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A line of duty determination is an administrative tool for determining a member’s duty status at the time of an injury, illness, disability or death.
In certain situations, service members or their families are entitled to benefits in the event their sponsor is unable to perform military duties.
The deciding factor of whether or not the benefits are approved is called line of duty determination and can impact benefits ranging from disability pay to the Survivor Benefit Plan.
Family members need to submit line of duty paperwork when a service member is unable to perform their military duties for more than 24 hours due to illness, injury or disease, or if there is the likelihood of permanent disability, death of the service member, etc.
There are stipulations that could affect approval. A question such as, “Was the member actually injured in the line of duty?” factors into the final decision.
Maj. Michelle Tarkowski, 786th Force Support Squadron commander, said if an active-duty service member dies or gets injured, and it is determined they were negligible in their actions, they could lose several benefits.
• The Survivor Benefit Plan would be payable to the spouse or child of the service member and is calculated based on years of service and rank. It equals up to 55 percent of what would have been the service member’s retired pay at the time of their death and is paid monthly.
• The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation could also be lost and is a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of deceased veterans.
• The Veterans Affairs Dependents Education Assistance Program is another benefit that could be lost and offers up to 45 months of education benefits to family members.
For more information, contact the Military Personnel Flight at 478-7419 or 06371-405-7419.
