G.I Bill checks have arrived!

[RENEA]

After my application to the VA last month I recieved a letter in the mail yesterday from the VA Administration that I was awarded Educational benefits under the Mongomery G.I Bill. :)

Gettin $1004 per month is really gonna help me finish my Master's Degree;c

I'm pleasantly surprised on how smoothly it went. No hassles, no BS or hangups.

[RussP]

RENEA, that is great!!

Every little bit helps!!

:cool:

[fnfalman]

The GI Bill check will only come while you're enrolled in school. During semester breaks, you're not getting anything. It's kind of weird. I had to pay for my first semester and then the checks would roll in.

[eisman]

Make sure you use TA at the same time. If you're in, NG, or Reserve you're eligible.

[reconvic]

Good news bro, I many years ago also used mine, more vets need too. Good luck.
Semper Fi Vic





Originally posted by RussP
RENEA, that is great!!

Every little bit helps!!

:cool:

[Revelations]

Congrats and goodluck

Many vets do need to use their GI Bill. They also need to know/remember there is a time frame to collect. Your 10 yr anniversary of ETS is your deadline to use it. If you dont use it all up its gone.

[kawalerzysta]

Use them. I was collecting GI Bill during fall and spring semesters as well as summer semester. Now starting second year. ;f

[DriBak]

Got my RN license with the GI Bill and ACF (Army College Fund)

[MB-G26]

http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39432
(I believe registration is required, so I hope I'm not violating any Pfiles.com TOS in pasting the following)

Post date/time: 07-07-04 07:54 PM
Some extended guardsmen, reservists may get GI Bill boost
Guardsmen and reservists whose active-duty time is extended past the normal 12-month call-up may be eligible for active-duty-level benefits of the Montgomery GI Bill under certain circumstances, said a senior Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman.

Currently, people participating in the active-duty GI Bill receive $800 or $985 per month for full-time training, depending on their length of service. But reserve-component people receive only $282 per month for full-time training, said Dennis Douglass, VA deputy director for education service.

Reserve-component people are now eligible for the greater active-duty benefit when their active-duty time is extended to 24 or more months, Mr. Douglass said.

He said the Montgomery GI Bill historically has been broken into two segments: the Montgomery GI Bill for active duty and the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve for the reserve components.

The reserve version is for troops assigned to the Selected Reserve of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and the Army and Air National Guard. It provides education and training opportunities for eligible servicemembers who have completed high school.

"The active-duty bill is a program designed for those who enlist in active military service for a period of two-plus years," Mr. Douglass said. "If they only serve two years, they get a lesser benefit than an individual who signs up for three or more years."

He said the authors of the two programs never imagined that reservists and guardsmen would be called up to active duty for extended periods of time as they have been in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"I don't think that was envisioned in the original legislation," he said.

The Chapter 30 program, or the GI Bill program for active-duty servicemembers and veterans, is currently paying $800 per month for full-time training for those who serve two years. Those who serve three years or more receive $985 per month.

Mr. Douglass said the $282 reserve-component people get per month is a "dramatic difference" in the level of benefits.

"Another interesting difference in the two programs is that in the Selective Reserve program, eligibility starts when the military tells us to start it," Mr. Douglass said.

High-school graduates are eligible for benefits after they complete their initial period of active duty for training and have been assigned to a Reserve or Guard organization, he said. Eligibility for active-duty people, however, does not begin until after they have served for two years.

"They actually have to be on active duty for two years before they can avail themselves the use of the benefit," Mr. Douglass said. "For the most part, they don't even start using it then; they wait until they become veterans to use it."

Reserve-component call-ups have been averaging nine to 12 months, Mr. Douglass said. It would be "a disservice" to guardsmen and reservists to take their $100 per month for the GI Bill, as is done for active-duty people, he said. "That's because at nine or 12 months, they have no hope of being eligible for the greater benefit of the (active-duty) Montgomery GI Bill."

However, some people have been activated for an initial period of 12 months and then extended for another 12 months, Mr. Douglass said. Defense Department and services officials are offering those people participation in the Montgomery GI Bill.

"(The military) would begin to deduct $100 per month from the servicemembers' pay, just as they do for active-duty servicemembers," he said. Upon release from active duty, they would become eligible for the greater benefit, he said, assuming they had completed their 24 months of active duty.

To be eligible for the same benefits active-duty people get, guardsmen and reservists must have served for 24 months without a break in service.

"So, if they serve nine months, go home for awhile, and then serve another 15 months, they can't add them together to come up with 24 months," Mr. Douglass said.

However, Senate Bill S-2099, if it becomes law, would make guardsmen and reservists eligible for the active-duty Montgomery GI Bill if they serve 24 months on active duty in any five-year period, he said.

An estimated 15,000 to 18,000 guardsmen and reservists have been called to active duty and stayed active for a period of two years or longer, he said.

Mr. Douglass also touched on the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program, an education benefit for spouses and children of seriously disabled or deceased veterans whose death or disability was service-connected. Length of service has no bearing on this benefit, he said.

Normally, Montgomery GI Bill benefits are not available to spouses and children of healthy veterans who contributed to the Montgomery GI Bill, but did not use the benefits. Air Force officials tested such a program as a retention tool for a limited time in 2003, but have since discontinued it, Mr. Douglass said.

Note: by Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN)

just fyi
m