FORT KNOX, Ky. –
Enrollment in the Army’s SGLI Online Enrollment System, which went live Oct. 1, is close to two percentage points better than expected. As of Dec. 11, more than 230,000, or 22.8 percent of the total Army end strength has enrolled in the new system.
“Our monthly goal is to enroll just over eight percent of the total force per month,” said Lt. Col. Stacie Hatten, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Branch chief. “Two months into the online enrollment we’re pleased to announce we’re a little bit ahead of the game.”
The Army has mandated that the force, including the Army Reserve and National Guard, be 100 percent enrolled by Sept. 30, 2018.
Hatten said that while the Reserve and National Guard numbers are still low compared to the active component, she fully expects that to change after the holiday season with “the Reserve and Guard performing Soldier Readiness Processing going into the new year.”
The new online enrollment system was designed to make it easier for service members to sign up for, and manage their coverage, from the comforts of their own home.
According to the most recent statistics, in addition to standard enrollment, more Soldiers are also electing to up their coverage amounts in the new paperless process.
“So far, close to a thousand medical questionnaires have been generated through SOES,” Hatten said. “When a Soldier requests additional coverage amounts, they simply fill out the questionnaire which is then sent to the Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance for review and determination.
“Both the Soldier and their unit administrator can track the status of the determination in SOES,” she said.
Hatten also said that most of the initial system errors that come with any major software rollout have also been fixed.
“When SOES first launched, there was a delay in getting the Soldiers SGLI Election and Certificate of Coverage form (formerly the SGLV 8286) into their iPERMS file. Now it’s loaded in their file very quickly. Generally within minutes.”
To enroll in SOES, log on to milConnect at https://milconnect-pki.dmdc.osd.mil. At the top of the page, select ‘Life Insurance’ from the drop down menu under the ‘Benefits’ tab.
Click continue after reading the privacy act information on the next page and start managing your coverage.
“The bottom line is that SOES works,” Hatten said. “Soldiers can enroll in and manage their SGLI coverages within minutes from anywhere there is internet service. All they need is CAC access or a DS Logon account. It’s that easy.”