Docket No. 11438-19
Ref: Signature Date

 
Dear   
 
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request.  You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been denied.  After careful and conscientious consideration of relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied. 
 
A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 3 December 2020.  The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.  Your allegations of error and injustice were reviewed in accordance with administrative regulations and procedures applicable to the proceedings of this Board.  Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of your application, together with all material submitted in support thereof, relevant portions of your naval record and applicable statutes, regulations and policies. 
 
You requested to decline participation in Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) and receive a refund for premiums paid.  The Board, in its review of your entire record and application, carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, to include your assertions.  The Board concluded that Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation 7000.14-R outlines the requirements for SBP elections.  Specifically, elections to participate in or decline SBP are irrevocable.  Conversely, there are specified exceptions that authorize total disabled members to withdraw from SBP participation, but the policy stipulates SBP premiums will be refunded to a widow or widower upon service member’s death; there are no provisions in policy for an immediate refund.  A review of your record indicates you elected SBP Spouse coverage on 6 July 1994 with spouse concurrence and transferred to the Temporary Disability Retired List effective 9 July 1994.  Thereafter, you withdrew SBP consent as a result of being rated totally disabled on a continuous basis since 21 August 1997.   Moreover, there is no indication that you voluntarily discontinued SBP participation during a 1-year period, which began on the second anniversary of the date of commencement of retired pay. 
 
It is regretted that the circumstances of your reconsideration petition are such that favorable action cannot be taken.  You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon the submission of new matters, which will require you to complete and submit a new DD Form 149.  New matters are those not previously presented to or considered by the Board.  In the absence of new matters for reconsideration, the decision of the Board is final, and your only recourse would be to seek relief, at no cost to the Board, from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. 
 
It is important to keep in mind that a presumption of regularity attaches to all official records.  Consequently, when applying for a correction of an official naval record, the burden is on the applicant to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice. 
  
Sincerely,