As all of you pulling collateral duties in the Admin shop know, the migration to the Electronic Service Record has been chugging along for what feels like the past 2 decades. I was in boot camp in 1996 and remember the promise that "the Navy would be paperless by 1999". Now that they have finally gotten serious about it, those of us who are on the execution end of what that paperwork actually means is feeling the ripple effect.
I know that when I was out there wiggling sticks and smelling the jet fuel, I didn't really give a second thought to my death benefits. Most of us just go to work with the expectation that if something bad happens that our family will be taken care of and our dead carcass will be planted somewhere. That will happen, but your PAGE 2 is really important to make sure that your family is taken care of and that the right people get the money that they have coming to them.
This brings me to DEATH GRATUITY. There have been some significant changes to this payment over the past few years. Of specific note, it was recently increased from $8,000 to $100,000. That's a hell of a lot of money, and the way the page 2 in many of your service records is written, it may not be going to who you think it is going to.
When the DG instruction was re-written following the increase, the law was changed on who could get the $100,000. Payment of death gratuity used to automatically go to your Primary Next of Kin (PNOK).
There are currently two versions of the Page 2 on the street, with different statements for designation of death gratuity.
The old version states: Person to recieve gratuity pay (no spouse or child surviving).
The new version does not have the (no spouse or child surviving) statement.
The problem we are having is that when the form switched, the software that PSD was using automatically pulled the data elements from the old form and put them in the new form. Since nobody put their spouse or child in the block (because they would be getting the money anyway), we are seeing a lot of Page 2's where death gratuity is being awarded to someone other than a surviving spouse or child. We have been able to dodge most of these bullets because the new forms are electronic and not physically signed.
For those of you running an admin shop, I strongly reccomend that you review the changes to the DG instruction: http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/fmr/07a/07a_36.pdf
That will open as a .pdf file, and it's from the DoD FMR Colume 7A Ch 36 December of 2010.
Also make sure that all of your guys SIGN a new copy of the page 2 WITHOUT the "no spouse/child surviving) portion. Some admin shops are keeping "junk jackets" with important papers like the Page 2 and SGLI election forms in them, and some aren't. While the ESR is working it's kinks out, I would err on the side of caution and keep these papers for the guys in your squadron.
It goes without saying that your folks have to keep these up to date when they move, get married, get divorced, have kids, etc. When someone in your shop splatters themselves on the way to work on their new GSXR 1000 and the CACO is looking for the correct door to knock on, these documents are what we go on. Much hate and woe falls onto the Admin-O when paperwork isn't up to date and death notificaitons get delayed.
While I have your attention, PAAD (Person Authorized to Direct Disposition) is also on the Page 2. This is the person that is going to decide what happens to your dead carcass when you go to the big ready room in the sky. If you divorced on bad terms, you probably want to make sure that it isn't your ex wife. If she wants to burn your ass one last time (like having you cremated and flushing your ashes), then that is her right if she is still on your page 2 as PAAD. Don't put your mom and dad through that shit. Fix your paperwork.
We are looking at getting an NAVADMIN published to address these concerns, but that process takes FOREVER and pushing anything through DC is a nightmare. You can do good work on the deckplates now, and even look super smart to your CO in the process.
Cheers,
Bevo
I know that when I was out there wiggling sticks and smelling the jet fuel, I didn't really give a second thought to my death benefits. Most of us just go to work with the expectation that if something bad happens that our family will be taken care of and our dead carcass will be planted somewhere. That will happen, but your PAGE 2 is really important to make sure that your family is taken care of and that the right people get the money that they have coming to them.
This brings me to DEATH GRATUITY. There have been some significant changes to this payment over the past few years. Of specific note, it was recently increased from $8,000 to $100,000. That's a hell of a lot of money, and the way the page 2 in many of your service records is written, it may not be going to who you think it is going to.
When the DG instruction was re-written following the increase, the law was changed on who could get the $100,000. Payment of death gratuity used to automatically go to your Primary Next of Kin (PNOK).
To review, your PNOK CAN NOT BE DESIGNATED OR CHANGED. PNOK is determined by public law and backed up in numerous military instructions. If you are married, your PNOK is your spouse. If you are not married but have a child, your PNOK is your child (even if they are a minor). If you are not married and don't have children, your PNOK is your eldest parent.
With the change in policy, you can designate your death gratuity to anyone you want to get a $100,000 payday. A word of caution though, if you give it to someone who is a minor, they won't get the money until they turn 18 or until someone gets "conservatorship" papers on that child. If you leave it to the child and your ex-wife has custody, then your ex-wife is going to end up with the money as soon as she produces those papers. For this reason, I have DG going to my father for safe keeping since I don't trust my ex-wife not to blow it. There are currently two versions of the Page 2 on the street, with different statements for designation of death gratuity.
The old version states: Person to recieve gratuity pay (no spouse or child surviving).
The new version does not have the (no spouse or child surviving) statement.
The problem we are having is that when the form switched, the software that PSD was using automatically pulled the data elements from the old form and put them in the new form. Since nobody put their spouse or child in the block (because they would be getting the money anyway), we are seeing a lot of Page 2's where death gratuity is being awarded to someone other than a surviving spouse or child. We have been able to dodge most of these bullets because the new forms are electronic and not physically signed.
For those of you running an admin shop, I strongly reccomend that you review the changes to the DG instruction: http://www.defenselink.mil/comptroller/fmr/07a/07a_36.pdf
That will open as a .pdf file, and it's from the DoD FMR Colume 7A Ch 36 December of 2010.
Also make sure that all of your guys SIGN a new copy of the page 2 WITHOUT the "no spouse/child surviving) portion. Some admin shops are keeping "junk jackets" with important papers like the Page 2 and SGLI election forms in them, and some aren't. While the ESR is working it's kinks out, I would err on the side of caution and keep these papers for the guys in your squadron.
It goes without saying that your folks have to keep these up to date when they move, get married, get divorced, have kids, etc. When someone in your shop splatters themselves on the way to work on their new GSXR 1000 and the CACO is looking for the correct door to knock on, these documents are what we go on. Much hate and woe falls onto the Admin-O when paperwork isn't up to date and death notificaitons get delayed.
While I have your attention, PAAD (Person Authorized to Direct Disposition) is also on the Page 2. This is the person that is going to decide what happens to your dead carcass when you go to the big ready room in the sky. If you divorced on bad terms, you probably want to make sure that it isn't your ex wife. If she wants to burn your ass one last time (like having you cremated and flushing your ashes), then that is her right if she is still on your page 2 as PAAD. Don't put your mom and dad through that shit. Fix your paperwork.
We are looking at getting an NAVADMIN published to address these concerns, but that process takes FOREVER and pushing anything through DC is a nightmare. You can do good work on the deckplates now, and even look super smart to your CO in the process.
Cheers,
Bevo