ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 5 March 2020 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20180012221 APPLICANT REQUESTS: an exception to policy to transfer his Post 9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) to his dependent. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record under the Provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552) * Statement, 21 June 2018 * Officer Record Brief * Transcript, University of South Dakota, dated 1 September 2005 * Academic Record, Naval Postgraduate School, undated * DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), dated 30 September 2015 * Letter, Department of Veterans Affairs, dated 5 February 2016 REFERENCES: 1. Public Law 110-252, as amended by Public Law 111-377, identified the qualifications to receive the Post-9/11 GI Bill, one of which was that the service member must have performed active service on or after 11 September 2001 to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Public Law 110-252 limits the 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. a. A Soldier must be serving on active duty or as a member of the Selected Reserve at the time of transfer of educational benefits to his or her dependent(s) on or after 1 August 2009. b. A Soldier must have at least 6 years of eligible service in order to transfer educational benefits to a spouse and at least 10 years of eligible service to transfer to eligible children. c. A Soldier may only transfer to eligible family members. To be considered an eligible family member, the spouse or child must be enrolled in the Dependent Eligibility 1 Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS). Children lose eligible family member status upon turning age 21 or at marriage. Eligible family member status can be extended from age 21 to age 23 only if the child is enrolled as a full-time student and unmarried (verified by DEERS). Wards of State are not eligible for the benefits. Once the benefits are transferred, children may use the benefits up to age 26. d. A Soldier must also agree to serve the prescribed additional service obligation based on the time in service the Soldier had on 1 August 2009. 2. Department of Defense Instruction 1341.13 states service members with at least 6 years, but less than 10 years of service, agree to an additional 4-year service obligation from the TEB request date. However, Soldiers in this time frame while in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System process are not permitted by the U.S. Army retention policy to extend or reenlist for the additional 4-year service obligation. An exception to policy (ETP) to extend or reenlist must be approved. To initiate an ETP request, a Soldier must contact his or her servicing career counselor to request the initiation of an ETP request to extend or reenlist in order to meet the additional service obligation. The ETP request must be approved and the Soldier must extend or reenlist for the additional 4-year service obligation prior to the physical evaluation board finding the Soldier is physically unfit as indicated on a DA Form 199 (Physical Evaluation Board Proceedings). Soldiers with 10 or more years of qualifying service will not require an ETP, but must submit a request for TEB after the medical separation order has been provided to the Soldier and before the effective date of the medical separation order. The Soldier may request TEB through the TEB website and should email a copy of the medical separation order to the U.S. Army Human Resources. The Soldier's TEB service obligation will be adjusted to meet the Soldier's date of medical separation. 3. Army Regulation 600-8-24 (Officer Transfers and Discharges) prescribes the officer transfers from active duty to the Reserve Component and discharge functions for all officers on active duty for 30 days or more. Chapter 6 (Retirements) applies to nondisability retirement of Active Duty List commissioned and warrant officers on active duty, to include Active Guard Reserve commissioned and warrant officers, who have 20 years or more of active Federal service. Section II (Voluntary Retirements), paragraph 6-13c, states the Secretary of the Army has delegated approval authority for voluntary retirements (waiver/nonwaiver) to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Human Resources Command. The Commanding General, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, may approve, disapprove, or delay/defer the requested retirement date of an officer who has completed 20 but less than 30 years of active Federal service. FACTS: 1. The applicant states he believes his revocation of his Post-9/11 GI Bill TEB should be reinstated. a. He submitted a request to transfer his educational benefits to his son in September 2013. b. He was a non-select for promotion to colonel in the primary zone in 2014. Therefore, he submitted a request to retire. He was told he had to revoke his TEB election or remain on active duty for 33 more months to satisfy the TEB requirement. c. He decided that remaining in the Army was no longer practical based on the fact that his son would be starting high school that same year and he was physically unable to perform his job responsibilities satisfactorily. To become eligible for retirement and provide stabilization for his son, he revoked his TEB election. d. At the time of his TEB revocation, he was a two-time non-select for promotion to colonel with 25 years of service. Recently, he learned he could have submitted a request for an ETP to retain his TEB election and it likely would have been approved due to his non-selection for promotion to the next grade. e. At the time of his retirement, he held two advanced degrees, making educational benefits for himself minimal. Additionally, he was no longer able to physically perform his job in the military and would not have been able to complete the remaining 33 months to meet the service obligation. At the time of his retirement, he received a 90-percent disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs for his service- connected disabilities. f. His son is scheduled to begin college in August 2019 and granting an ETP for the TEB would tremendously relieve the economic burden. 2. He retired on 30 September 2015. His DD Form 214 shows: * he completed 22 years, 9 months, 12 days of net active service during this period * he completed 3 years and 5 months prior inactive service * the separation authority as Army Regulation 600-8-24, paragraph 6-13c * his narrative reason for separation as sufficient service for retirement 3. He provided a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs, dated 5 February 2016, showing he was awarded a combined service-connected disability rating of 90 percent effective 1 February 2016. 4. The U.S. Army Human Resources Command memorandum, dated 25 February 2020, subject: Advisory Opinion for the Transfer of Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits for (Applicant), recommends disapproval. The Chief, Education Incentives Branch, states: a. There is no regulatory provision for the applicant's request. b. The applicant submitted a TEB request on 16 September 2013 and it was approved on 17 September 2013 with a TEB obligation ending date of 15 September 2017. c. The applicant does not have a record in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System or physical evaluation board proceedings in his Army Military Human Resource Record. The applicant's DD Form 214 does not reflect a medical disability. d. The applicant could have remained in service until his mandatory removal date of 1 January 2021, by which time he would have completed his TEB obligation ending date. 5. His Army Military Human Resource Record is void of any medical separation proceedings. His record contains no documentation showing that the applicant was retired by reason of physical disability. He did not meet the eligibility criteria to request an ETP due to medical separation. BOARD DISCUSSION: 1. The Board carefully considered the applicant’s request, supporting documents, evidence in the records, and regulatory requirements. The Board noted the facts presented above. The applicant was retired by reason of sufficient service for retirement and not by reason of disability. As such, in accordance with regulation and policy, the applicant is not qualified for TEB beyond retirement or ETP to retain TEB beyond retirement. Based on a preponderance of evidence, the Board determined that there was no error or injustice in the applicant’s TEB benefits. 2. After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found that relief is not warranted. 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. 12/3/2020 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. //NOTHING FOLLOWS//