Gray Area Retiree Spotlight: New AI Tool for Establishing Retired Pay Accounts

As part of our commitment to innovation, we are pleased to announce that we are now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to assist with establishing retired pay accounts. The AI Data Scrape technology provides faster processing times, reduces human error, and decreases delays in account establishment for our retired members.
 
The AI Data Scrape works in conjunction with our new Smart Wizard for the DD Form 2656, Data for Payment of Retired Personnel. A Smart Wizard is a web-based tool that guides users through a series of questions, automatically filling in the form with their answers. To ensure accuracy, it has built-in data validation and provides helpful pop-ups with extra information to aid in decision-making.
 
The AI Data Scrape will accept typed or handwritten information from the DD Form 2656 and automatically adds it to our system. Another benefit of the AI Data Scrape is that if you elected the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), it will automatically read your election from the form and ensure the proper choice is applied to your account.

For Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RCSBP) and Blended Retirement System (BRS) elections, processing is notified immediately once the form is received and processed through the AI Data Scrape. This ensures timely processing of RCSBP and BRS elections.     

We strongly urge you to use this Smart Wizard when it’s time for you to apply to your branch of service for retired pay, as it helps ensure a correct, legible, and complete form on the first attempt. Make sure all the signature dates are legible and spelled out correctly. To help with the accurate processing of your information, review the date formats that are provided on the form.

For more information about the new Smart Wizard for the DD Form 2656, please see our last Gray Area Spotlight article: "Simplify Your Retired Pay Application with the New DD Form 2656 Smart Wizard” (https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/newsevents/newsletter/December2025-Retiree-Newsletter-Gray-Area-Spotlight-Simplify-Your-Retired-Pay-Application/).

The new DD Form 2656 Smart Wizard can be found in our Forms Library (https://www.dfas.mil/raforms).
         
Note: Gray Area Retirees should always work with their Branch of Service to complete their retired pay application. For specific information about your Service’s procedure and contacts, visit the Gray Area Retirees webpage (https://www.dfas.mil/grayarea).