PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           2 December 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-07137

	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. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. John H. Kern		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that his Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) election be changed from “spouse” coverage to “former spouse” coverage.

3.  The applicant states he does not know how his current spouse came to be designated his beneficiary.  It was always his intention to designate his former spouse as his SBP beneficiary in accordance with his divorce decree.  

4.	The applicant’s military records show that after having prior enlisted service, he entered active duty as a commissioned officer on 7 July 1976. 

5.	The applicant and his first spouse were divorced on 13 June 1990.  The divorce decree ordered him, when he came into a position to legally do so, to designate his first spouse as his SBP beneficiary.

6.  In August 1990, he married his second spouse.

7.  On 7 June 1996, the applicant completed DD Form 2656, electing SBP coverage for “spouse only.”

8.  The applicant retired from the Regular Army on 31 July 1996, in pay grade   O-5, after completing over 21 years of creditable active service.

9.	On 15 October 1996, he notified the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) – Cleveland Center that his SBP beneficiary was incorrect.

10	 In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Army Retirement Services.  The opinion recommended approval of the applicant’s request.  While there was no government error, the applicant requested the change shortly after learning of his error.

11.  Public Law 92-245, the SBP, enacted 21 September 1972, provided that military members on active duty could elect to have their retired pay reduced to provide for an annuity after death to surviving dependents.

12.	  Public Law 97-252, dated 8 September 1982, established SBP for former military spouses.

13.	  Public Law 99-661, dated 14 November 1986, permitted divorce courts to order SBP coverage in those cases where the retiree had elected spouse coverage at retirement or was still on active duty and had not yet made an SBP election.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  At the time the applicant divorced his first spouse, the divorce decree ordered him to make her his SBP beneficiary when he became eligible to make that election.

2.  When the applicant retired, he erroneously named his then current spouse as his SBP beneficiary.  As soon as he realized the error, he requested DFAS  make the correction.

3.  The advisory opinion recommended approval of the applicant’s request.

4.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by: 

a.	showing that the applicant applied for “former spouse” coverage upon his retirement on 1 August 1996; and

b.	notifying the applicant’s current spouse of this action.

BOARD VOTE:  

RVO___  GDP_____  JHK_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-07137	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19981202	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	137.04	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.