Why Does the Air Force Require Four Additional Years to Transfer Benefits?

Hi Joe, It’s not just the Air Force, all branches of service require that service members remain on active duty for at least 4 years after a transfer of benefits is approved.  The 10 years of service is another issue that is also a part of the transfer of Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits.

The ability to transfer your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits is a retention incentive, that’s one of the reasons service members must still be on active duty to be able to transfer their benefits.  Veterans who have retired and are eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill cannot transfer it to anyone else.

An active duty service member who is eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill and has been in the military for 6 years can apply to transfer their benefits to an eligible spouse or dependent children.  For the transfer to be approved they have to agree to remain on active duty for 4 years after the transfer takes place.  If they transferred their benefits to a spouse, the spouse can begin using the benefits as soon as the transfer takes place.

However, if they transferred the benefits to their dependent children, the children cannot use the benefits until the service member has been in the military for 10 years.  I think that is where you saw the 10 years mentioned.