Posted on Dec 1, 2013
Should Congress allow vets who have earned the 9-11 education benefit transfer the benefit to their children?
7.16K
75
17
3
1
2
the Post 911 GI Bill prevents vets from transferring there earned educational benefit. This is unfair as many of them retired years before it became law. Allowing this does not cost one red cent. If the ver has it and hands it to a child i\there is no cost. this is why it should be changed.
GI Bill
9/11
Benefits
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 7
8
8
0
By the time the 9/11 GI Bill came into effect, I had already been in for quite some time. Being fulltime you are able to utilize other funds for your education. So, when I was getting near retirement I decided to give both of my children each 50% of my G Bill benefits so that they could go to college and not have to work fulltime like I did before I was active. With the costs of upper education sky-rocketing every year they would have graduated with student loans that they would be trying to pay off the rest of their lives. I did not want that for my children, I was not able to help my children with any college funds - so my being able to transfer my benefits to help their education was quite special in my eyes. They are able to concentrate on their studies without loosing time for that because of having to work. They are getting good grades due to this and will be setup for a good future - which is what I always wanted for them. I think it is my way of making up to them for all of the times I had to be away on deployments or work on days when they had special things going on that I could not be at. That's my two cents for this topic.
(8)
(0)
6
6
0
Gunny Herman,
There was nothing in MSG Quick's remarks that was racially charged. I believe he was noteing a lack of personal accountability and responsibility that seems to be lacking these days. I personally take offense to your reference to race because you lack the ability to disagree with someones point of view in a civil approach.
(6)
(0)
6
6
0
Gunny,
This appears to affect you personally and that's why you appear blinded by the misconception about it's cost and the reason behind the transfer in the first place.
This is a benefit YOU are entitled to, not your family members. If service members want to transfer their earned benefit, the service member will have to obligate 4-more years of service. The transfer was meant as a retention tool.
Unfair? Are you not receiving a retirement check? Now you want to come back and get more? When does it end? When do WE stop looking for additional handouts?
This appears to affect you personally and that's why you appear blinded by the misconception about it's cost and the reason behind the transfer in the first place.
This is a benefit YOU are entitled to, not your family members. If service members want to transfer their earned benefit, the service member will have to obligate 4-more years of service. The transfer was meant as a retention tool.
Unfair? Are you not receiving a retirement check? Now you want to come back and get more? When does it end? When do WE stop looking for additional handouts?
This is a great program for current service members...if VA were to open it to retirees, it may have to take away from current service members. I hope that's not your intent.
(6)
(0)
CSM Thomas McGarry
I also have to disagree with you SGM. As a retired Army Reserve CSM I have met a number of soldiers who retired with over 20 years service and had earned Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits yet were never informed by their command that they need to make a transfer to their dependents if they desired prior to retiring. In my opinion putting this stipulation in was a way for Congress to save $$!!
(0)
(0)
Sgt Dale VanHouten Jr
Exactly. If it is a benefit he is entitled to...he should be able to use as he sees fit. Regardless of who uses it, by your reasoning, if everyone used it that rated it it couldn't sustain itself. Hence, this was put together in the hopes some would never use it. If it unburdens him with the cost of putting a child through college, so be it. A retention tool, yes. But those unable to take on the 4 year obligation (retirement, medical, etc.) still rated it had they only been informed to initiate the transfer while still serving.
(1)
(0)
CSM Thomas McGarry
Sir maybe you need to tell this to Congress! My point Sir is you are entitled to your opinion on this , however I've met more than a couple retired Reservist/Guard members who because their Units did a very poor job when they were out-processed for retirement were never informed that they needed to transfer these benefits to their spouse or dependents prior to retirement. If Congress didn't want to allow this they should not have passed this part of the Bill.
(0)
(0)
5
5
0
To be fair there is a cost as the value of the GI Bill goes up every year and the dependents are much more likely to use it and the government counts on many vets not using it.
That said many retired troops would qualify to transfer their GI Bill and I think they should be able to but the transfer was used as a retention tool to keep people in past their last ADSO so as long as the retirees had enough time after 911 to quality for the transfer and not just the individual benefit they should be eligible to transfer
That said many retired troops would qualify to transfer their GI Bill and I think they should be able to but the transfer was used as a retention tool to keep people in past their last ADSO so as long as the retirees had enough time after 911 to quality for the transfer and not just the individual benefit they should be eligible to transfer
(5)
(0)
CSM Thomas McGarry
Gee do you see any Senators or Congressmen giving up their "benefits" because it's good for the Country? At least soldiers who have been deployed earned these education benefits.
(1)
(0)
CSM Thomas McGarry
Sir-I guess I have one more question-Even though you may not personally agree with this part of the GI Bill benefit I would hope you are not or have not withheld this important information from subordinates etc who are retiring on order to "save" the Government money.
(0)
(0)
GySgt Herman, I am concerned by the way you are choosing to interact with other members of our network, who are being professional and thoughtful (not to mention very accurate) in their responses to your issue. Making accusations of people who only disagree with you goes against the intent of this site and against our profession itself. This will be your final warning regarding behavior. If you have further questions about this, please contact me at [login to see] and we can sort it out there. Thank you.
(4)
(0)
4
4
0
Either you are active duty or you transferred it before you retired. Because as it stands those of us who qualify but were already retired when it became law are prevented from transferring it.
(4)
(0)
3
3
0
Either I am not clearly understanding your question, or there has been some recent change, because to my knowledge veterans are allowed to transfer 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits to their children (and spouse for that matter). Both my son and wife have used my benefits to go to school. I also know several others who have done the same thing.
(3)
(0)
Sgt Dale VanHouten Jr
The transfer is only allowed (under certain circumstances) while still serving on active duty. If someone rated the GI Bill and did not initiate the transfer while still serving or this option was not available when they exited the service, they are currently not allowed to transfer the GI Bill. If you were able to transfer your GI Bill after your service, please let me know how you did it. I'm in the same boat as the others. I want to transfer mine to my daughter and made the mistake of not educating myself thoroughly enough before I retired.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google