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Retired Activities Office Bulletins

The following bulletins are furnished to ANA as important information to retirees by LT EMO Tichacek, USN (Ret) who is the Retired Activities Director in Baguio, P.I. and are used with his permission.  If you have questions about the articles, please direct them to the cited reference in the bulletin and NOT to ANA or LT Tichacek.

01 Mar 05
VA Budget 2006 Update 01  (VA Committee hearing)
VA Budget 2006 Update 02  (VA Committee recommendations)
BRAC 2005 Update 04  (Base closure rational speculation)
Keep the Promise Update 07  (Retiree lifetime free medical care)
SBP DIC Offset Update 02  (Elimination proposed in new bill)
SBP Paid Up Provision Update 02  (Oct 1, 2005 effective date proposed)
Close Combat Badge  (New badge for non-infantry approved)
Burial Bugler Shortage  (Echo Taps project to highlight shortage)
Reserve Retirement Update 04  (New bill to reduce retirement age)
VA Registries Update 01  (Placement on must be requested)
Vet Cemetery for Idaho  (Recently opened in Boise)
Employment Restrictions - Post Service  (Don't jeopardize your retirement pay)
MGIB Update 08  (Education program guidelines)

VA Budget 2006 Update 01: The House Veterans Affairs Committee, headed by new Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN), held a hearing on 16 FEB 05 to review the VA budget request for FY 2006. The Committee heard testimony from three panels of witnesses including newly confirmed VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and representatives of military and veterans organizations. Secretary Nicholson said the Administration's plan increases the VA budget by 2.7% over last year. Witnesses took issue with that description, pointing out that much of the budget increase comes from plans to raise fees and copays for certain veterans and optimistic assumptions about increased collections from veterans' insurance companies. They asserted that, once medical inflation and rising demand for care for combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are taken into account, the proposed budget would not allow the VA even to continue its current level of services. Nicholson testified that the administration's budget request also proposes to raise drug co-pays for lower-priority non-disabled veterans and to impose an annual usage fee of $250 for Priority 7 and 8 veterans (those without compensable disabilities and whose incomes exceed indigence levels). Those same veterans would see the co-payments increase from $7 to $15 for each prescription they receive. In a VFW legislative alert they recommend a $3.5 billion increase above the President's budget request for veteran's health care and note that if his budget proposal budget is passed as is the impact would be:

  * 220,000 veterans would stop receiving treatment for their injuries and disabilities at VA hospitals.

  * 28,000 fewer veterans would receive long-term care, such as in nursing homes, and it eliminates funding for construction of care facilities throughout the country.

  * Waiting times for health care would skyrocket because VA would not have enough funding to provide care.

  * Funding for prosthetic research would be slashed by $9 million, despite the many wounded soldiers returning from overseas.

  * Over 3,000 health care workers would be eliminated.

  * 700 veterans benefits staff positions would be cut.

  * Hundreds of thousands of veterans would have to pay hundreds of extra dollars out of their own pocket because of increased co-payments and the enrollment fee.

  * The four-tenths of a percent increase in the medical care portion of the budget proposal would be less than the required increase in salaries for VA employees.

  * VA would be forced to collect more money from veterans and from their insurance companies to make up for the funding shortfall.

The Committee Chairman backed the usage fees and increased co-pays to sustain the VA health system, asserting that the VA should focus its efforts on the disabled and indigent. Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), the Committee's senior Democrat, strongly disagreed with the Administration plan, saying the Administration's own estimates show it was designed to drive 213,000 veterans from the VA system. The committee panel was urged by witnesses to provide full funding for all currently enrolled veterans, consistent with the recommendations of the recent President's Task Force on DoD/VA health care. It was also brought to the panel's attention of the critical need for additional funding to reverse cutbacks in claims processing staff and reduce the disability claims backlog, which is now lengthening again just when there is a new influx of disabled returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan. And that immediate action was needed to ensure a seamless transition from military to VA health coverage to ensure wounded returnees are not further disadvantaged by administrative and records conflicts between DoD and VA personnel and health systems. On a more positive note witnesses expressed support for improving the Montgomery GI Bill, with particular emphasis on ensuring that Reserve GI Bill benefits are automatically adjusted to maintain their originally intended value (about 50% of the active duty rate). Testimony offered at the hearing can be reviewed at  http://www.moaa.org/Legislative/Testimony/TMCTestimonyFeb162005.pdf  
[Source: MOAA Leg Up 18 FEB 05 & VFW Leg Alert 18 FEB 05]

