Why Won’t the VA Let My Husband Transfer Benefits to Me?

The way I read the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer policy, your husband should be covered by the first and the second bullet:

Any member of the Armed Forces (active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted) on or after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and:

• Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces on the date of election and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election.
• Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or selected reserve) on the date of election, is precluded by either standard policy (service or DoD) or statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute, or
• Is or becomes retirement eligible during the period from August 1, 2009, through August 1, 2013.  A service member is considered to be retirement eligible if he or she has completed 20 years of active duty or 20 qualifying years of reserve service.
  • For those individuals eligible for retirement on August 1, 2009, no additional service is required.
  • For those individuals who have an approved retirement date after August 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, no additional service is required.
  • For those individuals eligible for retirement after August 1, 2009, and before August 1, 2010, 1 year of additional service after approval of transfer is required.
  • For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2010, and before August 1, 2011, 2 years of additional service after approval of transfer are required.
  • For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after August 1, 2011, and before August 1, 2012, 3 years of additional service after approval of transfer required.

He is in his 10th year and policy precludes him from extending right now. The only thing I can think of that is holding it up is if he has not completed his 10th year yet. I imagine that happens in August right?

I would contact the VA and explain to them that he has his 6 years in, and he did reenlist for four years (almost 4 years ago), but at that time there wasn’t a transfer program. Try using either the Regional or State contacts as it is easier to actually get a hold of someone.

Personally, I believe he meets the requirement of the first bullet now with his 1st 6 years in and having almost completed his additional 4 years of service. The VA has lots of new poeple working for them and they may not all be up-to-speed yet on the provisions of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.