Unless they came back severely disabled or served long enough for a pension why would they?

As it should be.

I can see lifetime benefits based on service connected disability and a pension for career military.

And I can see retraining or post secondary education to help get them back into the job market.


The Post 9/11 GI Bill is not intended to do more than that from what I see. Now if they are not receiving enough from the program as intended then that is a problem.


After reading the OP again I see it was tied in to the training as outlined in the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

I personally fell into the GI Bill gap. No money for school as a benefit, there was a match fund savings program.

For me the GI Bill wasn't worth a lot. I got a better deal with an FHA mortgage, back when I had such a thing. I'm not sure about medical these days, that may have improved due to ObamaCare, but because I have insurance elsewhere, I don't think I'm eligible.

At least they will bury me eventually.

do in the old days, back when there were Democrats.

Although, when they rented a place, it was usually together with several other veterans. My husband, a US Army veteran, always had roommates, at first in a dorm with several beds to a room and then in a shabby old house where each guy had his own tiny bedroom.

My son is using his GI Bill right now. He has attended college in CA and CO. His housing allowance was reduced when he went to Colorado, it still covers his rent and he has some left for living expenses and food. It isn't luxury, but with a part time job he can make it and have a little fun along the way. It will pay for a 4 year degree as long as a full coarse schedule is taken and a C average GPA is maintained.

Oh, and the post 911 gi bill allows for assignment of the benefits to any person the recipient authorizes either now or in the future. It can be assigned to an infant, friend, relative, or anyone else.

That was it. It hadn't been raised since 1948 or so.

I had to put school on hold at the time to put a roof over our heads.

When I got out of the USAF in 1969, I went back to college in 1970. I got $256/month as my GI bill benefit. Even with the almost non-existent tuition at a California state college and living with two other guys in a really cheap house ($92.50 per month total rent, divided three ways), it wasn't enough to cover expenses. My parents kicked in $100/month. and I got by, just barely, with used or borrowed books and really cheap food. My money always ran out about the 20th of the month. It all worked out, but things were extraordinarily tight.

I'm sure things are worse now, but they weren't all that terrific then, either.

Classes in nursing, welding, all manner of things, $1 an hour. And the colleges had money to give you, and jobs to work on campus for pay - small, but there. IT wasn't generous, but it was pretty do-able. And, of course, there were decent jobs to pay back loans you might have had.

You are right, it wasn't generous, but it was a damn sight better then than now.

Much of that is not nearly as available as it used to be, and then when you add in 40+ years of inflation, it makes those amounts seem much smaller in comparison to today, but back then there were millions of people being trained to work, and not having to pick up so much debt.

The time you are speaking of (the time I was referencing) was before funding was cut to universities and before they decided to increase tuition and their incomes, and before colleges decided to start using student aid to attract wealthier students, instead of those who need it. It's become too expensive, and more exclusive to those who we haven't let be hurt the past few years.

The really interesting part is how people seem to look at it now. Some of the responses here indicate that the writer has no concept of how we need to invest in ourselves to grow the country. As if they see it as welfare or some "entitlement", focusing on the benefit to the individual instead of what it costs us not to.

Is you only get it when class is in session.

Because he didn't get enough for December because of the holiday break. I will probably have to help in February too since January isn't a full month.

It is also not considered income, so you can't use it on a rental application.

I'm not complaining, in AZ my post 911 plus army college fund is about 1800 a month.

are more stipulations, it looks like. That's too bad - the country gained a lot from the bill before that.

A standard part of enlistment if you got an honorable or under honorable conditions discharge under the GI Bill.