VA Budget 2006 Update 02: After receiving testimony on the President's proposed 2006 budget for the VA, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on 18 FEB made his recommendations on behalf of Republican members of the Committee in a letter to the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Craig rejected both doubling prescription drug co-pays for veterans and decreased spending on state nursing homes for veterans but did agree to approve a $250 a year "enrollment fee" for higher income veterans who have no service connected injuries. The letter also called on Congress to provide $244 million more on medical services for veterans above what the president had proposed and expressed support for the president's $200 million proposed increases in funding for mental health services and prosthetic care for returning soldiers and supported an increase in funding to pay for emergency medical services obtained by enrolled veterans at non-VA hospitals. Democrats are sending a separate letter to the Budget Committee clarifying their views. [Source: TREA Special Leg Up 23 FEB 05]

BRAC 2005 Update 04: The Pentagon plans to shut down or scale back some of their 425 facilities, the first such effort to save money in 10 years. The downsizing is part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's long-term transformation of the Cold War-era military. The Pentagon chief argues that closing or consolidating stateside facilities could save $7 billion annually and that the money would be better spent improving fighting capabilities amid threats from terrorists. Rumsfeld recently told lawmakers the department continues to maintain more military bases and facilities than are needed, consuming and diverting valuable personnel and resources, Shrinking the domestic network of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases is a certain source of savings. It also is a high-stakes political fight because it affects local economies in congressional districts. Lawmakers have resisted efforts to shutter their bases, challenging past base closing rounds and lobbying hard to keep their installation off the final list. Conceptually, lawmakers buy the argument that base closures are important to make sure they are spending resources wisely. But they are reticent of closing bases in their cities because of job losses. Rumsfeld has estimated that extra base capacity is at nearly 25 percent. But Republican lawmakers said the secretary recently told them that the cuts will not be as deep, in part because the military needs a home for 70,000 troops returning from Europe. The Pentagon says that all domestic bases are under consideration, but clearly some are more vulnerable than others. Topping the list are aging facilities, small bases used by only one of the four services and large installations whose missions, training, ammunition or weapons are outdated. The Northeast is home to many bases configured to defend against the Soviet threat. They could absorb the biggest hit now that many former Soviet bloc nations are U.S. allies. A list of likely bases for closure/downsizing has been circulating for months on the internet but it is only speculative and has no bearing on the final recommendations.
     Congress authorized the fifth round of Base Realignment and Closure commonly known as BRAC last year. The first deadline in the yearlong process is March 15, when President Bush must name a nine-member commission that will review a list of closures that Rumsfeld will propose by May. Congressional leaders have already submitted their six recommendations. Bush will make his three choices known shortly. As the process gets under way, lawmakers and communities are stepping up efforts to show their bases are essential. They also are lobbying for new missions and projects for their facilities to make the bases less attractive for closure. The Pentagon estimates that previous closures in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 eliminated 20 percent of domestic bases and saved about $16.7 billion through 2001, and roughly $7 billion annually since. Congress has refused repeated requests by the Pentagon to close more bases since 1995. Part of the reason was lingering Republican distrust after President Clinton moved to ease the economic impact from two base closings in vote-rich California and Texas just before his re-election campaign in 1996. In 2001, with Clinton out of office, the Pentagon nearly got its wish for closures in 2003. But after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress delayed the closures until this year. [Source: Associated Press Liz Sidoti article 21 FEB 05 ++]

