Family use of GI Bill benefits starts in Aug. - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Family use of GI Bill benefits starts in Aug.

Starting in June, career service members can sign up to share education benefits with family members under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, forever changing military family benefits when the new program formally launches Aug. 1.

Basic rules approved by defense and service officials require a service member to have at least six years of service and make a new commitment to serve another four to transfer benefits to a spouse or children.

But for about 240,000 officers and enlisted troops who will become eligible to retire between Aug. 1, 2009, and Aug. 1, 2012, temporary rules will cut the extra time they must serve to qualify for transfer rights. The clock on their new obligation begins on the date the benefits transfer is approved — so the sooner they sign up, the sooner they will be able to retire.

Many eligible spouses and children could begin using GI Bill benefits this fall if service members sign up quickly for transfer rights.

About 60,000 people with approved retirement dates falling between Aug. 1, 2009, and July 1, 2010, get an even better deal: They will be able to transfer benefits to family members with no new service obligation.

The special rules were designed so that people who had no way of knowing that transfer rights were coming when they put in for retirement would not miss out on the highly anticipated benefit.

The chief Pentagon policymaker on transfer rules, Bob Clark, said defense and service officials have high hopes for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which will be worth an average of $75,000 to $90,000 for college education spread over 36 months of payments.

Clark, the Defense Department’s deputy accession policy director, said sharing education benefits “is one of the most requested benefits we have heard about from the field and fleet for the last several years.”

He predicted transfer rights will have a “very positive impact” on recruiting and retention.

Keeping midcareer people in uniform is a key reason the Pentagon insisted that Congress include transfer rights in the new GI Bill program. But in writing the rules for sharing benefits, personnel officials still took care not to create a situation that would encourage people whose service was no longer needed to stay in a few more years so they wouldn’t be left out of the new benefit, Clark said.

Clark said GI Bill benefits can be shared with a spouse, one child or several children, as long as the recipient is enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System at the time the member transfers benefits.

Troops can transfer some or all of their maximum allotment of 36 months of GI Bill benefits. Changes in the sharing arrangement can be made only once a month.

Also, a service member may cancel a family member’s use of benefits at any time. “The benefit belongs to the service member and always belongs to the service member,” Clark said.

A spouse can begin using transferred benefits before the member completes the required additional four years of service, but children may not use benefits until the member has completed at least 10 years of service.

Anyone with at least 10 years of service who is unable to complete four additional years because of defense or service policy or law could be granted transfer rights under one of the special rules that will apply to officers twice passed over for promotion and enlisted members facing high-year tenure or other restrictions. They can transfer benefits if they agree to serve the maximum additional time that they’re allowed to stay in service.

WHO CAN TRANSFER BENEFITS

Any member of the armed forces on or after Aug. 1 who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and meets one of these criteria:

• Has at least six years of service on date of transfer request and agrees to serve four more years.

• Has at least 10 years of service, is barred by policy or law from serving four more years, and agrees to serve as long as allowed.

• Is or becomes retirement-eligible from Aug. 1, 2009, through Aug. 1, 2012. That may be extended for one additional year.

WHO CAN RECEIVE BENEFITS

Eligible service members may transfer some or all of their unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, up to the maximum 36 months of benefits, to a spouse, to children or to a combination, as long as the recipient(s) are enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System at the time of transfer.

Spouses may:

• Use benefits immediately.

• Use benefits while the service member remains in uniform or up to 15 years after the member separates from active duty.

• Use benefits after divorce, if the member agrees.

• Not receive the monthly housing or book stipends while the member is serving on active duty.

Children may:

• Use benefits after the service member completes at least 10 years of service.

• Use benefits while the member remains in the military or after separation from active duty.

• Receive monthly housing and book stipends while the member is on active duty.

• Use benefits after getting married.

• Not use benefits until they attain a secondary school diploma or equivalent or reach age 18.

• Not use benefits after age 26.