RE: http://forums.military.com/money-for-school/veteran/gi-...ship-and-ojt-program

One company that will be added to this list is Southwest Airlines.

We had a Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic Program and it is covered.

http://education.military.com/money-for-school/veteran/...ship-and-ojt-program

GI Bill Apprenticeship and OJT Program
The following will guide you on the use of the GI Bill On-the-Job Training and Apprenticeship Program and explain the new FY 2008 payment rates - effective 1 October 2007.

If you are a veteran or currently in the guard or reserve, the On-The-Job Training (OJT) Program offers you an alternative way to use your VA (GI Bill) education and training benefits. The following is a summary of these GI Bill alternatives.

When you are trained for a new job, you can receive monthly training benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in addition to your regular salary. This means that you can receive up to $825.75 a month ($237.75 for Reserve/Guard) tax-free, on top of your regular salary! That's over $12,000 in cash benefits over two years, for training in an OJT or apprenticeship training program.

VA pays veteran GI Bill participants on a scale depending on the amount of time they are enrolled in the program. For example the program currently pays $825.75 a month for the first six months of training, $605.55 for the second six months of training and $385.35 for remaining training.

VA pays GI Bill Selected Reserve participants on a similar scale but at the following reduced rates; $237.75 a month for the first six months of training, $174.35 for the second six months of training and $110.95 for remaining training. Selected Reserve participants.

Qualifying Jobs
To qualify, your job must meet the following criteria:

You must be supervised at least 50 percent of the time.
Job training must lead to an entry-level position. (Management training programs do not qualify.)
You must be a full-time paid employee — not on commission.
Your training must be documented and reported.
You cannot have previous experience job experience in that field.
You must be recently hired (within one to two years).
The job must require at least six months training to become fully trained.
The employer may be private, local or state government.
Companies Who Participate in the Apprenticeship Program
Here is a list of well-known companies who participate in the VA's Apprenticeship Program:

Pirelli Tire Co.
Proctor & Gable Co.
Merck Pharmaceuticals
Cessna Aircraft
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Bell South
World Toyota
Comcast
Pratt and Whitney Engine Co.
Law enforcement (police, sheriff, State Patrol)
Dept. of Corrections (prisons, detention centers)
Local Fire Departments
Eligibility
You may be eligible if you are eligible for the GI Bill either under the Active Duty (Veteran) or Reserve GI Bill programs and:

You are no longer on active duty
You were recently hired or promoted
You left active duty less than 10 years ago or
You are currently a member of the Guard or Reserve (Reserve GI Bill)
So, if you are qualified for the GI Bill and you have started a new job or apprenticeship program, you should apply for this little known GI Bill benefit. In some cases, the VA will even pay retroactively for OJT from the past 12 months.

Note: You may not receive GI Bill OJT benefits at the same time you receive the GI Bill education benefits.

Take the Next Step
Your next step should be to contact your nearest VA Regional Office or local State Approving Agency (SAA). Your SAA will help you get started on the process and answer any questions you may have.

the only thing that really sucks about the ojt program is actually getting paid. I usually have to submit my hours 3 or 4 times before they get processed, then it takes them up to 60 days to process it. In addition to that, if you get laid off, don't work at least 120 hours, they deduct from your entitlement. One month I didn't recieve any payment, and the representative told me "you don't expect us to pay you if your not working, do you?" He made it sound like the money was comming out of his pocket. I thought this benefiet was what I spent 2 years in hostile fire zones for.

Does anyone know how, if at all, the Apprenticeship program is being affected with the new GI Bill?

Also, the program cannot be used simultaneously with the education benefits, but what are the chances of possibly attending two years of college, and then receiving two years of OJT benefits?

I work for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I've recently graduated the Academy and am now in the OJT phase which takes about a year. I've turned in the Proper paperwork to the va and have been shot down for compensation the Apprenticeship program. Everyone that I've talked to on the issue with my agency, the academy, and the VA itself seem to be passing the buck. So the way that I understand it is if I was a local cop that I would be paid for the academy and for my OJT, or if I worked for Toyota as a Tech I would be compensated for my Technical training and for my OJT. But since I work for the Federal Government I get none of the money that I am entitled to through the GI Bill, even though I am a Service Connected Disabled Veteran from OIF. Please if there are any Government Employees out there that have benefited from this let me know how you did it and who I may contact for help. Or if myself and others in my same situation are just screwed let me know. send it to my direct email if you like. jmp911us@yahoo.com Thank you!!!