Keep the Promise Update 07: Litigation was initiated in 1997 to obtain the lifetime health care promised to military retirees. Veterans William Schism and Robert Reinlie brought a Class Act Group [CAG] suit against the government to pay $10,000 in damages to each veteran affected. The case involved reimbursement for their out-of-pocket expenses by veterans for private insurance coverage or supplements. The court case and its outcome were previously reported in the Bulletin under CAG Suit [Day]. A three-judge panel found the government illegally breached its promise of lifetime health care. The government's case was kept alive in the lower courts after the Bush administration asked that all eleven judges on a federal appeals court rehear arguments and reverse the previous ruling. Bush won. In ruling against the veterans, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was sympathetic. The judges said that they could do no more than hope Congress would make good on the promises made in good faith to soldiers entering the service between 1941 and 1956. The Supreme Court refused to consider overturning that decision, which would have helped up to 1.5 million veterans, but could have cost the government as much as $15 billion. Congress agreed to provide health care for the older veterans beginning in 2002 under the TFL program. However, to be eligible retirees are required to pay for Medicare Part B and not all medical care is covered by Medicare.
     Although defeated in the courts the promise was pursued by Colonel Day and military fraternal organizations through legislative lobbying. The issue now has new life with HR 602 "Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act" introduced on 2 FEB 05. This bill would provide the lifetime medical care that military retirees say the government promised them in recruiting literature. This would be done by waiving health-care enrollment fees for World War II and Korean War-era retirees with Medicare Part B coverage, a requirement for those using Tricare for Life benefits. The bill also would open the Federal Employees Health Benefits program to retirees and reimburse any expenses under that plan that would not have been incurred under Tricare. Improvements in pharmacy benefits also are included. A corresponding bill S407 has been introduced in the Senate. You can view language of both bills by going to  http://www.classact-lawsuit.com Because of its sweeping provisions, the bill falls under the jurisdiction of four separate House committees. Congressional aides say that the Armed Services Committee [responsible for military health care] and the Ways and Means committee [which oversees Medicare] are the two with the greatest responsibility and are also the panels most reluctant to approve the bill. In an effort to gain support for the bill, military retirees and their families have been mailing empty brown paper bags to lawmakers with a message that retirees expect the government to keep its promises. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md, the bill's sponsor, has acknowledged that about 20,000 bags have been received. Passage of the bill is a high priority for military and veterans' groups, which have orchestrated the paper-bag campaign. The Bush administration has opposed making the military health-care program more generous for retirees and their families, arguing that money spent on retiree care would have to be diverted from programs aimed at active-duty member's pay and benefits, weapons modernization or ongoing operations. In congressional testimony last year and in interviews this year, David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said spending more money on veterans and retirees is hurting national security. Rep.Van Hollen does not think it is wrong to provide retirees with benefits they were promised and asserts that the implications of Dr. Chu's words are undeniable in that keeping the promises our country made to our military veterans and retirees simply is not a priority for DoD.
[Source: NavyTimes staff writer Rick Maze article 21 FEB 05++]

SBP DIC Offset Update 02: On 16 FEB 05 Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC) and 23 other original cosponsors introduced HR 808, which would end the dollar-for-dollar deduction of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (paid by the VA when the member's death is due to service-caused conditions) from the survivor's military Survivor Benefit Plan annuity. Because most SBP annuities are relatively low, the SBP/DIC offset often eliminates most or all of the SBP, leaving many surviving spouses with only the $993 monthly DIC annuity. HR 808 already has built a list of 54 cosponsors. In the Senate, Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) have combined the SBP/DIC and paid-up SBP initiatives into a single bill, S. 185. [Source: MOAA Leg Up 18 FEB 05]

SBP Paid Up Provision Update 02: On 17 FEB 05, Rep. Jim Saxton introduced his bill (number not yet available), which would change the effective date of 30-year, paid-up SBP from Oct 1, 2008 to Oct 1, 2005. Congress authorized paid-up SBP coverage in 1998 for any member who attains age 70 and has paid at least 30 years of SBP premiums. But the effective date was delayed for 10 years to save money. In effect, this imposed a "Greatest Generation tax" on the oldest military retirees who enrolled when SBP was first enacted in 1972. Before that, many paid premiums under the earlier Retired Servicemen's Family Protection Plan. By late 2005, those 1972 SBP enrollees already will have paid almost 20 percent more premiums than a 1978 enrollee will ever have to pay. In the Senate, Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) have combined the SBP/DIC and paid-up SBP initiatives into a single bill, S. 185. [Source: MOAA Leg Up 18 FEB 05]

