I didn't know where else to post this.

My husband is an Iraq veteran and he was discharged in 06' with a 60% disability. Been going to the VA and getting his check since then. Last year he became part of a settlement to get his discharge upgraded to retirement status. He was given orders to go to the nearest base and sign papers and get the family registered. He's still getting disability from the VA because the money he gets from them is more than what he would have gotten through Army retirement. Oh, and he only served 6 years. A part of the deal is that people with certain disabilities from the current war can become retired. I really don't understand it and seems as if the ARMY didn't think it through well.

This is where it gets weird.
There was no counseling. We showed up and the lady gave him a stack of papers and said sign here, there, etc. SBP came up and she said it would be a good idea to sign up for SBP. Sounded good at the time. We signed up. Nobody said we could NOT cancel it. We figured it was like any other insurance plan.   Honestly, we felt really bad after the ordeal. We felt like it was a hassle and an annoyance to deal with us. The lady acted like she didn't understand this "new retroactive retirement" they are doing to soldiers recently. Well, neither did we.  

Come to find out since his retirement was retroactive, that SBP is too and we got slapped with about a grand in SBP payments up front. Nobody told us this. Also, since his window to opt out technically passed in 2009 we don't have the option to opt out! Yes, lol even though he was NOT retired in 2009, since his retirement is retroactive, they won't let him opt out. And this was the answer G1 gave us!

We are currently waiting for our congressman's report on our inquiry. We've been through the RSO, G1 and had a records review once, and records sent us back to the RSO who sent us to records in the first place. The RSO said to not make any payments because apparently the papers we filled out at first were not right to begin with. If the congressional inquiry cannot give us justice, we'll have to see a lawyer.

Has anyone had this happen? Should he not be given the same rights as any other soldier with regards to the window to cancel SBP? I mean lets get real, yeah he was retroactively retired but how could he cancel SBP in 2009 when he was not even enrolled then?? The reason we are cancelling is that nobody really told us all about the program. After getting in it we found out about it. The lady told us things about it that aren't true and we never got any paperwork on our rights or responsibilites.

What is everyones opinion of SBP? Should we fight for the right to have the option to cancel it after 3 years like every other soldier or just give up and pay the retroactive payment and keep it? We qualify for a military lawyer. Are the effective? I'm very thankful for our health insurance. Our family is so lucky to have it. I'm just very upset over how the SBP issue is really messed up. And how we were treated like just a  number and not humans.