The Ojt program is for lazy people and its a major loss in benefits. The new Gi bill pays full tuition up to 250 dollars a unit and E5 BAH, in some cases this allowance could be up to 2500 dollars a month depending on your location. Also, 1000 dollars a year for books and supplies. I go to school full time at embry riddle. I go to class two nights a week for 3 to 4 hour sessions. I also work full time. If you plan on using the OJT program you will be loosing a higher education a lot of money and possibly a major stepping stone for advancing into the supervisory or management positions in your current profession. What a waste.

Navigating a federal OJT program. There are two things. Approved programs and applications for approval.Weams on the VA web site shows approved programs. IE: Texas has an approved Border Patrol Agent Program. That requires the VA form 1990 which can be sent on-line through VONAPP. At the end you can attach up to five documents. Put all your proper paperwork and that goes to the regional office for your location. If it's not approved yet there is a different avenue.

A few general answers for the serious posters, questions and statements listed here so far:

1163392: You described your training as both an apprenticeship and as an OJT, which is it? There are different criteria to approve these two distinct training programs and may also require different documentation on your part.

You didn't mention what state you live in but you might try directing an inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (DVA's) Ask a Question web page at https://www.gibill2.va.gov/vba/vba.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_alp.php.

You might try contacting your State Approving Agency (SAA with an inquiry. The list of SAA's is at http://www.saavetrain.org/contacts/default.aspx

You might also direct your questions to the Veterans Certifying Officials (VCO's) for the approved US Customs and Border Protection programs listed at the DVA WEAMS site at http://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchInstitutionCriteria.do

jpasko76: If you are having a problem getting paid you might also contact your SAA. Your SAA is listed at http://www.saavetrain.org/contacts/default.aspx.

Remember, when Congress approved the use of GI Bill benefits for OJT/Apprenticeship programs, the legislation they wrote authorized it as a supplement to PAID training wages. If your are laid off or work less than full-time (120 hours per month) then your benefit is pro-rated just like a college student who drops a class and goes below full-time enrollment or isn't enrolled during the summer. You don't have any entitlement deducted or lost, you just use it later since you will still need to complete the same number of required training hours before becoming "journeyed" or fully-trained.

CFont: The new GI Bill may be used only for approved college programs. Your will be able to use your current Chapter 30, Chapter 1606/1607, or Chapter 35 benefits for OJT/Apprenticeship benefits.

FellowVet

Looking for some answers. I am a firefighter in a city that refuses to sign the paper work needed to confirm hours, pay, training, ect. No good reason why, the town lawyer thinks its a "bad idea" for the fire chief to sign. No good reason. The chief has no back bone. This is a qualifing program and has been approved by the VA. Wondering if there is a legal avenues I can go thru to make this happen. Any ideas? Please E-mail me Ryanflanz@aol.com

Let me describe the process of how this On the Job Training really works...

First, you must work for a qualified company.

Second, you must work there for thirty days.

Third, you submit all of the required pages of paperwork to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Fourth, you wait, and I quote "an average of 12 weeks while we <the regional office of the VA> process your claim...it can take another 8 weeks for finance to make the payment to you." Quoted directly from the claims supervisor for St. Louis Regional Office.

So, all told, you should expect to wait no less than 170 days after your first day of training before you get paid.

If you have any questions, you will be unable to contact your regional VA office, as they have no phone number. If for some reason it takes more than 170 days to get paid, you can file a grievance with the same exact person who has failed to pay you in the first place. They're sure to act on your complaint.

Oh, and thanks for your service to our country. Sorry I won't be able to help tomorrow - while you're working for reduced wages I'll be taking Veteran's Day off.

quote:

Originally posted by topppdawg:
The Ojt program is for lazy people and its a major loss in benefits. The new Gi bill pays full tuition up to 250 dollars a unit and E5 BAH, in some cases this allowance could be up to 2500 dollars a month depending on your location. Also, 1000 dollars a year for books and supplies. I go to school full time at embry riddle. I go to class two nights a week for 3 to 4 hour sessions. I also work full time. If you plan on using the OJT program you will be loosing a higher education a lot of money and possibly a major stepping stone for advancing into the supervisory or management positions in your current profession. What a waste.

Just a comment, the New Post/911 GI Bill pays at the highest undergraduate rate of the state college in your state not $250.00 a unit. The rates will be different in each state. Oklahoma for examples will be set at the OU Sooners undergraduate rate and if you attend a private college in Oklahoma that charges more, you will have to pay the difference.

