GI Bill?

Prf,

You're so right, it can and does get overwhelming with everything....glad to hear things are starting to go right. Don't worry too much, things will continue to go right. They just have to unfold at "their" pace. Talk to you again soon. :)
 
UGH...I'm getting the run around AGAIN. So after them emailing me back and telling me that as long as he has six years in he is able to transfer the GI Bill, I asked how he goes about doing this, since he apparently has to do it on active duty, and after reaching his six year mark he will only have a month left on active duty, so it needs to be done quickly and the RIGHT WAY. Their response..."have your husband contact his career counselor". Oh great, he's already done that...THAT GUY KNOWS NOTHING. He told my husband that if he can't promise four more years THERE IS NO WAY THAT HE CAN TRANSFER THE BENEFITS. THIS IS IRRITATING. I'd like to know why they don't make this simple? Any ideas on how I can find this out? Since everyone seems to want to give the run around...freaking Army.
 
Ok here is the guidance we as career counselors are getting, you have to incur the additional 4yrs obligated service, what we were told is this, if you have six yrs and when you transfer your benefits you still have 4yrs left in the army, then you are good to go. If you reenlisted to meet the time and then was separated for medical reasons, then you are good to go (works like a bonus, if you are medically discharge you don't have to pay it back). IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO MEET THE FOUR YEAR OBLIGATION AND YOU HAVE BEEN INITIATED A MED BOARD, THEN YOU CANNOT REENLIST AND YOU CANNOT TRANSFER. Your erup code changes to a 9H which means that you are going through a medical board and cannot reenlist so you cannot transfer the benefits to your dependents. Like I said this is the guidance we are getting. Remember we are the ones that have to approve the application for time requirements.
 
Okay great, then how come the people who deal with the GI Bill and the people I emailed told me that after six years, he can transfer since he has been med boarded. You can't punish someone BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO CHOICE ABOUT GETTING OUT OF THE MILITARY. He HAD already re upped for four years...but obviously can't keep that promise as he is being medically retired. I think someone needs to get their information straight and EVERYONE needs to be on the same page, this is just ridiculous.
 
prfctasillevrbe,

I understand your frustration and the lack of information is rampant throughout the military establishment, especially in regard to post-service benefits such as the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.

To tell somewhat of a little experience I "enjoyed" - I joined the Army under the Student Loan Repayment Program (back then, it was either the Montgomery G.I. Bill or SLRP - since I had already completed my bachelors I naturally opted for the SLRP). I had several private outstanding loans from undergrad - I heard rumors that only federal loans qualified for repayment, so I looked into it. Changes came down in the early 2000's allowing private loans to qualify for repayment through the SLRP - woohoo for me! Or so I thought. I report to my first duty station and my first stop is at the education counselor who needs to sign off on the fact that I'm in the "BIG Army" now and can begin receiving my SLRP benefit. He looks over my fact-sheet and tells me my loans don't qualify for repayment. Predicting this might occur, I had a copy of the new policy handy. I showed it to to the education counselor...and he nudged it off like I wrote the memorandum myself in Microsoft Word. At this point the new SLRP policy had been in effect for several years and this guy still doesn't get it. After some calls to HRC in Alexandria, I eventually got him to sign off on my paperwork to put the benefit into effect. But boy, what a hassle that was! Simply to receive a benefit I was entitled to! Many of the same problems will be occurring with the implementation of the new G.I. Bill, which is a much larger program than the Army SLRP.

/rant

As far as the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill - the rule states that you must already have 6 years of service and agreed to serve another 4 after the fact. So in other words, if you have served 5 years 363 days - and agree to serve another 4 years on the 364th day you are not technically eligible to transfer benefits since you have not already served 6 years and agreed to another 4.

The key to transferability is that the agreement to serve 4 more years must take place after a member has already served a minimum of 6 years. If one has not yet served 6 years at the time of their referral to a MEB (presuming the member will be separated/retired) they are barred from reenlistment and will not be able to transfer.

However, I do not think this applies to members who have already served 10 years and are facing a MEB/PEB. The regulation states that members who have served 10 years, are precluded by applicable policy/regulation/statute from serving an additional 4 years, and will serve the maximum amount of time allowed by the applicable policy/regulation/statute are still eligible to transfer their benefits.

