BOARD DATE: 18 August 2020 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20180006005 APPLICANT REQUESTS: correction of his records to reflect he is enrolled in the Legacy Retirement System instead of the Blended Retirement System (BRS). APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * DA Form 2823 (Sworn Statement), dated 10 April 2017 * NGB Form 23A (Army National Guard Current Annual Statement), dated 14 March 2018 * Email correspondence from Financial Literacy Specialist, Army National Guard Bureau to applicant, dated 10 April 2018 * Congressional Inquiry, dated 28 November 2018 FACTS: 1. The applicant stated he would like to have his military retirement option reverted from the Blended Retirement System (BRS) back to the Legacy System. a. He accidentally opted into the BRS while checking a Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) through his MyPay account on his smart phone. The displayed page led him to believe he was verifying his mailing address that had recently changed. He did not knowingly click on the BRS opt-in link. He did not realize he was in the process of the BRS opt-in until it was already submitted. The page showed that the BRS opt-in was pending. b. He discovered his mistake on 6 April 2018 and within two hours of accidentally submitting the opt-in, he contacted his unit S1, finance department, state retirement Noncommissioned officer in charge (NCOIC), Brigade Command Sergeant Major (CSM), Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), Thrift Savings Plans (TSP), and the National Guard Bureau (NGB), trying to resolve the issue before it became effective. Unfortunately, they informed him that there was no process available to cancel or reverse the action. c. He has 18 years of service with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard (PAARNG). He plans to serve an additional 22 years until his minimum retirement age of 57 as a military technician. He previously reviewed the BRS option and found it would drastically reduce his pension. This was simply an error when he opted in. 2. A review of the applicant’s service records reflects the following: a. On 2 March 2000 he enlisted in the US Army National Guard for an 8 year period in the rank of Private (PVT)/E-1 and is still serving. b. A Memorandum for Record (MFR) – Notification of Eligibility for Retired Pay at Non-Regular Retirement (20-Year Letter) dated 2 April 2020 reflecs his completion of the required years of qualifying Reserve service and is therefore eligible for retired pay upon application at age 60. c. His National Guard Current Annual Statement, DAT2 April 2020, reveals his retirement points show he has 20 years, 00 months and 00 days of qualifying retirement years and total creditable points of 3,424. His pay entry basic date is 2 March 2000. 3. Correspondence between the Army Human Resources Command Systems Support Branch and the analyst on this case, shows the applicant signed up for BRS on 6 April 2018. He is currently serving in the Army National Guard and has 3,424 retirement points. His pay entry basic date (PEBD) and date of initial entry to military (DIEMS) is 2 March 2000. 4. The applicant provides a Sworn Statement wherein he states: a. On 06 April 2018 at approximately 1400 hours, he was using his smart-phone to check a Leave and Earning Statement (LES) in his MyPay account. While logged into his account, a page was displayed requesting him to verify his home of record. b. He thought it was a push notification to verify his information as many of the military accounts commonly do. He clicked through the process of confirming his information. The page then displayed a statement informing him, he had enrolled into the Blended Retirement System (BRS) and it was pending an effective date. c. He realized it wasn’t a verification of his information but an enrollment into the BRS. Realizing his mistake, at 1409 hours, he contacted a representative at Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to correct the problem. The DFAS representative informed him there was nothing they could do on their end to resolve the issue and referred him to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) department. d. At 1416 hours, he contacted a representative at TSP, and was informed there was nothing they could do to resolve the problem. e. At 1420 hours, he contacted his Battalion S1 to attempt to resolve the issue and was told there was nothing they could do on her end. The Battalion S1 stated there was nothing she could do from her end and made a phone call to the State Finance department in an attempt to stop the pending submission. f. The finance department informed her that they could not stop a pending BRS submission since they did not have visibility of it until it has been processed. g. At 1500 hours, he contacted his Brigade CSM, to inform him of the issue and was referred to the State Retirement Services NCOIC. h. At 1542 hours, the applicant was informed there were no processes in place at this time to reverse an erroneous BRS opt-in. It was further explained the National Guard Bureau (NGB) was managing a national tracking list of Soldiers who had erroneously opt-in to the BRS. The applicant was referred to the NGB's Financial Literacy Specialist. i. At 1557 hour, NGB's Financial Literacy Specialist explained that numerous Soldiers nation-wide had erroneously opt-in to the BRS. He was instructed to add himself to the national tracker for erroneous opt-ins and suggested that he complete an Army Board of Correction of Military Records request. j. Throughout all of these contacts, everyone acknowledged that the BRS opt-in process was flawed and inadequately placed in the MyPay accounts. k. Weeks prior to his erroneous BRS opt-in, he was trained on the BRS comparisons to the Legacy Retirement System. At that point, he reviewed his current annual statement, dated 17 March 2018 of points and projected retirement pay. It was then, that he made the decision, BRS was not the most beneficial retirement plan for him. l. The applicant had 18 years of service with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and planned to serve an additional 22 years until his minimum retirement age of 57 for military technicians. m. He concluded the BRS would reduce his projected monthly military pension (at the current grade with minimum points) by 20% or $880.00. The loss was no comparison to the 5% matching TSP contributions that he would have accumulated over the next 8 years and the compounded interest over the next 22 years. n. The applicant does not believe a Soldier should be able to make an accidental BRS opt-in, which drastically changes their retirement pay, with just a few clicks from their MyPay account. The Army doesn't even allow a Soldier to change their home of record without processing the proper paperwork through their unit Readiness NCO and S1 section. 