Reservists who have too many unexcused absences from training drills may be under pressure to pay up on their unpaid life insurance premiums.
Army Secretary John McHugh has directed the recoupment of unpaid Servicemembers Group Life Insurance premiums from soldiers who have accumulated nine or more unexcused absences from training drills during a 12-month period.
Army policy requires that when reservists habitually miss training, commanders must initiate procedures for their discharge, separation from the Selected Reserve or reassignment to the Individual Ready Reserve.
The Selected Reserve is a management category that includes soldiers assigned to drilling troop units, as well as non-unit soldiers assigned to the Individual Mobilization Augmentee program. The Individual Ready Reserve is comprised of soldiers who are not assigned to units, and who typically do not drill.
As part of that process, the commander must send a "notice of SGLI termination" to the soldier's official address. Such notices must clearly indicate that the soldier's SGLI will be terminated within 60 days.
Under McHugh's April 10 directive, such notices also must include the amount the soldier is in arrears for unpaid SGLI premiums, information about how and where to remit the payment, the payment due date, and a warning that the Army will initiate recoupment if the outstanding premiums are not paid.
SGLI is a program that provides low-cost term life insurance to eligible members of the military, including soldiers of the Army National Guard and Selected Reserve who are scheduled to perform at least 12 inactive training periods annually.
Eligible soldiers automatically are enrolled in SGLI at the maximum basic coverage level of $400,000, but can select a lesser coverage amount down to $50,000.
Monthly premiums range from $3.50 for the minimum coverage, to $28 for $400,000. For an extra $1 per month, soldiers can buy traumatic injury protection, called TSGLI, regardless of their basic coverage level.
