Post 9/11 GI Bill Falls Through

Readers of the Veterans Benefits GI Bill blog know that the Post 9/11 GI Bill, Chapter 33, has been the center-point of many military students that are heading off to college and career schools. The benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill were scheduled to disperse on August 1st for the Fall 2009-2010 semester, but as per a standard many active duty, reserve, and veterans have gotten used to from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, the system is falling through.

Army of Dude discusses the personal experience of faithfully supporting the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the unfortunate results as of this September:

When the Post 9/11 Bill passed through Congress with a veto-proof majority, I cheered. When it was signed into law, I was elated. But on August 1 of this year, when the bill went live after almost three years of legislation, hopes, dreams and well-wishes, I was silent. I did not want to commemorate a non-event as a moment of triumph. I took part in lobbying on Capitol Hill for the bill when it was just that – a scrap of paper that promised financial security in a post-Army life where almost everything feels uncertain and nebulous. I knew it would take at least a month after August 1 to see how it would play out. Through fears that the VA would fumble this rare opportunity to make good on a solemn promise made by FDR sixty-five years ago, I watched August crawl by, swept up in a lazy mosaic of final exams and term papers that capped a full semester. With the old GI Bill in hand and the new one on the way, I took a leap of faith. With my bank account dwindling and rent, utility bills, school tuition and other obligations on the table, coupled with the advice of my VA counselor, I bet it all on the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

And I lost.

This is the story of many military students that visit the Veterans Benefits GI Bill blog today desperately seeking help. They come from all walks of life, including:

• Students that joined the military specifically because they were promised financial aid for school and are now having to decide between paying for electricity or eating tomorrow.
• Students that joined the military and now want to re-integrate into the work force with a college degree or career training, but are spending most of their time contacting government agencies and waiting next to the mailbox instead.
• Military parents that were hopeful they could send their child to college off of their several years of military service–and signed contracts saying they’d give even more service, per the rules of military retention for family transfer–and are now pulling out loans so junior doesn’t get dropped from his/her classes.

Prospective college students that are preparing for college next semester get to watch from the sidelines as these current students play out the horrors of the backlog of government agencies as Post 9/11 GI Bill funds continue to roll out past the date of maturity.

Don Logada at the WTOC has his own opinions on how the Post 9/11 GI Bill has been panning out, and nothing speaks louder than statistics. Just published yesterday, Logada writes, “The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits kicked in on August 1st. Half way through September, nationwide, more than 172,000 people are still waiting to be reimbursed.”

And You Served reports with the voice that can be found in the mouths of many veterans waiting for their Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits:

Where are the Military Officers Association of America, Partnership for Veterans Education, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of American, Iraq Veterans Against War, Student Veterans of America – all organizations that championed this bill – now that our vets are being hung out to dry?

If you are still waiting for your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, know that you are not alone; this is a new bill, it was not launched as amicably and steadily as it could have been, and now all military students can do is hang on for their dear financial lives in the middle of one of the worst economies many of us have ever seen as the VA tries to pick up the shattered pieces and put them all together.