Reply to Ryanflanz

Ryan,

All training programs approved by a State Approving Agency (SAA) for veterans training benefits are required to have a designated Veterans Certifying Official (VCO) who responsible for verifying hours worked and co-signing the Monthly Certification forms mailed from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Regional Processing Office (DVA's RPO) to the eligible trainee. Ask your chief who the VCO is for your department. If he doesn't know or, if he is the VCO and won't sign your monthly certification, contact your State Approving Agency and complain. The SAA is required to make sure there is a VCO doing his or her job at the approved training organization.

Your SAA is listed at http://www.saavetrain.org/contacts/default.aspx.

Reply to Freddy9275

Some of those numbers of length of processing time are worst-case scenarios. I’ve had a lot of contact with the Muskogee Regional Processing Office (RPO) and they consistently process first-time applicants in six weeks or less.

The Veterans Certifying Official at an approved training establishment should process an initial certification for a new trainee sooner than thirty days. There is no requirement for a training establishment to wait thirty days. Of course he or she can't submit anything to the RPO until the vet trainee submits a signed Training Agreement to the VCO and maybe the 22-1990 Application for Education Benefits for submission with the initial VA Form 22-1999 Enrollment Certification.

You don't have to submit anything to the RPO except for the 22-1990 and you should be able to give that to the VCO at work to send into the RPO with the Training Agreement and the 22-1999 as one packet. Vets don't even need to send in a DD 214 as the DVA has access to that information from the Department of Defense. Reservists may need to submit a Notice of Basic Eligibility (NOBE)

If you have been in the program for more than a month by the time the you get your Training Agreement into the VCO and he/she completes the 22-1999, the VCO can retroactively certify all months already worked by writing those months/year and hours in the REMARKS section of the 22-1999. The RPO will cut a check for those retroactive hours when it processes the 22-1999.

Finally, if you do have a complaint or an inquiry about the status of an application or benefits, you can submit an inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (DVA's) Ask a Question web page at https://www.gibill2.va.gov/vba/vba.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_alp.php. The e-mailed response from the DVA is usually much more accurate and detailed that a phoned-in question plus you have a documented answer for future reference.

quote:

Posted Tue 18 November 2008 07:10 PM Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by topppdawg:
The Ojt program is for lazy people and its a major loss in benefits. The new Gi bill pays full tuition up to 250 dollars a unit and E5 BAH, in some cases this allowance could be up to 2500 dollars a month depending on your location. Also, 1000 dollars a year for books and supplies. I go to school full time at embry riddle. I go to class two nights a week for 3 to 4 hour sessions. I also work full time. If you plan on using the OJT program you will be loosing a higher education a lot of money and possibly a major stepping stone for advancing into the supervisory or management positions in your current profession. What a waste.


Just a comment, the New Post/911 GI Bill pays at the highest undergraduate rate of the state college in your state not $250.00 a unit. The rates will be different in each state. Oklahoma for examples will be set at the OU Sooners undergraduate rate and if you attend a private college in Oklahoma that charges more, you will have to pay the difference.
Posts: 79 | Registered: Wed 08 October 2008

Good post Retired, I was hoping someone would catch the $250/unit misinformation. I have one thing to add...there is going to be a program within the Post 9/11 GI Bill that will possibly pay for a private university that is more expensive than the most expensive public university. I think it is going to be called something like the blue ribbon program. But at this point there are no details for this. So how to qualify for it is also yet to be announced.

[/QUOTE]Good post Retired, I was hoping someone would catch the $250/unit misinformation. I have one thing to add...there is going to be a program within the Post 9/11 GI Bill that will possibly pay for a private university that is more expensive than the most expensive public university. I think it is going to be called something like the blue ribbon program. But at this point there are no details for this. So how to qualify for it is also yet to be announced.[/QUOTE]

Your totally correct - It's called the yellow ribbon program and the VA will be contracted with different colleges/university's soon.

From the VA GI Bill Q&A web site:
Most public Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) charge higher tuition to non-residents than to residents. If you are attending an IHL where the non-resident tuition is higher than the highest resident tuition at a public IHL, the school may voluntarily enter into the Yellow Ribbon program for non-residents. This program requires the school to provide you a tuition waiver which the VA will match.

For example: your school charges state residents $1000 per semester (which is the highest in-state tuition at a public institution) and non-residents $2000 per semester. The school may volunteer to waive $500 per semester for veterans receiving the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

VA will match that $500 and pay it to the school as part of the established charges. Your effective tuition is $1500 which is paid in full by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Participation in the Yellow Ribbon program is strictly voluntary on the part of each school. More information will be forthcoming.

https://www.gibill2.va.gov/vba/vba.cfg/php.exe/enduser/...25300016&p_topview=1

Found some more recently posted answer on the yellow ribbon program:

The Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay up to the most expensive in-state tuition and fees at a public institute of higher learning in the veteran's state, but you can still attend any approved school. In instances where the benefit level does not cover the cost of established charges, VA and the educational institution may enter into an agreement to cover the unmet expenses under the "Yellow Ribbon Program."

