Traumatic Injury Protection under SGLI and Durable Powers of Attorney Published Oct. 3, 2007 By Capt Jennifer Osborne 319th Air Refueling Wing Legal Office GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Did you know that in addition to your Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, you also have TSGLI? Effective Dec. 1, 2005, every service member who has SGLI coverage also has Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance at no extra cost. TSGLI is a traumatic injury protection rider under the SGLI that provides for payment to any member of the uniformed services covered by SGLI who sustains a traumatic injury that results in certain severe losses. Payment for covered losses is between $25,000 and $100,000 depending on the loss directly resulting from the traumatic injury. The traumatic injury need not occur on the battlefield. TSGLI pays benefits only to the injured member. Many traumatic injuries may leave the member incapacitated; however, TSGLI benefits do not automatically flow to a spouse, parent, or other person in such a case. If the member has not named an agent in a durable power of attorney, payment of the benefit to a member's spouse or other dependent would require the costly and time-consuming legal guardianship process. Therefore, the legal office highly recommends all service members get a durable power of attorney. The durable power of attorney is a legal document that is used to delegate legal authority to another (the "agent") in the event the person executing the power of attorney (the "principal") is incapacitated. The power of attorney is "durable" in that it survives the incapacitation of the principal. A general or special power of attorney is different than a durable power of attorney because the general and special powers of attorney become void the moment the principal is incapacitated. To get a durable power of attorney free of charge, visit the base legal office on the second floor of the Wing Headquarters Building, at 460 Steen Blvd., during legal assistance walk-in hours on Thursdays between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. For more information on durable powers of attorney, please contact the legal office at 747-3606. For more information regarding TSGLI, please visit the Department of Veterans' Affairs website at: http://www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/TSGLI/TSGLI.htm or contact the Air Force TSGLI point of contact by phone at (210) 565-3505 or by e-mail at afpc.casualty@randolph.af.mil.