IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 15 October 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130001831
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 correction of his record to show he elected Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage for his spouse.
2. He states a Retirement Services Officer made an error on the DD Form 2656 (Data for Payment of Retired Personnel) submitted to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). He stated he married his spouse on 3 October 2011. DFAS received his SBP election on 28 September 2012. Lines 26a and 26b were checked; therefore, DFAS did not process the request. DFAS also failed to notify him to fix the error. He sent the form in a timely manner. Therefore, a beneficiary should be assigned.
3. He provides a DD Form 2656, his marriage license, and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Track and Confirm Email Restoration data sheet.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant had prior enlisted and commissioned service in the Regular Army. He later served as a captain (CPT)/O-3 and as a warrant officer in the Army National Guard.
2. On or about 28 October 1999, the Director of Personnel, Headquarters, Missouri National Guard, notified the applicant he had completed the required years of service to be eligible for retired pay at age 60.
3. On 4 December 1999, he completed a DD Form 1883 (SBP Election Certificate) electing Reserve Component SBP (RCSBP) coverage for his spouse based on the full amount of his retired pay and option C (immediate coverage). The form shows his spouse was Y----- D. R-----.
4. His record does not show when he divorced Y----- D. R-----.
5. On 15 December 2003, he was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 12 June 2007, he was retired by reason of temporary disability. The record does not show if he was married at the time.
6. Effective 22 December 2008, he was removed from the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) and placed on the permanent Retired List.
7. He provides a marriage license showing he married H---- B----- on 3 October 2011.
8. On 24 September 2012, he completed a DD form 2656. He listed H---- R-----as his spouse and M------- B----- as his stepdaughter with a date of birth of
27 March 2002.
a. Item 26 (Beneficiary Category(ies)) shows he selected:
* 26a. I elect coverage for spouse only. I do have dependent children
* 26b. I elect coverage for spouse and children
b. Item 27 (Level of Coverage) shows he elected coverage based on his full gross pay.
9. On 13 March 2013, DFAS confirmed the applicant's account showed no SBP beneficiary. DFAS provided a DD Form 2656 identical to that provided by the applicant.
10. Public Law 92-425, enacted 21 September 1972, established the SBP. The SBP provided that military members could elect to have their retired pay reduced to provide for an annuity after death to surviving dependents. Elections are made by category, not by name. An election to decline to participate in the SBP must be made prior to the effective date of retirement or else coverage automatically defaults to full spouse coverage (or child only coverage, if applicable).
11. 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 1 year after the date on which that person marries or acquires that dependent child.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant elected spouse-only RCSBP coverage in 1999. Notwithstanding his earlier RCSBP election, prior to being placed on the TDRL, he would have been required to make an election for SBP coverage. It appears he did not have an eligible beneficiary at that time and made no election. He gained an eligible beneficiary when he married on 3 October 2011, and he attempted to make an election to participate in the SBP within 1 year of his marriage.
2. It appears that, if not for the erroneous election of two beneficiary categories on the DD Form 2656 he submitted, DFAS would have accepted the applicant's request to establish SBP coverage.
3. In view of the available evidence, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant's record to show he submitted a request for spouse-only SBP coverage within 1 year of his marriage on 3 October 2011.
BOARD VOTE:
___X___ ___X____ ___X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected to show
he submitted a request for spouse-only SBP coverage within 1 year of his marriage on 3 October 2011.
__________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) AR20130001831
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130001831
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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