Close Combat Badge: After 60 years of debate and in response to requests from field commanders the U.S. Army has announced a new badge for non-infantry soldiers in combat arms brigades that recognizes their direct participation in ground combat. The new badge will be the equivalent of the Army's Combat Infantry Badge (CIB), which was created in 1943. The CIB, in the form of a rifle surrounded by a wreath, is reserved for infantry and Special Forces soldiers only. The Close Combat Badge (CCB) will be awarded to soldiers with military occupational specialties in armor, the cavalry, combat engineering, and field artillery. Officers must have a branch or specialty recognized in Army regulations as having a high probability to routinely engage in direct combat. The CCB will be presented only to soldiers who are engaged in active ground combat, moving to contact and destroy the enemy with direct fire. All soldiers are allowed to wear their unit patch on their right shoulder as a combat patch after spending 30 days in an authorized combat theater. While prestigious, the display of this unit patch as a combat designator does not necessarily indicate that the wearer was involved in direct ground fighting. That is the purpose of the CIB and a Combat Medical Badge, which is reserved for service medics. These were the only two Army symbols that indicate that the wearer has come under direct enemy fire. Combat badges are different from military medals. Medals and the ribbons that represent them are worn only on a soldier's mess dress and Class "A" and "B" uniforms, never on battle dress uniforms (BDUs). The badges, which are rectangular pieces of metal when worn on the dress or Class "A" and "B" uniforms, are also worn as a fabric patch above the right-hand breast pocket of the BDUs and act as a visual recognition of close combat whenever a soldier is in uniform.

A March 05 administrative message is forthcoming that will formally outline the exact rules and regulations. The new badge should be available this fall through unit supply and also for purchase in military clothing sales stores. The proposed criteria for the CCB award are:

  * Colonel or below for officers; all enlisted soldiers are eligible.

  * Enlisted must have a Military Occupational Specialty in Armor or Cavalry (CMF 19), Artillery (CMF 13), or Combat Engineer (CMF 12).

  * Officers must have a branch or specialty officially recognized in Army Regulation 611-1 as having a high probability to routinely engage in direct combat.

  * Recipients must be assigned or attached to an Army brigade or smaller unit that is purposely organized to routinely conduct close combat operations and engage in direct combat, in accordance with existing Army rules and policy.

  * Recipients must be under fire while engaged in active ground combat, to moving into contact and destroy the enemy with direct fire. Battle or campaign participation is not sufficient to qualify for this award; the unit must have been in active ground combat.

  * If all other criteria are met, eligibility may include other services and foreign soldiers assigned to Army units of brigade and below.

[Source: U.S. Army & Stars & Stripes Lisa Burgess article 15 FEB 05]

Burial Bugler Shortage: Since 2000, families of all honorably discharged veterans have been entitled under federal law to a two-person uniformed funeral honor guard, the folding and presentation of the flag and the playing of taps. The Civil War dirge known as taps adds a beautiful, somber tone providing a feeling of finality for the families of those who served. With an average of 1,800 U.S. veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam now dying every day, along with a steady stream of casualties in Iraq, live renditions of taps at military funerals have become a relative rarity. Increasingly since 2003 the 24-note melody is usually delivered digitally via a compact disc player placed near the grave or a Pentagon-approved, push-button ceremonial bugle that anyone can mimic playing by raising it to their lips. The armed forces have about 500 musicians who perform taps, but many of them have been dispatched to the Middle East. A few thousand civilian volunteers in the Bugles Across America group also fill in wherever they can. It is well known that there are not nearly enough buglers to go around. To spotlight the scarcity and help address the problem, horn players are planning a dramatic musical performance, called the Echo Taps project. Stretched across 41 miles between two national cemeteries in rural western New York, hundreds musicians will play a cascading arrangement of taps on Armed Forces Day 21 May 05. A mile-long span in Coopers Plains will be devoted to tubas in memory of a tuba-loving soldier from the village that died at a young age. The song will start up at Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira and bind a string of small towns from Painted Post and Campbell to Savona and Bath. Each bugler will be within audible distance of the preceding one. Once the first bugler plays the first three notes, the second bugler will start and then, three notes later, the next. It is planned to have a bugler every 10th of a mile, or 410 buglers, the sound traveling through the valley should last 41 minutes. The Echo Taps project's goals are to enlist more volunteer buglers, honor military service in our country, and raise the profile of America's 120 national cemeteries. It is open to all brass horns, from trombones to mellophones. Buglers and volunteers can register at http://www.echotaps.org For additional info contact  echotaps2@wmconnect.com Already, more than 500 musicians, some from as far off as California, have said they will play. The goal is to get 2,000.
     Bugles Across America was formed in suburban Chicago four years ago to recruit taps players. The organization now has 3,800 volunteers to call on nationwide. So far, they have performed at 45,000 funerals. If you should need their services your request can be submitted via the internet at  http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org You will need to provide them with your name, phone, and email addee plus the deceased's name, city, state, burial /funeral home location, and date needed
[Source: Associated Press Ben Dobbin article 21 FEB 2005 &  http://www.echotaps.org  FEB 05]

