Veterans gettin' the shaft on Army College Fund... Some vets feeling shorted by the Army College Fund 16 July`12 : At the time, the deal seemed irresistible to Eric Hickam: Give six years to the Army, a recruiter told him in 2003, and you can get a $50,000 "kicker" the Army College Fund.
Middle class can't afford college... Study: College becoming unaffordable to Middle Class August 23, 2012 - Many Florida families have been paying up to 25 percent of median income for public in-state college costs out of reach for some middle-class parents who have taken recent pay cuts or lost jobs, according to a new study.
When I was a young warrant officer aviator, I was on a field problem out on the west end of the Fort Hood reservation. I was copiloting for a witty and brutally-honest fellow name James Rising. He and I were sitting on the skid of our OH-58A, and enjoying the time-honored tradition of sawing our way into the cans of our C Rations with a P-38 can opener, and enjoying the potted meat, sturdy circular crackers, and ten-year old pear slices that were contained therein. We had some time to kill, as we awaiting our teams' rotation into the battle-drill that was raging along there some miles north of us. At one point a truck came trundling along the dirt road to ran just east of our position. It was a Deuce and A Half, piloted by a lone fatigue-clad soldier, and the truck bed was empty and bare. The guard rails were up, but the canvas and anything resembling a cargo was completely absent. Jim nudged me, and then paused a moment to swallow his mouthful of Scrambled Egg-Matter with Ham. As the 2 1/2 ton truck motored by, CW2 Rising bestowed upon me these words of wisdom: "Hey Spark. There goes another truckload of Army Benefits." I sat there with a pebble poking me in the ass, a lukewarm Dr. Pepper at my side, and a mouthful of canned beanie wienie to ruminate over. That (*)(*)(*)(*) empty truck finally disappeared from site on its way toward Jackson's Crossing, and the cloud of dust and diesel smoke it left in its wake left me with even more to chew on; We joined this Army to serve our country, and to draw a decent paycheck. We wanted to fly Army helicopters, and we wanted to earn a wage that would allow us to take care of our families. We enjoy the hell out of the adventures we find ourselves in the middle of, and we really cherish the wonderful guys and gals we serve with during our years in uniform. But are we wise to count on much more in return for all our years of service and sacrifice? Do the promises made to us by our Recruiters all those years ago ever really hold much water? Did we ever really expect them to? Probably not. When I joined up, I was guaranteed a lifetime of free medical care, at any number of Army hospitals, as long as I served a minimum of 20 years in this ill-fitting uniform. By the time I retired out with 26 years of service, the Army had drawn most of its hospitals down to 'Health Centers', put all of it's service members and retirees on a bureaucratic form of fairly costly health insurance, and now we are none of us any better off than if we'd served 26 years with IBM or Wells Fargo. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama from my current employer, and the 'benefits' we enjoy from TRICARE probably amount to 800 dollars a year in the residual payoff from a handful of healthcare claims. I was promised free college, and in the end, my 'VEAP' benefits expired before I was ever able to use them. I ended up paying for my college education out of my own pocket. But am I complaining? Nossir, Hell no. From that day in 1979 out on the West Reservation on, I knew exactly what I was in it for; Fun, travel, and adventure. Great times with great guys. The privilege to serve my country. Anything else is gravy, trust me. And if you trust the Government to take care of you, you are misplacing your trust.
New Mexico gets proactive about veterans help... New Mexico Not Waiting for Feds to Help Returning Veterans November 15, 2012 - New Mexico isn't depending on the federal government to meet the growing demand for mental health services for returning veterans.
The biggest problem with this is that the benefits changed from when the individual signed up for them, and they tried to use them. I have experienced this several times during my time of service. You sign up for BENEFIT A, and before you collect BENEFIT B then BENEFIT C take effect. And depending on when it was written, current benefits and changes it may well not be the same as when you first signed up. Case in point, I sugned up under the post-Vietnam era VEAP. That was replaced by Montgomery GI, then the kicker was added. And then we had Post-9/11, which then had to be changed to allow those olf farts like me to use it. And in most cases, the Post-9/11 program offers benefits far superior to that of the older Montgomery program that the individual signed up for. And upon seperation, they tell you you can use one or the other. So if benefits were lost, it was probably because he started school under a different program then he should have (odds are he used Post-9/11 which includes a monthly stipend). When you use Post-9/11, you generally loose any other benefits you might have been eligable for. Heck, for 4 years I tried to put money back into VEAP, only to be told I could not do it.
Good idea... VA reform law will push colleges to lower veteran tuition August 26, 2014: WASHINGTON A federal law passed earlier this month directing a massive $16.3-billion overhaul of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs health care system also aims to put pressure on colleges to lower education costs for veterans.
To bad this was actually part of the original Post 9-11 GI Bill. Then in 2011, the VA made the decision to remove the requirement that states only charge Veterans the in-state rate. This was part of the same package that saw the removal of payment of the stipend for any school brake of any kind. Prior to 2011, as long as the break did not exceed 3 weeks, all payments continued as if the student were still in school. After the 2011 changes, any break in school of more then 3 days meant that all payments stopped until it started again. So big whoop-de-do from me, they are trying to go back to how it was when the bill was first passed. They should never have removed the demand for in-state tuition in the first place.
