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Can I Qualify for the Active Duty GI Bill By Serving in the Reserves?

July 23rd, 2010
by Ron Kness
I just entered the final year of my 4-year enlistment. I used the CLRP and paid $1,200 for the MGIB.  I was told I cannot use benefits from the GI Bill until my second enlistment. Does the enlistment have to be active duty or can I enter the Reserves and still use the GI Bill I paid into? — Jeff

What you were told Jeff is true and here is why. When you signed up for CLRP, you incurred a three-year commitment. Those three years did not count toward your GI Bill eligibility, so in essence, you will only have one year of service toward your Montgomery GI Bill eligibility once you finish your fourth year. You need three years of eligibility to get the full MGIB benefit, which would require serving an additional two years.

To answer your second question, no you can’t serve the additional time you need in the Reserves as that MGIB is a completely different program and the two don’t play well together.

As an option, by the end of your 4th year, you would have eligibility for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The New GI Bill requires a minimum of 90-days of active duty for the minimum benefit of 40%, and three years or more for the full 100%. With one year of eligibility, you would be at the 60% level, meaning you would get 36 months of education benefit where the VA would pay 60% of your tuition, you would get paid 60% of your housing allowance and 60% of your $1,000 book stipend. This would give you an option, if you didn’t want to sign up for the additional time.

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Posted in New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Can I Qualify for the Active Duty GI Bill By Serving in the Reserves?”

  1. Marley says:
    July 23, 2010 at 8:55 pm

    I have a similar question, served 4 years active duty, used CLRP for first three years. Will I get 60% of benefit for the final year? I’m worried because I read something about if the amount of time you served the qualifies is short than they don’t count your initial entry time, but does this affect me since that time was for CLRP?

  2. Ron Kness says:
    July 25, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    It shouldn’t. From everything I have read, three years is three years when it comes to CLRP.

    What you read is true, though, when it comes to the Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility – training time does not count toward eligibility, so Basic and AIT don’t count. In your particular case, you should end up with one good year towards the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

    Ron

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