BOARD DATE: 3 June 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090016354
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests she be issued a DD Form 1173-1 (United States Uniform Services Identification and Privilege Card) and insurance benefits as a former spouse of a deceased former service member (FSM).
2. The applicant states it is unjust for her, as the former spouse, to be first given and then denied a DD Form 1173-1. She claims to have been told she could not get another DD Form 1173-1 because she is the former spouse. She states it is unjust that she was given a card and then was told she could not have another card after she had been previously issued a card that was good through
14 August 2009. She states when she attempted to renew her card, she was informed she never should have received the first card and she was not eligible for benefits. She indicates she was married to the FSM for 18 years and during 12 of those years (two-thirds of their marriage), the FSM was a Reservist.
3. The applicant provides the following documents:
* FSM's Certificate of Death
* FSM's Divorce Decree
* letter to her from U.S. Army Human Resources Command, St. Louis, MO
(HRC-STL), Survivor Benefit Analyst
* letter to her from HRC-STL, Chief, Transition and Separations Branch
* notarized statement from the FSM's widow
* copy of her expired DD Form 1173-1
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests entitlement to insurance benefits as the former spouse of the deceased FSM. On 8 November 2007, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) voted to grant the applicant's request that she be entitled to a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity based on her former spouse's military service. Therefore, the insurance portion of the applicant's request will not be discussed further in these Proceedings.
2. The FSM and the applicant married on 6 March 1982.
3. On 8 March 1982, the FSM enlisted in the Alabama Army National Guard (ALARNG).
4. On 21 January 1995, the FSM was honorably discharged from the ALARNG and transferred to the Retired Reserve.
5. On 5 October 2000, the applicant and FSM divorced. The FSM remarried on 24 November 2004 and he died on 27 June 2005.
6. The applicant provides a letter from HRC-STL, Chief, Transition and Separations Branch, providing her guidance on how to obtain benefits based on the FSM's military service. She also provides a notarized statement from the FSM's widow, dated 4 September 2009, in which she states she was married to the FSM for 7 months prior to his death and they had no children and she has no widow's rights. She further states she thinks his former spouse should have the right to the identification card and insurance since she was married to him while he was in the Reserve getting his points to retire and she was married to him when he retired.
7. Public Law 97-252, the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA) and its subsequent amendments, established military benefits to certain unremarried former spouses. It states in order for a former spouse to qualify for an identification and privilege card, "ALL" of the following minimum eligibility requirements must be met:
a. a marriage of at least 20 years;
b. creditable service of at least 20 years; and
c. marriage overlaps with service by at least 15 years
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that she is entitled to an identification and privilege card because she is the former spouse of a deceased FSM has been carefully reviewed. However, there is insufficient evidence to support her claim.
2. By law, in order to be eligible for an identification and privilege card as a former spouse, the marriage to the FSM had to have been for at least 20 years and the marriage had to overlap military service by at least 15 years.
3. In this case, the FSM and applicant were married for only 18 years and
7 months, and their marriage only overlapped military service by 12 years,
10 months, and 14 days. As a result, given the applicant does not meet either the years of marriage requirement or military service overlapping requirements, the legal requirements for her to qualify for an identification and privilege card as a former spouse have not been met in this case.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__x_____ ___x_____ ___x___ 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.
__________x_____________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090016354
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090016354
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