I think there is a very strong argument to be made that those members with 10 or more years of service, who have not agreed to 4 more years, and have already been referred to the DES can still transfer their Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits.

From DTM 09-003:
a. Eligible Individuals. Any member of the Armed Forces on or after August 1st, 2009, who, at the time of the approval of the individual's request to transfer entitlement to educational assistance under this section, is eligible for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, and
(2) Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of election, is precluded by either standard policy (Service or DoD) or statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute, or
 
Carnelli53,

Thanks for doing the research and sharing the information. Could you please list the full and exact reference of where you got this information?
 
batcheej,

The DoD website (it seems to be a provisional website) is located at: Defense.gov - Special Report - Post 9/11 GI Bill

The authority is Department of Defense Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 09-003: Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, located at: http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2009/0409_gibill/DTM%2009-003%20Post%209-11%20GI%20Bill.pdf

DTM 09-003 supposedly should have been converted into a DoD Instruction 180 days from the date of the DTM taking effect (which was 22 June 2009). I have been unable to locate any 'new' DoD Instruction, so have been falling back on this DTM as the applicable regulation.
 
No I'm irritated at the fact that everyone has different answers for everything. Everyone should be on the same page. And that reg. doesn't even list those being medically retired (remember there is always an exception to the rule). I've spoken directly to those dealing with the GI Bill, I've emailed them countless times, I have been told that NO MATTER WHAT, as long as he reaches his SIX YEAR mark, since he ISN'T ABLE to promise four more years because he is being MEDICALLY RETIRED, the key is just that he meet his six years...and then he is able to transfer. Yet when asked how he goes about transferring, they tell me he needs to contact his career counselor WHO DOESN'T SEEM TO KNOW SQUAT. This seems to be a typical thing with the Army.
 
prfctasillevrbe,

The DoD handles everything that has to do with certifying eligibility for GI transferability, then the responsibility falls to the VA. The exception to the rule was mentioned by me earlier in this thread (my apologies, it was lost in the shuffle) - from the DVA (https://www.gibill2.va.gov/cgi-bin/v...i=&p_topview=1):

Currently, only the Army offers a Transfer of Entitlement program. If the person making the transfer fails to complete the 4 years (or more) of active duty service agreed to for transferability purposes, VA will treat any benefits paid to dependents as an overpayment and will collect the amount of the overpayment from the service member. Exceptions to this rule apply if:
(1) The person making the transfer dies before completing the service.
(2) The person making the transfer is discharged from active duty under one of the following conditions:

  • Service-connected disability;
  • Medical condition that preexisted service;
  • Hardship; or
  • Physical or mental condition not characterized as a disability which interfered with the performance of duty and was not the result of the individual’s misconduct.
NOTE: Early discharge for convenience of the government or reduction in force does not qualify as one of the exceptions. Such a discharge will cause an overpayment of all benefits paid to dependents and result in collection of the overpayment.
For more information see HERE.
This exception only applies to those who have already transferred their entitlements (and by extension, those who agreed to another 4 years after serving 6 years). DTM 09-003 Attachment 2.3.a(1):

a. Eligible Individuals. Any member of the Armed Forces on or after August 1st, 2009, who, at the time of the approval of the individual's request to transfer entitlement to educational assistance under this section, is eligible for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, and

(1) Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of election and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election
The regulation states that one must already have 6 years of service on the date of election (the day they transfer entitlements) AND the member must agree to serve 4 additional years from the date of election. Because the word "and" is used, both conditions must be satisfied in order to become eligible for transfer. The second condition requires the member to agree to 4 more years from the date of election/day of transfer (which has a prerequisite that the member has already served 6 years).

As stated prior, DoD has the responsibility of certifying eligibility for transfer, so any exception to this rule would be found in a superseding DoD Instruction or statute. I searched long and hard for one and have been unable to find any.

From what I can see, the exception granted for medical discharges is solely on the VA side of house (since the DoD has already certified a member's eligibility if the benefits are transferred - i.e. DoD is no longer part of the equation).

I believe your husband should be entitled to transfer his benefits and his situation is certainly one that should be brought as a challenge to the current regulations. If my thoughts are correct, it seems he is the unfortunate example of one who has fell through the safety net designed to ensure members who served honorably are guaranteed benefits (and transferability thereof).