5. The applicant also provided: a. Email correspondence between the applicant and the Financial Literacy Specialist/Blended Retirement System to try and reverse the BRS submission. b. A review of the NGB Form 23A (Army National Guard Current Annual Statement), shows he had 18 years, 00 months and 00 days of qualifying retirement years and total creditable points of 3,405. 6. The Army Review Boards Agency Congressional Liaison and Inquiries offices sent a letter in response to the applicant on the open case informing him it was being reviewed. 7. On 31 January 2020, the Chief, Compenstation and Entitlements Division, from the Office of the Deputy, Chief of Staff, G-1, provided a memorandum to the Army Review Boards Agency that states; a. After careful review, the Army G-1 supports certain requests for removal from the BRS despite enrollment on 26 January 2018 or earlier. b. On 1 January 2018 eligible Soldiers were given access to the BRS link on MyPay to enroll in the BRS. The system process required Soldiers to follow five separate screens to include providing their current address and date of birth. Screen two required the Soldier to acknowledge that he/she understands that the decision to opt-in is irrevocable once they complete the election. On screen three and four, Soldiers had to check a box and answer a question respectively that stated "I fully understand that I am opting into the BRS." Screen five allowed the Soldier to save and print the confirmation and again informed the Soldier that they were opting into the BRS. c. Prior to the beginning of the BRS enrollment, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) moved the Leave and Earning Statement (LES) link on MyPay and replaced it with the BRS opt-in link. Service members immediately began to contact their respective Services of their "erroneous" enrollment while trying to acquire a LES and surprisingly received notification that they had opted into the BRS. After several complaints, the Department in coordination with DFAS, moved the LES link back to its customary first position on MyPay and relocate the BRS link effective 26 January 2018. d. Given the relatively small numbers involved and the potential long-term impact on the Soldier, Army G-1 considers it is in the Army's best interest that giving these Soldiers the benefit of the doubt who notified the Army of their enrollment between 1- 26 January 2018, is the right thing to do. 8. See REFERENCES below. BOARD DISCUSSION: The Board carefully considered the applicant’s request and supporting documents, including the G1 advisory opinion and the applicant’s rebuttal and the Board found sufficient evidence to grant relief. The board found that the G1’s acknowledgement that there had been prior issues with service members who wanted an LES and instead somehow were automatically enrolled in a retirement system they didn’t want lent credence to the applicants assertion that he did not intend to select the blended retirement system (BRS). The Board agreed that the applicant faced a further injustice when he attempted to correct the system error shortly after his erroneous selection of the BRS and was told his error could not be reversed. Therefore, the Board found that relief was warranted. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 :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: a. showing that the applicant selected and is and has always been enrolled in the legacy retirement system, and b. paying him any unpaid retroactive retired pay as a result of this correction. 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. ALARACT Message Number 028/2018 states, effective 1 January 2018, eligible Soldiers who completed the mandatory training were eligible to enroll in the BRS. The Department of Defense policy is that this informed decision by a Soldier eligible to enroll in the BRS is irrevocable. Several Soldiers from all components have notified their respective component and the Army G-1 of their unintentional enrollment in the BRS. 2. Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum, Implementation of the Blended Retirement System dated January 27, 2017 states that the BRS goes into effect January 1, 2018. Service members who enter the military on or after January 1, 2018, will automatically be enrolled in BRS. Service members who enter service on or before December 31, 2017, are grandfathered into the legacy high-3 retirement system. However, service members in the active component as of December 31, 2017, who have served fewer than 12 years, or service members in the Reserve component who have accrued less than 4,320 retirement points as of December 31, 2017 and are in a paid status, will have the option of electing BRS or to remain in the legacy retirement system. Those currently serving members who are eligible to opt into BRS will have an entire year to make their opt-in decision. The opt-in or election period for BRS begins January 1, 2018, and concludes on December 31, 2018. The decision to opt-in is irrevocable. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20180006005 6 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1