ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 12 November 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170014706 APPLICANT REQUESTS: an exception to policy to transfer educational benefits to his family members under the transfer of educational benefits (TEB) provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record). FACTS: 1. The applicant states during his second deployment of four to Iraq/Afghanistan he was deployed. While there he completed his 15 years of service, he applied for a Redux so he could receive the 30K bonus and for the option to transfer his GI educational bill to his family. He was told by his admin that both had been successfully processed and shortly he received his redux payment. He did not feel the need to check on the GI Bill transfer because Admin told him they had already done it. His oldest daughter is now a senior and looking into colleges and that's why he went to check and make sure he could transfer the education benefits but records showed that it was never changed. Honestly, when in a combat zone focus is lost on the other important things such as this. 2. A review of the applicant's service record shows: a. Having had prior service in the Marine Corps, he enlisted in the Regular Army on 8 January 2007, he had an immediate reenlistment on 30 September 2009. b. He was honorably retired on 30 November 2014. His DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) shows he completed 20 years, 7 months and 23 days of honorable active service. 3. An advisory opinion was received from the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC) on 5 September 2019. An advisory official recommended disapproval of his request to transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits. The advisory official stated: a. Public Law 110-252 establishes legal limitations on the transferability of unused Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. Further, § 3020 Public Law 110-252, limits eligibility to transfer unused benefits to those members of the Armed Forces who are serving on active duty or as a member of the Selected Reserve on or after 1 August 2009, have at least six years in Active Duty or Selected Reserve status and no current negative action flag, commit to the service obligation, and transfer benefits to the dependents through the Department of Defense's (DOD) Transfer of Education (TEB) website, http:/lmilconnect.dmdc.mil. All benefits must be transferred before the Service Member separates or retires. b. Administrative relief is not recommended based on the following: (1) The Post 9/11 GI Bill is a benefit for the Soldier as a reward for service during a time of conflict. The option to transfer education benefits to a dependent is considered an incentive, not a benefit. The transfer incentive was included in the statute for the express purpose of recruitment and retention. It is neither a reward for service nor a transition benefit. Therefore, the incentive requires the Soldier to commit and fulfill additional service, in most cases, from the TEB request date. (2) Soldiers receive counseling on all GI Bills, including the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefit and the TEB incentive at various venues throughout the Soldier's career (in/outprocessing at Education Centers, Commander's Calls), upon demobilization or release from active duty (REFRAD), and during the last year before separation or retirement (Soldier for Life (SFL)-Transition Assistance Processing (TAP)). Soldiers have had access to and received counseling on GI Bill benefits through SFL-TAP (e.g., ACAP XXI or TAP XXI) since 2002 on-line and in-person. Soldiers are required to access SFLTAP on-line initially and follow-up in person at the SFL-TAP Centers. (3) The TEB incentive does not require a formal one-on-one counseling, group counseling, nor a reduction in pay to make oneself eligible. A Soldier acquires TEB eligibility as stated in paragraph 3a and makes dependents eligible by awarding at least through the ABCMR. Any Soldier retiring after this timeframe is considered as having sufficient time to have had access to TEB incentive information. The applicant retired effective 30 November 2014, which was not within this TEB 90-day implementation phase; therefore, he is considered as having sufficient time to have researched the TEB incentive. (4) Applicant had several years prior to his retirement to research the eligibility criteria for the TEB incentive. The applicant should have obtained the TEB eligibility criteria through the Department of Defense (DOD) Directive-Type Memorandum 09-003 (dated 22 June 2009), paragraph 3a(3)(c), the Department of the Army (DA) Post 911 GI Bill Policy Memorandum, paragraph 17a(4)(c), DoD, DA, and HRC websites, and various briefings at the installation level. 4. The Army Review Board Agency (ARBA), by letter, on 12 September 2019, to the applicant advised him that the ARBA received an advisory opinion from HRC, stating the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) can adopt the advisory opinion recommendation in whole, in part, or reject the recommendation, based on the Board's analysis of the facts and circumstances of his case. The ARBA placed his application on hold for 30 days to allow him the opportunity to submit comments on the advisory opinion, no response received from the applicant to date. 5. By law and military directive, a Soldier must fulfil the service remaining requirements for an approved TEB request. 6. Public Law 110-252 established legal limitations on the transferability of unused Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found the relief was not warranted. Based upon the advisory opinions findings and recommendations, as well as a lack of any rebuttal of those by the applicant, the Board found that the applicant retired too soon to be qualified to transfer his benefits to his children. In accordance with the statue dated 1 August 2009, he didn’t meet the time retirement. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING X X X DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. 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. REFERENCES: 1. Public Law 110-252 established legal limitations on the transferability of unused Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. The law limits eligibility to transfer unused benefits to those members of the Armed Forces who are serving on active duty or a member of the Selected Reserve on or after 1 August 2009: 2. On 22 June 2009, DOD established the criteria for eligibility and transfer of unused educational benefits to eligible family members. The policy states and eligible individual is any member of the Armed Forces on or after 1 August 2009 who, at the time of the approval of the individual's request to transfer entitlement to educational assistance under this section, is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and a. 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; or b. 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 c. is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from 1 August 2009 through 1 August 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. 3. On 10 July 2009, the Army released the Post-9/11 GI Bill Implementation Policy which identified and established responsibilities, eligibility criteria, benefits, and detailed guidance on the administration of the program. The policy states, in part, that those who retire on or before 1 August 2009 are, by law, not eligible to transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits because their last day of duty will be 31 July 2009 and they will transfer to the Retired List on 1 August 2009. However, the policy does apply to those so retired if they are recalled to active duty and serve on or after 1 August 2009 and before 2 August 2012. 4. Military Personnel Message Number 13-102, dated 15 April 2013, subject: Post 9/11 GI Bill TEB Four-Year Service Obligation for Approved TEB Requests Submitted after 1 August 2013, applied to Soldiers who would submit a Post 9/11 GI Bill REB on or after 1 August 2013, resulting in an approval to transfer. NOTHING FOLLOWS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170014706 4 1