My husband is retiring at the end of the month. He sent an inquiry to the VA on-line to determine what his eligibility is and was told he has almost one year remaining under the Vietnam Era GI Bill. They further said he may want to relinquish those months and use the Post 911 GI Bill benefit, or transfer those months of entitlement to a dependent. The transfer needs to be done while he is still on active duty. (Does this mean he can transfer his Vietnam Era GI Bill?)

They also say their records show he was a graduate student the last time he used the Chapter 34, Vietnam Era GI Bill. (We are pretty sure this part is incorrect because both of his masters degrees are from attending military school full time.)

He is not interested in getting another masters degree. He might be interested in using his benefit on learning a vocational skill.

I am his only dependent and I am not interested in getting a masters degree. I might be interested in taking a class or two.

He cannot decide if he should transfer to the Post 911 GI Bill because we can find no information on what benefits he would receive under the Vietnam Era GI Bill. Can anyone help us figure out what benefits you get under the Vietnam Era GI Bill?

Talk to his Career Counselor. They will have the information on his options. His option will depend on how much of his benefits he has already used. RCC or KB can provide more information when they login in the AM.

Thanks for your assistance.

What career counselor do you mean? The VA said there are no local offices for VA Education in San Antonio and his region is in Muskogee, OK. Does it make a difference that we will be retiring to North Carolina?

I don't know how much of his benefits he has used, just that he has 11 months and 26 days remaining under the Vietnam Era GI Bill per the VA.

Your AF Career Counselor. They can tell you what you are eligible for in benefits.

The Career Counselor will be able to provide information on the transfering of benefits procedures. Your husband needs to talk to his Education Counselor as they are trained on the different aspects of the VA Education Programs.

And no, your husband would not be transferring his Vietnam era GI Bill to you but giving up his entitlement to this program to transfer the benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

If he decides he will go to a Voc Tech, he should not apply for the Post 9/11 GI Bill at this time because under current law, the Post 9/11 GI Bill may not be used at Voc Tech schools. He needs to wait until the currently pending law is signed or not by the President and then the new rules announced.

He has been to the education office here at Lackland and they are of no help. I think the problem is there are so few AD members that still fall under the Vietnam Era GI Bill that they don't know anything about the benefits associated with it. They can handle the transfer, if he wants to do that, but can't help with making an informed decision. They told him to call the VA.

Unfortunately, we don't think he can wait for the new law to be signed as he retires at the end of this month. (Unless you are saying that the new law will be passed in days.)

The new law changing parts of the different GI Bill has passed Congress and is awaiting the Presidents signature. He should also call 1-888-442-4551 and will probably be able to get some better answers on this situation.

quote:

Member
Posted Sun 02 January 2011 06:20 AM Hide Post
He has been to the education office here at Lackland and they are of no help. I think the problem is there are so few AD members that still fall under the Vietnam Era GI Bill that they don't know anything about the benefits associated with it. They can handle the transfer, if he wants to do that, but can't help with making an informed decision. They told him to call the VA.

Unfortunately, we don't think he can wait for the new law to be signed as he retires at the end of this month. (Unless you are saying that the new law will be passed in days.)
Posts

The Vietnam Era GI Bill no longer exist. That is chapter 34 and has not been funded by congress since 1990. When did your husband first enter on duty? If at one time he actually was chapter 34 and if he stayed on duty he would have been converted to the Montgomery GIBILL chapter 30. Or if he entered on duty between 1/1/77 and 6/30/85 he would be chapter 32 which if he never converted to chapter 30 he could still receive benefits. Confused? Don't be. When did he enlist/go on active duty?

He entered active duty in Sept 1976. He never converted to the Montgomery GI Bill because, at the time, he was told he would have to pay into it in order to convert.

Finding no information on the Vietnam Era GI Bill, we thought he would be considered a 30/34 under the Montgomery GI Bill, but his response from the VA states "You have 11 months and 26 days remaining under the Vietnam Era GI Bill." It does not mention the Montgomery GI Bill.