a retiree, the applicant should have been receiving Army Echoes,
which provided information on five SBP Open Seasons conducted after he was
married.  He provides no evidence to show he inquired about adding his
spouse and child(ren) to the SBP until the latest Open Season.

5.  Based on the applicant’s statements, it was his intent to provide SBP
coverage for his spouse after his marriage in November 1975, then later add
SBP coverage for his children.  He has continued to pay SBP premiums for
NIP coverage and his mother has had the SBP protection all these years.

6.  Nevertheless, at the time of the applicant’s retirement in July 1972,
he was a private E-2 and was probably unaware of his responsibility to
change his SBP coverage when he married in 1975.  It would now be equitable
to correct his records to show he changed his SBP coverage from NIP
coverage to spouse and child(ren) coverage on 1 October 1981 (the beginning
of the second Open Season).  This Open Season, the next one following his
marriage, would be the appropriate time to make the correction effective
because by then Army Echoes should have informed the applicant that he had
the option of adding spouse and children coverage.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

PM______  RS______  DH______  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board
recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual
concerned be corrected by showing he had requested that his SBP coverage be
changed from NIP coverage to spouse and child(ren) coverage on 1 October
1981 and his request was received and processed in a timely manner to be
effective the first day of the following month.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
correcting his records to show he changed his SBP NIP coverage to spouse
and child(ren) coverage any earlier than 1 October 1981.




                                  Patrick McGann________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060003841                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20061107                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |137.0400                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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