Archive for September, 2010

Army Reserve National Guard Federal Tuition Assistance (FTA) is a form of military educational benefit that a lot of National Guardsmen overlook, for some reason. Congratulations on asking a great question. And, to answer it, yes, you can used both the ARNG FTA and the GI Bill. If you are using the Active Duty Montgomery GI Bill (which you are) as well as any form of a “kicker” such as the Army College Fund, you must be going to school at least half-time to also receive the FTA.

You’ve probably lost your educational benefits through the GI Bill.

The Montgomery GI Bill has a delimiting period of 10 years. This means that 10 years after the date that you most recently left active duty, all remaining months of GI Bill benefits are lost. Essentially, you have to use it or you lose it.

There are a few exceptions. The VA is allowed to grant extensions for certain reasons. These reasons are:

• If you served at least 90 days of active duty at any point (in this case, the delimiting period re-starts at the end of that period of active duty.
• If you were prevented from going to school by a medical disability, or by being a POW or being held by a foreign power (in that case, an extension is granted equal to the length of time you were prevented from pursuing an education).

If you think you are eligible for and extension, contact the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and they’ll let you know how to apply.

No, the bottom line is that there is no way to transfer GI Bill benefits to your children. There are two reasons for this.

First, there is no mechanism by which a servicemember can transfer the GI Bill to his dependents after separating from the military. The new Post 9/11 GI Bill does have a transfer of educational benefits option, but servicemembers must apply for it while still in the military. It also only applies to those who are eligible for that version of the GI Bill, which requires active duty service after September11, 2001.

Also, the Montgomery GI Bill, which is the version of the GI Bill for which you would have been eligible, has a delimiting period of 10 years. This means that 10 years after you last leave active duty, any benefits you have remaining are lost. So, unless you could get an extension (only available if you couldn’t go to school for reasons of disability or being held by a foreign power), your benefits expired in 2008.