RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2014-03525 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: She be allowed to transfer her Post 9/11 GI Bill educational benefits to her dependents. APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: She was told that she only needed to transfer one month of the Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) to her eldest daughter prior to retirement and that she would be able to reallocate benefits to her other dependents in the future. However, she was miscounseled. When she contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), she was advised that she was ineligible to transfer her benefits because she was retired. Had she been properly briefed, individually or as a group about the TEB, she would have transferred her benefits to “each” of her children prior to her retirement. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A. STATEMENT OF FACTS: On 20 July 1988, the applicant initially entered the Regular Air Force. On 30 June 2012, the applicant was relieved from active duty and retired with a reason for separation of voluntary retirement: sufficient service for retirement. She was credited with 23 years, 11 months, and 11 days of active service. Any Service member on or after 1 August 2009, who is entitled to the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the time of the approval of his or her request to transfer that entitlement under this section, may transfer that entitlement provided he or she meets one of these conditions: Has at least 6 years of service in the Military Services (active duty or Selected Reserve), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA) Corps, or Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service (PHS) on the date of approval and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Military Services, NOAA Corps, or PHS from the date of election. Has at least 10 years of service in the Military Services (active duty or Selected Reserve), NOAA Corps, or PHS on the date of approval, is precluded by either standard policy (Service or DoD) or statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute. Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from 1 August 2009, through 31 July 2012, and agrees to serve the additional period, if any, specified in the following subparagraphs. A Service member is considered to be retirement eligible if he or she has completed 20 years of active Federal service or 20 qualifying years as computed pursuant to Title 10, United States Code (USC) § 12732. This subparagraph will no longer be in effect on 1 August 2013, and on or after that date all members must comply with subparagraphs above to be eligible for transfer of unused education benefits to family members. For individuals eligible for retirement on 1 August 2009, no additional service is required. For individuals eligible for retirement after 1 August 2009, and before 1 August 2010, 1 year of additional service is required. AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPXXX recommends denial indicating there is no evidence of an error or an injustice. DPSIT states the applicant did not allocate a month of benefits in MilConnect to all of her dependent children during her initial application and they are now ineligible. The applicant was approved for TEB on 9 August 2010 and incurred no service obligation. Since the stand-up of the TEB website on 1 August 2009, when a member submits a TEB request and does not allocate months of benefits to a dependent, a message pops up which states: "Warning: You have one or more eligible family members to whom you have not transferred months. If you do not transfer months to these individuals before you separate from the Armed Forces, you will not be able to do so afterwards. These family members will no longer be eligible for transferred educational assistance. Would you like to continue submitting your transfer request?" The two options provided are: a) OK (submits the request for approval in MilConnect) or b) Cancel (allows the member to make changes prior to submission). The applicant clicked the option to submit her request and was approved by Total Force Service Center personnel. When the member retired, effective 1 Jul 12, her dependent children, who were not allocated months of benefits, became ineligible by regulation as she did not allocate at least one month of benefits (AFI 36-2306, Attachment 9, A9.18.7.2.3). Finally, on the applicant’s DD Form 2648, Pre-Separation Counseling Checklist, she declined counseling on Education Benefits. The complete DPSIT evaluation is at Exhibit C. APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: The applicant reiterates her original contentions that she was under the impression the months she transferred to her eldest daughter fulfilled the requirement and qualified her to reallocate the benefit to her other children when needed. The education counselor never stated that he meant one month for each dependent. Although it was noted in the Air Force evaluation, she does not recall seeing a pop-up message stating that she had failed to transfer her benefits to her dependents. If she had seen this message, “I would have asked my counselor what it meant and if I needed to do anything else.” During her Pre-separation counseling, she declined educational counseling because she had already transferred benefits to her dependents and did not believe additional counseling was required. It was her intention to ensure all three dependents received a portion of the TEB, not just one. Had she been properly counseled on the TEB she would have given one month to each of her dependent children. The applicant’s complete response is at Exhibit E. THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. We took notice of the applicant’s complete submission in judging the merits of the case, to include her rebuttal of the Air Force advisory; however, we agree with the opinion and recommendation of the Air Force office of primary responsibility and adopt its rationale as the basis for our conclusion the applicant has not been the victim of an error of injustice. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we find no basis to recommend granting the requested relief. THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT: The applicant be notified the evidence presented did not demonstrate the existence of material error or injustice; the application was denied without a personal appearance; and the application will only be reconsidered upon the submission of newly discovered relevant evidence not considered with this application. The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2014-03525 in Executive Session on 11 May 15 under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 25 Aug 14, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Pertinent Excerpts from Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 20 Oct 14. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 17 Nov 14. Exhibit E. Letter, Applicant, dated 15 Dec 14.