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Insurance (SGLI) election form. Being a motivated
PN, you told your chief that you would be ready for Frost
any time he chose to come in. You waited for days. You
even pulled Frost’s service record from the file, but Frost
never showed up.
Later you found out that Frost had been involved in
a car accident right outside the main gate of the naval
station and was pronounced dead at the scene. Your
command’s casualty assistance calls officer (CACO)
tried to locate Frost’s wife to inform her about the
accident but was unable to do so. A month ago, Frost’s
wife moved to New York City, but Frost had not updated
his page 2. The CACO also tried to contact Frost’s
parents, but they were both deceased. Again, Frost
failed to update his page 2. The CACO finally located
Frost’s wife and contacted her.
In her conversation with the CACO, Frost’s wife
indicated that she was more interested in her benefits as
a result of her husband’s death than in what to do with
Frost’s remains. Since Frost had neglected to update
both his page 2 and the SGLI election form in his service
record, his estranged wife collected everything. Even
though the chief did not intend for his wife to collect
benefits, the page 2 and the SGLI form in his service
record still had his wife listed as the sole beneficiary.
She became entitled to the appropriate benefits as a
result of her husband’s death.
Whose responsibility do you think it was to make
sure Frost’s service record contained complete,
accurate, and up-to-date information? In this case, the
responsibility was really CPO Frost’s. You could not
have done anything about the out-of-date information
because you never received the information required to
bring his service record up to date.
In many instances, however, it is both the member’s
and your responsibility for the accuracy of the
information in the enlisted service record. What if CPO
Frost had actually come in to the personnel office and
provided you with all the information to be changed on
his page 2, but you failed to get it typed in time for him
to sign it? Let’s go a step farther. What if you had told
Chief Frost to wait to complete and sign another SGLI
form until you had the new page 2 typed and ready for
him to sign? If Frost had agreed, you would never have
obtained his signature on either document. Upon
Frost’s death, there would have been nothing you could
do to protect Frost without his original signature on both
documents. Your command would have had to use the
existing documents that were signed and on file in
Frost’s service record.
5-3
Although the responsibility for verifying service
records for completeness and accuracy is both the
member’s and yours, you should still do everything in
your power to make sure all entries are recorded as soon
as possible. Whether you are working on page 2s, 4s,
13s, or any other part of the enlisted service record, do
not allow these documents to pileup. Set your priorities,
get the job done, and always-get the job done right the
first time!
GENERAL FORM OF THE
SERVICE RECORD
One of your duties as a PN is to become familiar
with the general form of the enlisted service record. The
front of a U.S. Navy Enlisted Service Record,
NAVPERS 1070/600, and the Career Performance Data
separator, NAVPERS 1070/617, are shown in
figure 5-1.
According to the Naval Military Personnel Manual
(MILPERSMAN), NAVPERS 15560, Article 5030130,
a field service record is opened by the recruiting
activity when a person enlists, reenlists, or is inducted
in the Regular Navy or Naval Reserve. Once a person
has enlisted or reenlisted and all the appropriate pages
are included in the service record, the record is kept by
the personnel office that normally maintains these
records. Depending on where a member is stationed,
the office that maintains the service record can be
either a ship’s personnel office or a PERSUPPDET
ashore.
A good PN must have a thorough understanding of
every type of documentation in the enlisted service
record. In the following paragraphs, the contents of
both the left side and right side of the enlisted service
record will be identified and discussed. Keep in mind
that each of the documents discussed in this section is
not necessarily applicable to every enlisted member’s
service record. Remember also that certain documents
should not be obtained solely for the purpose of putting
them in the service record; however, when additional
documents are required for an individual service
member, they should be obtained and included in that
person’s service record. To be a good PN, you must be
able to identify the appropriate documents for each
enlisted member’s service record and to do your part to
make sure the record is up to date.
LEFT SIDE OF THE SERVICE RECORD
On the left side of the folder, you are to file official
or unofficial documents that are required for record
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