DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No. 2403-20 Ref: Signature Date From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records To: Secretary of the Navy Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD ICO ., USN , Ref: (a) Title 10 U.S.C. § 1552 (b) BUPERSNOTE 1780 dtd 14 Sep 15 (c) DODI 1341.13, Incorporating Chg 1 dtd 12 Jul 18 (d) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense memo of 25 Oct 2018 (e) MILPERSMAN 1160-120 Encl: (1) DD Form 149 w/attachments (2) Subject’s naval record 1. Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Subject, hereinafter referred to as Petitioner, filed enclosure (1) with the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board), requesting that his naval record be corrected to establish eligibility to transfer Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits to eligible dependents. 2. The Board, consisting of , reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on 29 March 2021 and, pursuant to its regulations, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval record, and applicable statutes, regulations and policies. 3. The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice, found that, before applying to this Board, he exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulations within the Department of the Navy. The Board made the following findings: a. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (Post-9/11 GI Bill, Public Law 110­ 252) was signed into law on 30 June 2008 and became effective on 1 August 2009. The bill provides financial support for education and housing for service members with at least 90 days of service on or after 11 September 2001. The act also includes provision for qualifying service members to transfer education benefits to their eligible dependents. General descriptions of the essential components of the law were widely available beginning in summer 2008 but specific implementing guidance was not published until summer 2009. b. In accordance with reference (b), the option to transfer a Service member’s unused education benefits to an eligible dependent required a 4-year additional service obligation at the time of election for those eligible to retire on or after 1 August 2012. Additionally, enlisted personnel were required to have sufficient time on contract to meet the additional service requirement prior to initiating their electronic transfer election. Furthermore, the policy directed members to periodically check the status of their application. If the request was disapproved, members were required to take corrective action and reapply with a new service obligation end date. Moreover, there were provisions in the policy that indicated if a member was prohibited from completing their service obligation as a result of Navy or Department of Defense policy, or federal statute, the obligation would be adjusted to the maximum amount of time allowed by that policy or statute. c. Reference (c), deleted the authority to adjust obligations for service members with 10 years of service that were unable to complete the additional service obligation because of Navy Department of Defense policy, or federal statute. However, reference (d) deferred implementation of deletion of the aforementioned until 12 July 2019. d. Reference (e), indicates the High Year Tenure (HYT) gate for an E-7 is 24 years length of active duty service and personnel are only authorized to reenlist or extend up to the HYT date for their present grade. e. Petitioner’s Active Duty Service Date was 11 October 1994. f. Petitioner reenlisted on 1 February 2011 for a term of 6-years. g. Petitioner submitted Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) applications on 7 May 2013 and 10 July 2014. The applications were rejected for not committing “to the required additional service time”. h. Petitioner reenlisted on 10 October 2014 for a term of 4-years which aligned with his HYT gate. i. Petitioner submitted his final TEB application on 9 September 2015. The application was approved with an obligation end date (OED) of 31 October 2018. j. Petitioner transferred to the Fleet Reserve effective 1 October 2018 due HYT. CONCLUSION Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board finds the existence of an injustice warranting the following corrective action. Petitioner was approved to transfer Post­9/11 GI Bill education benefits with an OED of 31 October 2018; however, he failed to meet the obligated service requirement by 1-month upon transferring to the Fleet Reserve. The Board found Petitioner met the provisions of reference (b) to have his OED adjusted to align with his 30 September 2018 transfer to the Fleet Reserve in light of references (d) and (e); therefore, under these circumstances, relief is warranted. RECOMMENDATION That Petitioner’s naval record be corrected, where appropriate, to show that: Petitioner elected to transfer unused education benefits to /15-months and /12-months through the MilConnect TEB portal on 9 September 2015. Commander, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-314) reviewed Petitioner’s TEB application and it was approved on 9 September 2015 with an OED of 30 September 2018 to align with mandatory retirement. A copy of this Report of Proceedings will be filed in Petitioner’s naval record. 4. It is certified that a quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board’s proceedings in the above-entitled matter. 5. Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section 6(e) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 723.6(e)), and having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the authority of the reference, has been approved by the Board on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy. 4/30/2021