DFAS employee receives Air Force Lineberger award

DFAS HEADQUARTERS July 21, 2021
– Marilyn Antal, a Financial Management Specialist in the Correction of Records/Claims of the Debt and Claims Management Office, has received the Air Force Joe G. Lineberger award.

Antal received the award for her efforts on behalf of the Air Force, "promulgating over six hundred and fifty Board Directives authorizing full or partial relief resulting in the correction of errors and injustices."

"It's a great feeling knowing that I am providing assistance to our service members and their families," said Antal, "Our Correction of Records team processes Board of Correction cases for all services, and they process claims for members who have been separated for more than one year."

To accomplish this, Antal had to work with the Department of Veteran Affairs on many cases to ensure the applicants were not in concurrent receipt of Veteran Affairs benefits for any period they were retroactively awarded active duty pay and allowances. This work includes a lot of coordination between other agencies that go into processing some of the cases.

Her keen knowledge of her position was especially instrumental in promulgating a very complex high-interest sexual assault case and ensuring full retroactive pay promptly, eliminating any additional undue stress. Additionally, during the mitigation of the case, upon receipt of missing documents from the Air Force Personnel Center and Air Reserve Personnel Center, she moved quickly to ensure the applicant received full retroactive pay promptly, thus eliminating any additional undue stress on the applicant.

Overall, Antal's work led to the payout of over $1.9 million to currently serving Airmen.

Antal's section is one of almost 200 offices of primary responsibility across the Air Force and Department of Defense. It supports the largest case inventory of Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR) applications.

"There is not one case that is more important than another," said Antal. "Whether it is a Private who is due $200 or a Colonel who is due $20,000, they are all treated with the same attention to detail."

The award was named after Joe G. Lineberger, who was Director of the Air Force Review Boards Agency, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He led the agency in its mission to correct errors and injustices in military records.
 
The award is given annually by the Air Force to "military and civilian personnel whose service exemplifies the vision of being the primary catalyst for change, leading the Air Force in adapting how it thinks, organizes, trains, equips and develops its people for the challenges of the 21st century"
 
Page updated July 22, 2021