Reserve Retirement Update 04: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has introduced S-337, the Guard and Reserve Readiness and Retention Act of 2005. The bill would extend Tricare coverage to members of the Guard and Reserve who are not on active duty if they pay premiums and co-payments. The bill also would reduce the age at which a Reserve-Component member can receive retirement benefits, based on years of military experience. Currently, RC members must wait until age 60 to draw retired pay and full benefits. S-337 is a companion bill to HR-558 [Source: Armed Forces News 18 FEB 05]

VA Registries Update 01: Veterans should be aware that they may be eligible to be placed on one or more of the VA Registries. The Registries are administered at VA Health Care Systems - NOT at VA Regional Offices. Registries are generally administered through the Office of Occupation & Safety Hazards. The Veteran must "REQUEST" to be placed on the respective Registry(s). The Eligibility Office should be able to direct you to that office. The advantage of being on a Registry is the potential for treatment(s) of legislated ailments & diseases, under that Registry - at NO COST. Applicable medications may also be provided at no cost. Being on an applicable Registry and being treated for Registry ailments/ diseases could assist in a future claim. The following registries are maintained by the VA:

  * Atomic Veterans  http://www1.va.gov/IRAD 
  * Agent Orange  http://www1.va.gov/AgentOrange 
  * SHAD  http://www1.va.gov/SHAD 
  * Gulf I  http://www1.va.gov/Gulfwar/

For more info on Registries go to  http://www.va.gov then to the applicable Registry info.
[Source: New Mexico e-Veterans News 2 FEB 05]

Vet Cemetery for Idaho: In the midst of the largest expansion of the veterans cemetery system since the Civil War, Idaho has opened a state veterans cemetery in Boise. The state was the only one that did not have a veteran's cemetery. It gave up that distinction with the aid of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant of $8.2 million for construction. There is now an operational national or state veteran's cemetery in every state of the union, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam. The VA grant to build the cemetery was awarded in 2002. A dedication ceremony took place 31 JUL 04, before construction was finished. The initial construction plan called for development of 30 acres of the 77-acre site and includes a total of 8,640 gravesites. That includes 2,930 traditional casket gravesites, 2,226 pre-placed crypts, 2,204 in-ground cremation niches and 1,280 columbarium niches. Other elements include a committal service shelter, an administration and maintenance building and an assembly area. Approximately 122,000 veterans reside in Idaho. Before the state opened its cemetery, the closest open national cemetery for local veterans was Willamette National Cemetery in Portland OR, about 425 miles northwest of Boise. One burial took place while the new cemetery was under construction. Governor Dick Kempthorne gave special approval to inter Army Specialist Brandon Titus, a Boise resident who was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq. Eligibility for burial in the Idaho States Veterans Cemetery is based on the same criteria as burial in a VA national cemetery. More details may be obtained by calling the Idaho Department of Veterans Affairs at (208) 334-4796. VA's State Cemetery Grants Program complements VA's national cemeteries. The grants have helped establish, expand or improve 57 state veterans cemeteries that provided more than 19,000 burials in fiscal year 2004. Five additional state cemeteries are under construction. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 137 grants of more than $209 million to 32 states and Guam. Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA's State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801 or visiting its website at  http://www.cem.va.gov/grants.htm  VA operates 120 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico plus 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict - from the Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq - are buried in VA's national cemeteries. Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the VA Web site on the Internet at  http://www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000. [Source: VA News Release 19 JAN 05]

Employment Restrictions - Post Service: There are several laws and regulations that restrict the nature of employment that a former government employee or military member may undertake after they have left government service. The FY00 DoD Authorization Bill repealed the dual compensation restrictions found at 5 U.S.C. 5532. This law eliminated the reduction in retirement pay for retired military members who accept civilian employment with the Federal Government. Both the retired pay offset and the Executive Schedule level V cap were repealed, effective 1 OCT 99. This means that military members can now receive their full military pension in addition to their Federal civilian paycheck. A good explanation on Pre & Post Employment Restrictions can be found at  http://www.afmc.wpafb.af.mil/HQ-AFMC/JA/lo/lojaf/ethics/usafjag/jun00.htm  A complete briefing on post-employment restrictions for DOD personnel is available on the DoD/GC-SOCO web site. The Department of Defense recently modified its ethics regulation to ensure that DoD personnel, when leaving federal service, do not inadvertently violate federal revolving door statutes. The modification made three changes to the departmental ethics regulation (DoD Directive 5500.7-R).

