Name change in the military

[mmx1]

Has anyone undergone a legal change of name while in the military (I'm presuming some military spouses have), and what steps do you have to go through to get the DoD to reflect the change? Would this cause any issues down the road? I'm sure it'll red flag an SSBI but the reason is legit.

I have an .... odd situation. Cliffs notes version - my parents screwed up my immigration papers when I was a kid, so the DoD is using my birth name, while most of my other documents (passport and driver's license included) use the anglicized name I've gone by for 20 years.

 

[MasterBates]

Oh great, another Canadian.. And we thought just Joboy was bad enough.

 

[mmx1]

Wholly wrong continent.

Waaait....joboy's Canadian?

Damn foreigners.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Your best place to start is your Admin Officer (or Officer). Shouldn't be to hard.

-ea6bflyr

 

[Uncle Fester]

It's not a red flag on an SSBI as long as you put it on your inital paperwork (there's an "other names used" section), have the supporting legal documents, etc. It turns into a red flag when you go by Bill Jones and they later find out your real name is Khalid bin Aziz al-Tikriti or something.

Like ea6b said, start with Admin and PSD. Also find out which name Social Security uses.

 

[schwarti]

What about if you're selected/sworn but have yet to go to OCS? I figured I'd ask my recruiter and go from there, but is there anything specific to know/look out for?

(I have a VERY long last name, and apparently the gov't can't understand what a hyphen is, so I figure it'd be easier to change it.)