Daphne Brune: Naval Career Counselor Turned Student

When it comes to navigating her military education benefits, Daphne Brune is her own counselor. How can she make sure she's actually getting the most out of her benefits? In addition to being an Electronics Technician in the U.S. Navy, she was also once a Naval Career Counselor.

During her time as a career counselor, Brune held training sessions at Command Indoc on all sorts of career topics, including education benefits. Why, then, don't more servicemembers and sailors not know about the benefits available to them? "People were required to come to me for many things to get my signature on some paper or another, but [education benefits counseling] wasn't really one of them," explained Brune. "Not all commands do education training, or even good Indoc programs, which is probably one of the chief reasons why people don't know - that, and not being proactive enough on their own behalf."

Earning education benefits was one of the reasons Brune enlisted in the Navy and served for almost nine years (eight years, ten months and seventeen days to be precise, she qualified). "I decided to enlist because the opportunities were very limited for a poor white girl with a big brain in BFE Nevada. Wal-Mart, etc. was just not going to allow me to provide the kind of life I needed to give my son - or the money for education."

How Brune Got All the Perks

While on active duty, Brune used only some of her Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefits to take classes. "I mostly used [Tuition Assistance] though because using the MGIB Top-Up burned through a lot of money, and I wanted to have plenty left for when I got out." She's also getting 27 academic credit hours for her military experience, primarily for "electronic training with some leadership and [physical education] thrown in for fun."

To get her bachelor's degree, Brune invoked her Chapter 33, Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. This new GI Bill benefits election is irrevocable, meaning that Brune can't change her mind and go back to MGIB - not that she'd want to.

"Post-9/11 gave me a lot more money frankly, with much less hassle. I love having the tuition and fees paid directly to the university and getting that happy deposit into my bank account at the first of the month," says Brune. "With the MGIB you had to pay out of pocket and then wait for the money to come to you. Not to mention all the other rigmarole. The [new GI Bill] is much more streamlined; even if there is still quite a bit of paperwork, it's definitely less painful."

Which happy deposit shows up in Brune's bank account each month? The housing stipend that's the equivalent of Basic Allowance Housing for an E-5 with dependents in the location where you attend school, which is Houston, Texas, in Brune's case. What's the bottom line? An extra $1,557 each month, which means that Brune can afford to go to school full-time and focus on her education.

The housing stipend is one of several new GI Bill benefits that weren't a feature of the MGIB. Brune is also taking advantage of the books stipend, which totals $1,000 each year.

Brune's Career Goal: Administration of…Something

In around two years, Brune will complete her Bachelor of Business Administration degree, but she's hasn't yet nailed down the specific major - she might even double-major. She definitely has an idea of what she'd like to do, but she's still slaying those pre-requisite classes like government and economics.

Her last duty station wasn't in electronics. It was non-technical and administrative, and Brune loved it. "Not only was I running a division of forty people, I was doing the Departmental Administration for 120-plus personnel, and I loved it. It involved career counseling, admin, HR, database management, and all kinds of other stuff in addition to the managerial/leadership role I was in. I am going to use this experience and my degree to head into either administration/management or HR."

A Pleasant Military Education Benefits Experience Overall

As someone who is fully using her benefits, Brune is in a unique position to comment on using the military education benefits that she once advised others to use. When it comes to the challenges she faced, Brune shared, "Sometimes getting the left hand to talk to right hand can be a challenge, and sometimes it is a pain to get some of the university staff to do more than a cursory job when it comes to getting things done. Overall, the experience has been pleasant, and I have to admit that despite all of the negativity I've heard about the VA education department, they work their a**es off to make sure things get done for veterans."

Now what? "My long-term plans involve getting done with school and getting back into the workforce before I go insane," cracked Brune. "Military benefits are making that a possibility."

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