Note: Only individuals entitled to the full 100% benefit rate (based on service requirement) may receive this funding, and the matching contribution from the school and VA cannot exceed the full cost of the school's established charges. Click here to verify your eligibility percentage

*The "Yellow Ribbon" program is not available to active duty personnel.

Example: An individual wants to attend a school with tuition and fees that exceed the cost of in-state tuition and fees at the most expensive public institute of higher learning in the veteran's state. The highest in-state tuition and fees are $10,000. The school the student selects costs $15,000. Under the "Yellow Ribbon" program, the school and the VA may enter into an agreement to cover the additional $5,000. In this instance, if a written agreement is made between VA and the school the school would cover $2,500 of the charges and the VA will match that figure.

https://www.gibill2.va.gov/vba/vba.cfg/php.exe/enduser/...13965810&p_topview=1

Hey gents,

Does anyone know what type of question they ask when they call the employer?

I am working for a real estate developer and they have me working as an app. and want to know how to prepare for the questions...

Thanks for your help!!
Semper Fi

My husband just finished his apprenticeship for the Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation for the State of California. He is a correctional officer. He received benefits while he was at the academy. He was also told after graduating that he would continue to receive benefits since he had to complete a two year apprenticeship. When he arrived at his place of employment he was told that the prison did not participate in that program. Come to find out that the Department of Correction in CA does participate. I guess they just didn't want to do the paperwork. My questions is..can he receive backpay for this? He got together with other veterans who work at this same prison and wrote a memo to the Warden about this situation. They were told that they would try to get certified for it. We haven't heard anything since then. What should we do?

quote:

Originally posted by justwonderingaboutit:
My husband just finished his apprenticeship for the Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation for the State of California. He is a correctional officer. He received benefits while he was at the academy. He was also told after graduating that he would continue to receive benefits since he had to complete a two year apprenticeship. When he arrived at his place of employment he was told that the prison did not participate in that program. Come to find out that the Department of Correction in CA does participate. I guess they just didn't want to do the paperwork. My questions is..can he receive backpay for this? He got together with other veterans who work at this same prison and wrote a memo to the Warden about this situation. They were told that they would try to get certified for it. We haven't heard anything since then. What should we do?

VA can not pay your husband anything until the program is certified so until that happens, there is nothing you can do but keeping asking the prison admin people what the status is of the certification. Your husband and other veterans will need to keep asking if the prison has applied for certification or if they have been approved. Once that happens the prison admin people will have to appoint one or two people (not any of the eligible vets as that would be a conflict of interest) as certifying officials who would then submit the required paperwork to pay everyone. My understanding is that VA can only pay to back certify someone for one year, any time spent in the program would not be paid. So the prison getting certified quickly and submitting the paperwork quickly is very important.

So I would just like to be clear on this. Can the VA pay retroactively for training completed prior to the approval of the program?
Or can they only start paying for training completed after the program is approved?

Approval of a training program may be made retroactive up to a maximum of one year of the date of approval. EXAMPLE: If an application for approval of a training program is reviewed and approved on April 10, 2009, approval could be made retroactive up to April 11, 2008. Any eligible veteran currently in the training program or who had been in training some time since April 11, 2008 could be certified for paid training they had done on, or after, April 11, 2008.

For justwonderingaboutit:

You say your husband received benefits while in the academy but not at his correctional facility? Who certified his hours for GI Bill training benefits while he was in the academy? Was it the Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation for the State of California? I don't see that organization listed as an approved facility at http://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchInstitutionCriteria.do

Your husband and the other veterans may want to contact the California State Approving Agency (SAA) about getting the training program approved. It is the SAA who will evaluate and approve the program for VA benefits. You can get the SAA contact information at http://www.nasaa-vetstraining.org/contacts/default.aspx

For maxican20: I assume you are wondering about what information a State Approving Agency (SAA) will need to approve your program of training?

Each SAA has their own process but generally the SAA will want the name and contact information of the business/training facility, name of the training program (what job you are traiing for), the length, in hours and months, of the program, who will oversee training and who will be responsible for certifying the hours worked for benefits and records keeping.

The SAA will also want a training outline of the program detailing what tasks and skills will be learned and the number of hours devoted to those parts of the job. The SAA will also want documentation of wage progression with the entry level wage and journey-level (fully trained wage) listed and intervening wage progressions, if any.