I recently got married and am in the process of changing my last name officialy in the Coast Guard. I am active duty and my husband is Army Reserve. Does anyone know the process to officially get their name changed on their official record? I have looked at both the Pay and the Personnel Manual with no luck!

First of all, Congratulations on the wedding!

As far as the name change, your SPO has the authority to make the change. However, you need to provide them with a COPY of your marriage certificate, and the Dependency worksheet (for adding a dependent, PPC-2020); a new Beneficiaries form (PP-2020d), you also need to provide a new SGLI form and a Family SGLI form.

Talk to your SPO and they can provide you all of the forms, or you can look at PPC (formally known as PSC, Topeka) website.

Thank you! I was able to get the forms and will submit them. There was talk though that I need to provide a memo to request permission to change my name. Have you heard of this before?

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you! Back in 1998, my wife had to submit a memo requesting official change of name. It had to go all the way to PPC Topeka. They just authorized the SPOs to approve the name change, as long as it's requested through the chain of command and the command has approved it. (I can't remember exactly how long it's been since PPC authorized them to. I want to say within the last 3-5 yrs.)

It's funny how many rumors are out there about what things you need 'permission' do to! I guess 'name-change' is on that list too.

Rememeber the difference between: 1) Requesting to have the record reflect your current, legal and correct name 2) Requesting permission to change your name.

Don't forget all of the other 'government entities' you need to inform of your name change. Soc Sec, Drivers License, tax agencies (city, county, state, etc if needed)