BOARD DATE: 1 December 2015 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150001926 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 military records to show he enrolled in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) and elected spouse only coverage within one year of his marriage. 2. The applicant states he was a widower when he retired. He remarried on 28 June 2013. A few weeks later he took his wife to Offutt Air Force Base and she was issued an identification (ID) card and enrolled in Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS); however, the airman failed to enroll his wife in the SBP. He did not have access to a printer to print the required form for SBP enrollment nor did he have any help. He is disabled and cannot drive. He had over 32 years for pension purposes and 24 qualifying years for retirement. 3. The applicant provides: * License and Certificate of Marriage * ID card for spouse * emails CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. After having prior enlisted service in the U.S. Air Force, the applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 18 May 1975. 2. On 13 March 2002, while serving in the USAR, he was issued a Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay at Age 60 (20-year letter). There is no indication that he made an SBP election at that time. 3. A DD Form 2656 (Data for Payment of Retired Personnel), dated 19 June 2012, shows he did not have any eligible dependents under the SBP and he was not married. 4. On 23 July 2012, he was placed on the Retired List. 5. He married his current spouse on 28 June 2013. 6. In a telephone call with the applicant on 2 November 2015, he stated: a. He did not make an SBP election when he received his 20-year letter. When he retired in 2012 he was a widower. His former wife died in 2007 and he remarried in June 2013. b. When he enrolled his new wife in DEERS on 14 August 2013, he thought that he had also enrolled her in the SBP. When he received his pay statement for July he realized that his wife was not enrolled in SBP. c. He completed a DD Form 2656-6 (Survivor Benefit Plan Election Change Certificate) and mailed it to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service on 31 July 2014. He received a letter from DFAS dated 20 August 2014, which stated that his wife could not be enrolled in SBP because his application was received more than one year after his marriage. 7. Public Law 92-425, enacted on 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. 8. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1448(a)(5), provides that a person who is not married or 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 in which that person marries or acquires that dependent child. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant requests a change of his SBP coverage to show he elected "spouse only" coverage within 1 year of marriage. 2. Public law requires that a person who is not married upon becoming eligible to participate in SBP but who later marries 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. 3. He contends he thought that updating his DEERS record would also enroll his spouse in SBP. The evidence provided by the applicant shows that on 14 August 2013 he enrolled his spouse in DEERS. 4. Notwithstanding the applicant’s assertion that the DEERS clerk erred, there is no government error. DEERS captures the fact that a person is a dependent and is authorized medical, commissary, exchange and other privileges. It does not create entitlement to RCSBP/SBP which is a quasi-insurance program opted into and paid for, partially through premiums charged to the individual. 5. However, because the applicant had a spouse at the time he received his 20-year letter, his failure to respond meant that his coverage defaulted to spouse coverage. That spouse coverage went into suspension at her death and is revived by virtue of his remarriage. 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 by showing he elected to enroll for spouse-only RCSBP coverage in March 2002, based on his full retirement pay and that the coverage which was suspended by his previous wife’s death was revived upon his 28 June 2013 remarriage. _______ _ 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) AR20150001926 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20150001926 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1