Championing the Rights of Our Military Survivors Carolyn Epling MOAA Auxiliary Member Since 1997


MOAA successfully fought to end the unfair 36% cut in Survivor Benefit Plan annuities for military survivors age 62 and older. For the average survivor,


this saves $9,050 a year for life.


On Carolyn Epling’s 62nd birthday, she was losing her husband, Fred, and her benefits. Fred succumbed to cancer, and Carolyn could not collect all of Fred’s Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) pension because the law reduced military survivors’ SBP payments when they were eligible for Social Security. “It was unjust,” she said. “My husband spent 20 years risking his life, served in two wars, and then went to a safe civil service career. Yet the government was saying the civil service people would get the full SBP, but military wives wouldn’t.” She wanted to change the law. Working with the Mount Rainier (Wash.) Chapter and national MOAA, the law was changed in 2005 so military survivors could collect their SBP and Social Security payments.


“It’s so important that we have an organization like MOAA that will work tirelessly to support legislative issues for the military,” she says. “But it’s also important that we, as members, stand behind MOAA. Everyone, in the field and nationally, has to get behind the issues, contact Congress, write those letters, and make those calls. MOAA does an amazing job working on issues for military families. And for me, that is our most important cause.”


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