GI Bill education transfer incurs 4 years for all Airmen

News > GI Bill education transfer incurs 4 years for all Airmen

GI Bill education transfer incurs 4 years for all Airmen

Posted 1/14/2013 Updated 1/14/2013

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by Debbie Gildea
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs

1/14/2013 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) -- When initially implemented, the Post-9/11 GI Bill education transfer program was phased in to enable Airmen nearing retirement to accept a 1-, 2-, or 3-year active-duty service commitment.

That phase-in period expired July 31, 2012 and all active-duty Airmen now incur a 4-year ADSC, said Bruce Houseman, Air Force Personnel Center education services and benefits chief.

"Because the program was new, many otherwise eligible members would have been unable to take advantage of it without the phased-in service commitments," said Houseman. "However, those exceptions are no longer offered, so members who wait until they are close to retirement to transfer benefits may not be able to do so."

High year of tenure, for one, may affect a member's ability to transfer benefits.

"If you have 20 years of active federal service, but still have four years before your HYT, you may still be able to apply to transfer benefits, but you will definitely incur a 4-year commitment, so it's best to act quickly," said Houseman.

Airmen interested in transferring a portion or all of their GI Bill education benefits to family members can contact the education services team at afpc.dpsitedu@us.af.mil.

Eligible Airmen can apply to transfer benefits through the MilConnect website at www.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect, or through the Virtual Military Personnel Flight self-service actions section, accessible via the myPers website or the Air Force Portal.

"If you think you might be interested, we want to help you with the process. Don't wait until it's too late," said Houseman.

For more information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill and transferring education benefits, go to myPers at https://mypers.af.mil, and enter "Post 9/11 GI Bill" or "9083" in the search window.

Comments

2/19/2013 4:33:20 PM ET
Particularly single members write and call your congressmen for equality...having a retention tool is fine for all however timing of eligible tranferree is not fair. If you choose or are deployed and don't have exisiting spouse of children and want later in life that is your right. Tell your congressmen to eliminate this inappropriate inequity

Gary, Earth

2/19/2013 10:59:13 AM ET
CONT'D the additional service commitment at their Force Development Flight in order to be eligible to transfer benefits. As for whether new airmen are still being charged I don't know that answer. If that is still happening though then they are paying into the old Ch 30 program. Any service member will qualify for the Ch 33 Post 9-11 program after 90 days of service but that does not mean they have it. One must still go online to sign up for the Ch 33 MGIB. Those who do possess another MGIB benefit whether it be Ch 30 or Ch 1606 etc will have to elect to forfeit that benefit in favor of the Ch 33 MGIB which is pretty much always going to be the better option. To do that folks should go to www.gibill.va.gov whether they need to apply or just find out more info. Good luck

Ed Tech, CA

2/15/2013 3:49:05 PM ET
The headline is false this does not apply to all Airmen - it only applies to Active Duty Airmen. Eligible AF Reserve personnel have until 1 Aug 13 to apply for the pro-rated service commitments. ANG likely has their own policy as well. ARC members should check with their Force Development Flight - aka Education and Training office.Unfortunately neither the Services nor the VA have done a good job of getting the word out about TEB not even to their own Ed Counselors. Herc and Mr. Brett the down payment was for the old Ch 30 MGIB. The Transfer of Education Benefits program or TEB is a facet of the new Ch 33 Post 9-11 MGIB. What most people don't realize is that TEB is not a guaranteed part of the Ch 33 benefits but rather it is an additional incentive program administered separately by each Service Branch. To qualify for TEB a member must first possess the Ch 33 Post 9-11 MGIB then apply online for the TEB and finally sign up for the additional service commitment at th

Ed Tech, CA

2/9/2013 11:08:24 PM ET
I agree. VA wesite states 1 Aug 2013 is the deadline for TEB incurring 4 year commitment. Not the 31 Jul 12 date the AF has instituted. Read the VA website not the AFI which is WRONG

Agree, AF

2/8/2013 4:00:45 PM ET
AllThis expires 1 Aug 2013. This is a VA program. Ask the ed center. They will tell you it is a VA program. Check out the VA website.

Truth Data, USA

2/7/2013 1:24:02 AM ET
I agree with ORF. I was still active duty when the Post 911 GI Bill came out in 2009 ... four years ago I took myself to the education center checked out the VA website and so on ... gathered all the information I could to find out how the new GI Bill affected me and possibly my dependents. I did not wait to be spoon fed information ... I went looking for it. And found it This is one of your benefits ... it pays to be proactive

Retired Chief, OCONUS

2/1/2013 10:33:41 AM ET
Herc The tough answer is that this is a retention tool and at this point you're not high on the list of those we need to retain. To those that didn't know because your Commander didn't tell you don't let it happen to your Airmen. Educate your folks.