     1. The first change requires senior personnel, including admirals, generals, and senior civilian officials, to certify annually that they are aware of the requirements of three statutes, and have not violated them. The three statutes bar conflicts of interests by procurement officials, by all federal employees when negotiating for employment, and by all federal employees after they leave the department.

     2. The second change mandates that information on these post-government employment restrictions be included in the annual ethics training program for DoD personnel.

     3. The third element requires that all department personnel who are leaving federal service receive guidance on the restrictions that will affect them during and after their transition.

[Source: Armed Forces News 7 JAN 04]

MGIB Update 08: Under the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) qualified individuals who served a continuous period of at least three years of active duty, even though they were initially obligated to serve less, will be paid the maximum benefit which is presently $36,048. This sum is reached by multiplying the current FY maximum benefit of $1004 by 36 which is the number of portions or months in your account. Your actual benefits may be higher if you signed up for the Army or Navy College Funds. Months only correlate with the calendar for full-time academic (non-active duty) students. The monthly benefit paid to you is based on the type of training you take, length of your service, your category, and if DOD put extra money in your MGIB Fund (called "kickers"). Benefits under this program generally end 10 years from the date of the veteran's last discharge or release from active duty, but some extenuating circumstances qualify for extensions. A veteran with a discharge upgraded by the military will have 10 years from the date of the upgrade. In using the MGIB the following conditions apply:

     1. In most cases the school financial aid department does not consider the MGIB financial aid because it is normally paid directly to you, not the school. Most schools will require you to sign a promissory note, or apply for student loans to pay them upfront. This also means that you are eligible for student loans, scholarships, and Pell Grants along with the GI Bill. But it is important to note that your GI Bill income will reduce the amount of student financial aid you are eligible to receive. For help in locating scholarships refer to http://www.military.com/Careers/Education/ScholarshipSearch

     2. Once you have separated from the service you have 10 years to use all of your benefits. Although separating from service "starts the clock" on your 10-year time limit, if you re-join Active-duty service for more than 90 days during the 10 year period, your 10 year clock is reset. In other words you get 10 years from your last discharge.

     3. You can use the MGIB for any period of time, take time off and reapply to use it again at a later date.

     4. If you are currently on active duty the VA will pay up to, but not to exceed the cost of your education tuition and fees.

     5. If you have successfully completed your military service and are a full-time student (as defined by your school), the VA will pay you the full $1004 per month regardless of the tuition costs.

     6. Every time you use the current FY maximum "payment rate" ($1004) of MGIB benefits you use a month. Thus, if you receive $3,012, and your full-time MGIB rate is $1004, divide $3012 by $1004. Your entitlement charge is three months. If you receive $502 for a test or for a Top-Up, and your full-time rate is $1004, divide $502 by $1004. Your entitlement charge is one-half month.

     7. In most cases you will receive your benefits on a monthly basis. However each month that you are enrolled in classes you are required to verify your "status". This can be accomplished through Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (W.A.V.E.) or by telephone. Within 3-5 days you will receive a direct deposit of your monthly benefits. However you will not receive your payment until you verify.

     8. Your MGIB benefits are NOT taxable.

     9. The MGIB Payment rates increase every year.

   10. You may be eligible for more than one VA education benefit. If you are, you must elect which benefit to receive. You can't receive payment for more than one benefit at a time. The other benefits are:

           a. Training and Rehabilitation for Veterans With Service-Connected Disabilities
           b. Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program
           c. Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance
           d. Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty Educational Assistance Program
           e. Educational Assistance Test Program
           f. Educational Assistance Pilot Program

You can apply by filling out VA Form 22-1990, Application for Education Benefits or call 1-888-GI-BILL-1 for more information. Many schools offer free information packets they will mail you. At  http://www.military.com/Education/Lead1  you can request information from multiple schools at once by filling out the form provided. [Source:  http://www.defenselink.com NOV 04]

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