RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-04595 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: His Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) under the Post-911 GI Bill be made retroactive to a date prior to his retirement date of 1 Oct 09. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He completed his retirement briefings in May and Jun 09 and started his terminal leave on 26 Jun 09. He was not notified of the option to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits before he retired. The applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit A. _________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: On 1 Oct 09, the applicant retired from the Regular Air Force in the grade of major (O-4). Post-9/11 GI Bill: Any member of the Armed Forces (active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted) on or after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and: • Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces on the date of election and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election. • Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or selected reserve) on the date of election, 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, or • Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from August 1, 2009, through August 1, 2013. A service member is considered to be retirement eligible if he or she has completed 20 years of active duty or 20 qualifying years of reserve service. • For those individuals eligible for retirement on August 1, 2009, no additional service is required. • For those individuals who have an approved retirement date after August 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, no additional service is required. • For those individuals eligible for retirement after August 1, 2009, and before August 1, 2010, 1 year of additional service after approval of transfer is required. • For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2010, and before August 1, 2011, 2 years of additional service after approval of transfer are required. • For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2011, and before August 1, 2012, 3 years of additional service after approval of transfer required. _________________________________________________________________ AIR FORCE EVALUATION: AFPC/DPSIT recommends denial noting that while the Air Force did not engage in a Service-wide effort to seek out members who were already on terminal leave or who had already completed their pre- separation counseling, in order to provide them with additional counseling on the Post-9/11 BI Bill, the applicant has not provided adequate justification/documentation showing he was wrongly denied proper counseling. Further, the applicant did receive pre-separation counseling for educational benefits prior to his terminal leave in Jun 09. DPSIT’s complete evaluation is at Exhibit C. _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 22 Dec 11 for review and comment within 30 days. As of this date, no response has been received by this office. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was timely filed. 3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice. While we note the steps the Air Force office of primary responsibility indicates were taken to inform eligible personnel of this new benefit, it appears that through no fault of the applicant, he was not timely made aware of his eligibility and the steps necessary to transfer his benefits to his dependents. As such, we find the evidence provided sufficient to resolve any doubt in this matter in the applicant’s favor and do not find it reasonable to conclude that he would have knowingly elected not to pursue use of this important entitlement. Therefore, we elect to resolve any doubt in this matter in behalf of the applicant and recommend the records be corrected as indicated below. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that he elected to transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill Educational Benefits on 30 September 2009. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2011-04595 in Executive Session on 11 Sep 12, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated, 14 Nov 11. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSIT, dated 15 Dec 11. Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 22 Dec 11.