Chief, CO

1/31/2013 12:47:21 PM ET
Ed Ctr Counselor at McChord or maybe Mr. Houseman At what point will new Airmen stop being charged the 1200.00. MGIB fee This is critical money in their first year of service. We try to do the best we can in educating them on financial responsibility. Most of them would probably save some of that if they had it. Thanks for any info.

Dave Brett, Tyndall AFB

1/22/2013 1:05:02 PM ET
After some research it appears this article isn't telling the whole story. If you navigate from the VA page to the official DOD page and click the transferability fact sheet under related links it states the ADSC requirements as a function of when you became retirment eligible. For instance if you were eligible on 1 Aug 2009 you incur no additional service commitment. 1 Aug 2010 you incur 1 year...and so forth.

ADAF, Italy

1/22/2013 10:38:30 AM ET
This is a benefit that has been advertised however the details seem to have been hidden. It took some digging to figure out the additional commitment and for many people unfortunately they find out about the commitment too late and are ineligible for this very valuable benefit. The word is just finally starting to get out but this is a program of which benefits started over 3 years agoThere are so many ways to get this information out and it just wasn't filtered down for whatever reason.The most hidden detail about this program is the HYT rule which helped me and could probably help many. You only have to complete the commitment up to your HYT. For this it will take some special authorization higher up and Mr. Houseman did an excellent job of helping me out with that. Hope this knowledge will help somebody out there.

Stuck at Minot, ND

1/18/2013 11:22:16 AM ET
Let's be clear this article relates ONLY to those Airmen that wish to Transfer Education Benefits -TEB- to their dependents do not confuse this article with choosing between MGIB and Post 9-11. If you have 90 days or more AD service--with some exceptions--you are eligible for Post 9-11 GI Bill without an additional service obligation. Talk to your Ed Ctr if you have questions they get paid to help

Ed Ctr Counselor, McChord

1/18/2013 8:07:09 AM ET
I am continually amazed by those that listen to them....they are often wrong. How many of you with questions about this bill ever read anything on the VA website va.gov or talked to your local education office Its been a hot topic for over 5 years If you don't know about the rules for this bill its because YOU failed to take an active role in your own future. Ignorance is cured by education....please go and get some

ORF, Still Serving

1/17/2013 6:26:47 PM ET
Guidance given to us was to be sure to transfer the benefits before you retire So we stroll down to the retnetion office to do just that. I have 2 years left my friend had 4 months. Surprise You get to stay another 4 years HUH And what a kick in the face to learn it's 4 years from when you sign the papers and not from when you earned it Absolutely INSANE.

Jen, IL

1/17/2013 3:31:53 PM ET
What about reservistsANG members who have earned GI benefits from deploymentsMPA tours

Capt, Honolulu HI

1/16/2013 5:30:42 PM ET
Chuck and Airman I highly disagree with you both. I too wasn't completely informed on this requirement and even when I tried to go through the process it was a bit of a hassle not very straight forward. I now have to incur an additional four year commitment. It seems we get told not to drink and drive at every single Commander's Call but never get briefed on changes to our benefits. This needs to change.

NCO, Minot

1/16/2013 5:13:22 PM ET
Airman has this one right. This has been very well publicized not only by AFPC but on the AF Portal and in the professional publications like AFSA's Sergeant's magazine. At my base I also had multiple emails from the Retention office. As with most things in todays AF you have GOT to be proactive about YOUR career

MSgt, TN

1/15/2013 9:03:25 PM ET
The Airman is right. I did my transfer in Jan 2010. Everyone has had plenty of time to get this done.

Chuck, The desert

1/15/2013 11:17:25 AM ET
Herc check out gibill.va.gov the 4-yr ADSC should be for people retirement eligible after 31 July 2012. I transferred benefits in October of 2012 and incurred a 2-yr ADSC hit 20 yrs Feb 2011.

Random SNCO, TX

1/15/2013 9:34:48 AM ET
Herc I realized this while downrange last year and was able to receive a waiver based on my particular situation. Specifically even if I wanted to give all four years with my rank and career field I cannot stay on beyond the 20-yr point. The office that handles the waivers were very helpful and I was able to transfer all four years of the benefit to my family. Give them a call or an email and your situation may fall into a similar category.

MJ, CONUS

1/15/2013 8:44:56 AM ET
I was not aware of the 4 year commitment either. I found out about it through my boss. As luck would have it I transfered my benefits to my daughter in December 2012 and hit my 16 year mark the end of January 2013. AFPC needs to advertise this stipulation properly. I hope something can be done for Herc so no one else lands in this predicament.

TSgt, TX

1/14/2013 7:46:18 PM ET
You had since 2009 to make the transfer with the phase in if you would go over 20 in the window. The AF screws most things up but this doesn't look like a one of those times.

Airman, CONUS

1/14/2013 3:43:07 PM ET
So let me get this right I give the United States Air Force 21 yrs of service and am approaching retirement and I can't transfer my GI Bill benifits to my family members. This is so off the wall I cannot belive it. I payed the intial money into the system and these are my benifits. This is beyond bizzare.

Herc, TX

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