Soldiers married to Soldiers must now opt into Family SGLI

By Michael L. Lewis
NCO Journal

NCO News, NCO Newsfeed

Sgt. 1st Class Jamie L. Outland-Brown and Staff Sgt. Darrell P. Brown accept an American flag as a symbol of their commitment to the Army during a re-enlistment ceremony at Camp Blessing, Afghanistan, on their anniversary, May 5, 2007.

Service members married to other service members are no longer automatically enrolled in the Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program, Pentagon officials said. They must now opt into the coverage.

The change was effective Jan. 2, and to date affects about 4,500 service members, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Kristen Martin, who heads the Defense Department’s SGLI policy office. She spoke during an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel.

Martin emphasized that no changes have been made to the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance, or SGLI, program, in which all service members are enrolled. SGLI provides up to a $400,000 payment to a service member’s beneficiary, while the Family SGLI term insurance benefit provides a payment to a service member of up to $100,000 upon the death of a spouse or $10,000 for dependent children.