In an effort to manage information in a controlled manner and also minimize a slue of queries that may be premature in all regards we felt compelled to address the following as you may be inundated with questions from your respective AORs:
There has been a frenzy of activity today within the military community due to the passage of the new GI Bill, which is being called the "GI Bill for the 21st Century" on Military.com. Additional information about this bill can be found at http://www.gibill.va.gov/.
"The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a new benefit providing educational assistance to individuals who have served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001." Several critical points of fact include; (1) an effective date of August 1, 2009 and (2) does not cover any education/training completed before this effective date.
One of the statements/elements of the new legislation that is generating interest is the transfer of entitlement/benefit to dependents. The new VA Brochure states, "You must be approved by the Department of Defense (DoD) for eligibility to transfer entitlement to your spouse and/or dependent children. Please contact (DoD) or your military service for more information."
Please understand that Coast Policy must be promulgated as it applies to all aspects of this fantastic benefit and that HQ will be formulating that directive, sometime soon. In addition, it is fair to state that significant effort will be applied to appropriately explain all elements of this benefit and especially the language that applies to dependents.
As many of us have been aware that this initiative has been extraordinarily supported throughout the country it must also be added/included to the current and complicated effort of discerning the educational benefits as it applies to our invaluable reserve program.
A special THANK YOU to Dr. Kathy Nash (MLC-LANT ESO Program Manager) for providing significant effort in highlighting this information!
Executive Officer
CG Institute
(405) 954-7232