GI Bill Eligibility - Service Academy Grad with Service-Connected Disability

swimmerdude47

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Registered Member
Hi all,

I am a 2018 graduate from a service academy but graduated without a commission as I was waiting for medical results to come back. I have recently found out I am for sure being separated from the military with "Permanent Disability Retirement from Active Duty - 30% service-connected disability."

I am curious to know if this makes me eligible for full GI bill benefits as I did not fulfill my service requirement from the Academy of 5 years, but if my time at the Academy and afterwards while waiting for a decision was considered "continuous service" and is creditable towards the GI Bill.

Thank you in advance!

Best
 
To be honest I am not 100% sure about the answer to this question. However I do know commissioned officers can be entitled to the GI Bill benefits but NOT during the obligated service period they owe after their academy.

In other words if you owed 4-5 years of obligated service you would not be eligible during that 4-5 year period for the GI Bill benefits.

This doesn't mean NO because you have a situation that has obviously changed, however there is plenty of time for you to ask that question. You have to pay into the GI Bill to receive it, so I am unsure how this applies to your situation.

However there are several choices you have especially with a disability now, and one of them is Vocational Rehabilitation with the VA as well.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and you can always check your GI Bill eligibility on the VA website too.
 
Hi all,

I am a 2018 graduate from a service academy but graduated without a commission as I was waiting for medical results to come back. I have recently found out I am for sure being separated from the military with "Permanent Disability Retirement from Active Duty - 30% service-connected disability."

I am curious to know if this makes me eligible for full GI bill benefits as I did not fulfill my service requirement from the Academy of 5 years, but if my time at the Academy and afterwards while waiting for a decision was considered "continuous service" and is creditable towards the GI Bill.

Thank you in advance!

Best

Have you since received a commission? I believe it would all depend on your current duty status.

"At a minimum, you must have served at least 30 days of continuous active duty service after September 10, 2001 and be discharged due to a service-connected disability, or served an aggregate of 90 days of active duty service after September 10, 2001 and received an honorable discharge."

If you haven't commissioned/been on Active Duty, I wouldn't imagine you are entitled to anything. Even if you have, I don't believe you've been in long enough to have earned the entitlement. To be honest I'm kinda surprised you're being retired from Active duty if you were pending a medical issue before you graduated. I hope for your sake they don't make you repay the government since you didn't fulfill your obligation. They shouldn't because it's a medical issue, but stranger things have been proposed. Your time at the Academy does not count as credible service for military time/retirement, but if you were to get a federal civilian job (i.e. GS) you would be able to put it towards a Federal Civilian retirement.

Good luck. I'm interested to see how it works out for you.
 
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