SGLI & DD93

SGLI and DD93 - two of the military terms that most know.  They are a part of every preparation for deployment, TDY training or anytime there is a life change in a soldier's life.  I filled out more than I can count during my time in, but now I'm on the other side of things. 

During the time we were dual military, my husband and I were on listed on each other's paperwork.  Today, however, was the first time he has updated his paperwork since our son was born.  Although it's another military form, these are probably some of the most important forms to fill out. 

I learned when I was going through the Rear D Leaders Course shortly after getting back from my second deployment, that most forms are filled out incorrectly or aren't updated in a timely manner.  As the instructor spoke to us, he described different situations he had seen.  They ranged anywhere from an 'twice removed' ex-wife receiving everything because the current spouse hadn't been correctly added to the paperwork to a situation in which a soldier stipulated that part of his benefit be left to his child (who wasn't born yet), but didn't state in the remarks that his wife was pregnant, so before anything could be done they required a paternity test to ensure the soldier was the father. 

As we sat in awe of what seemed like a complete lack of common sense by the military, we all thought back to how our forms were filled out.  Most of us were just at guilty of not properly filling out the documents.  In most circumstances when soldiers are filling these forms out, it is during one of these pre-deployment round robins where so many soldiers are processed through and there is the assumption that they know how to fill out the paperwork so it really isn't covered.  It just makes me wonder if this speaker had seen those two situations himself, how many are forms our there are incorrect and the soldiers don't even know it. 

I know it may seem silly to double check that information, but no different than many other things that my husband will have me double check from time to time, this is one of the most important.