BOARD DATE: 8 October 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150000422
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 to be shown to be entitled to Reserve Component Survivor Benefits Plan (RCSBP) benefits.
2. The applicant states at the time the former service member (FSM) received his Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay (20-year letter) on 7 May 2009 they were not yet married and so he did not make an election at that time. They were married on 31 October 2009 and she was added as his emergency contact and given a military identification card a few months later. The unit failed to advise him of the requirements to submit the RCSBP forms. The applicant retired later that year and again was not advised of the steps to file for RCSBP.
3. The applicant provides copies of the FSM's 20-year letter, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate, NGB Form 23B (Army National Guard Retirement Points History Statement), DD Form 2656-7 (Verification for Survivor Annuity), an undated and unsigned U.S. Army Human Resources Command (AHRC) letter, and an AHRC RCSBP denial letter.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSM served in the Regular Army, U.S. Army Reserve, or the Army National Guard between 19 June 1979 and 1 July 2010.
2. He was issued a 20-year letter on 7 May 2009. At this time the FSM's emergency data sheet listed him as "single" although he is shown to have been previously married and still listed two children as beneficiaries.
3. The FSM and the applicant married on 31 October 2009.
4. The FSM filed a Record of Emergency Data on 14 March 2010 adding the applicant as his wife. He changed his beneficiary information and added the applicant to the family coverage for his Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI). It appears she was entered into the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and received a military identification card at this time.
5. On 1 July 2010, the FSM retired as a master sergeant with 21 years of service for retired pay.
6. The FSM died on 5 November 2014 from a heart attack.
7. On 21 November 2014, the applicant filed a DD Form 2656-7 requesting SBP/RCSBP benefits.
8. On 11 December 2014, AHRC notified the applicant that because the FSM had not executed an SBP election within 1 year of their marriage, she was not eligible to receive SBP benefits.
9. Public Law 95-397, the Reserve Component SBP, 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. Service members who had no eligible beneficiaries at the time of retirement and who later married, have 1 year from the date of marriage to submit a Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate (DDÂ 2656-6).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The FSM was not married at the time he received his 20-year letter but married 5 months later on 31 October 2009. It appears that he did not add the applicant to DEERS as his spouse until 14 March 2010, 4 months prior to his retirement.
2. The applicant has not provided and the available records do not contain any indication that the applicant attempted to enroll in the RCSBP plan following his marriage.
3. The law specifically states that in order to elect spousal coverage under RCSBP, an application must be filled within 1 year of the marriage. There is no automatic enrollment and no provision for an extension of the 1-year time limit.
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) AR20150000422
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