I hope I am not correct in my analysis here and that somebody can prove me wrong. Truly, the best thing to do is continue to fight the Army on this. PM me or email me so we can brainstorm possible courses of action to getting these benefits transferred.
 
Any updates or different findings on this from anyone?
 
I have no idea how to PM ha ha...never figured that out. I just don't understand why I keep getting different answers. I read that reg. to begin with which is why we had started asking people about it because we couldn't imagine that just because he is being medically retired he won't be able to transfer the GI Bill. When we started asking (we started at the VA) we were told he absolutely could, that they couldn't punish him for being medically discharged. Then I emailed [email protected] to ask them because his career counselor said that he couldn't do it UNLESS he was able to promise four more years. When I emailed the above email this is the response I got:
[FONT='PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif']In order to qualify for transfer, he must have at least six years of
service. If he gets out prior to that he is not eligible to transfer.
If he meets the six years and cannot meet the 4 year service remaining
requirement due to medical separation, then he can still transfer as the
transfer obligation end date would revert back to his medical
retirement/separation date. The key is he must have at least 6 years of
service in order to transfer.

After this I emailed them again and asked how he goes about transferring it...I was then told he needs to contact his career counselor (so basically back to square one). I replied and told them that guy told my husband unless he can promise four more years he isn't able to transfer. So the response I got to that was:

[/FONT][FONT='PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif']Please send the following info:

Soldiers full name and rank

Soldiers full SSN

Soldiers Current Unit of Assignment

Name of Career Counselor

After responding to that email...I've gotten nothing in return. My husband will be getting out two months after he hits his six year mark...I'm afraid it's going to fall through the cracks conveniently until he is no longer active and then he won't be able to do it anyway. This is just frustrating beyond belief.
[/FONT]
 
It seems they were presuming (in the original email) that your husband had agreed to 4 more years of service after serving 6 and was now facing medical separation/retirement - under that scenario, your husband is eligible for transfer.

They are telling him to contact his career counselor because that person can manipulate your husband's reenlistment status. According to the regulations, your husband must agree to serve four more years on the date he elects to transfer his benefits. This date must be after his six year mark, but since he is barred from reenlistment (members are barred from reenlistment after entering the DES), he will not be able to agree to four more years - and thus is ineligible for transfer.

The fact that he agreed to serve four more years prior to his MEB (and his 6 year mark) unfortunately seems to have no impact on his eligibility for transfer.

Have you tried sending a follow-up email to the conus.army.mil address?
 
Hey there prf...hang in there.

I know you guys don't have much time to get this transferred...but I'm following up too and we'll get you the answers. How long ago did you send the g1911 folks your husbands info? They are working the issue.....trying to straighten out the idiots that don't know their job. Yes-its frustrating, but the "few and far between" folks who do know whats going on are trying to make things right for people. Some people, although few it seems, have common sense and the ability to read and decipher the regs correctly. Its just a matter of finding them and having them on your side.

Do let me know when you last emailed the g1911 folks.....
 
Good morning prf,

I heard from them (g1post911) this morning and they said they are working your case. You might have gotten an email from them this morning you just letting you know-if not, they emailed me and told me such. LOL :)

We'll just keep on them all....hope you are having a great day!

TTUS.
 
Chinook,
Thank you...I'm still waiting on a response...my husband did just call me and tell me he had a message waiting for him at work from his career counselor and he needs to call him back. Hopefully this will be the answer...if not...I guess I'll just have to keep being a pain with the GI Bill people haha. Thank you so much for your help though...makes it easier having someone else help me as well (sometimes it feels like my husband puts everything on me...though I know he's busy haha, just gets irritating).
 
Hi Prf...

I was just wondering what the status for your gi bill is? Did they get this straightened out? Was that call from the career counselor the one you've been waiting for, with the right answer? I sure hope so! :)

Hope you are having a great day!
 
Chinook,
Yes it seems like we are finally getting somewhere, assuming someone doesn't screw it up from here. They told him once he hits his six year mark (June 30th) he can reapply and it will go through. His career counselor was notified about how to make the transfer I guess. I can only cross my fingers and hope :) Thanks for all your help :)
 
Excellent....glad those guys took care of things...yea. And of course you are welcome and glad we could get this taken care of...:)
 
Any word on what happen with this scenario?
 
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