Transferring Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits now extend service requirements

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NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE, Texas --  Beginning Aug. 1, all military personnel who opt to transfer their Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits to a family member will be obligated to four more years of service, including troops who are eligible for retirement.

Through mass e-mails, briefings, monthly newsletters and other methods, we are making efforts to inform service members of the pending rule change that mostly affects senior officers and enlisted personnel who are nearing retirement.

Implemented on Aug. 1, 2009, as a recruiting and retention incentive, the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill allows eligible service members to transfer unused education benefits to immediate family members.

For most service members, the obligation to sign up for four more years has applied since 2009. After the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill was introduced, temporary rules for service members nearing retirement were approved that allowed them to incur anywhere from no additional time to three years of service when they transferred benefits, depending on their retirement eligibility date, according to military officials.

That waiver period expires at the end of this month.

It's across the board, effective Aug. 1, all members of the military, regardless of branch, will be required to serve a four-year active-duty service commitment at the time they elect to transfer benefits to a family member.

The clock does not start ticking until execution of the actual transfer and doesn't necessarily mean those service members must re-enlist for another four years.

You have to give the military four years from the day you execute the transfer. If you have two years left and you transfer (benefits), you would have to extend for an additional two years to satisfy the requirement."

To transfer Post-9/11 G.I. benefits, a service member must have a minimum of six years in the military; to be eligible to receive those benefits, a dependent, whether a spouse or child, must be enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) computerized database.

In a news release on the pending rule change, Airmen who are involuntarily separated under force-shaping initiatives who had previously transferred their Post-9/11 G.I. Bill education benefits may retain the transferred benefits without needing to repay them, However, some limitations apply. It has to be action out of the control of the member.

If the member did something that changed the type of discharge from 'honorable' to 'something other than honorable,' that would negate the transfer."

If you haven't transferred your benefits yet and are wanting to do so, please do this now. The process can be done online and you're welcome to visit the wing education office for a step by step guide in accomplishing this task.

For more information, contact Ms. Curtisha Grant at the 301st Fighter Wing's Education and Training office or visit the web site, http://gibill.va.gov/.