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For some college students the feeling of homesickness can easily be countered with calls home and visits during the holidays or over long weekends. However, if the student is from a military family stationed in Germany, trips home can really wreak havoc on a family’s finances – unless, of course, they know about a program the Army has to offset the expense of those trips.
“Being in the military, you are already on a fixed budget, and it helps to have the free round-trip ticket to fly them here and back, especially during the holidays because that’s when they are usually out of school.” said Staff Sgt. Tyrone Basnight, a Warrior Transition Unit Soldier at Kleber Kaserne. Sergeant Basnight’s daughter Chanel Basnight is a junior at Georgia Perimeter College and has used the program three times thus far. His other daughter Latanya Wilson is a freshman at Lander University and has used the program to ship her belongings to school.
The Funded Student Travel Program, which is covered by Army Regulation 55-46, entitles qualified students whose families are stationed in locations overseas one round-trip ticket each fiscal year between the college and the sponsor’s duty station. They are also able to ship 350 pounds of unaccompanied baggage. To apply for student travel, dot-mil users can access the application at www.updb.hqusareur.army.mil/Portal/Default.asp.
In addition to the Funded Student Travel Program, many students like Sergeant Basnight’s daughters are seeing other benefits, such as the new Post 9/11 GI Bill that took effect Aug. 1.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill is an entitlement unlike the Montgomery GI Bill, which was an election where Soldiers could decide whether or not they wanted it and then pay toward it, said Sgt. 1st Class Sharon Gillins, a career counselor with the 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
Every servicemember receives the Post 9/11 GI Bill unless they had already elected the Montgomery GI Bill. In that case, if they want the Post 9/11 GI Bill, they can request to switch it over.
To qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, servicemembers must have served at least 90 consecutive days of active duty or been discharged for a service-related disability after 30 days. National Guard and Reserve members are also eligible if they were activated for more than 90 days. The newest change in the Post 9/11 GI Bill that sets it apart from the Montgomery GI Bill, which most Soldiers had up to now, is the Post 9/11 GI Bill allows servicemembers to transfer the benefits to their spouses or their children. But in order to qualify for the transfer benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, servicemembers must have six years in service with four years remaining on active duty or Selective Reserve.
President Barack Obama said the inclusion of family members is a way of saying thank you.
“We are including the family members who have sacrificed so much by allowing the transfer of unused benefits to family members,” President Obama said in an American Forces Press Service press release dated Aug. 3.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill will pay 36 months of tuition, a monthly stipend to assist with living expenses equivalent to the basic allowance for housing rate for an E-5 with dependents, and $1,000 for books.
The 36 months of tuition covers four 9-month academic years of college, and the amount of tuition expenses authorized is determined by the highest in-state tuition rate for a public university in that state.
Servicemembers can transfer the benefits to their spouse or children or a combination of both as long as they are enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System. Dependents are allowed to use the benefits while the servicemember is on active duty or after their separation. However, spouses will not receive the BAH or the book stipend if the servicemember is on active duty.
A spouse may use the benefit up to 15 years after the servicemember’s date of separation from active duty. Children may use the benefit once they obtain a high school diploma or equivalent or once they have turned 18 years old, but must use it before they reach the age of 26.
Soldiers should go to va.gov to find out if the Montgomery GI Bill or the Post 9/11 GI Bill is more beneficial to them, Sergeant Gillins said. If a Soldier is going to use it when he gets out, the Post 9/11 GI Bill could be more beneficial.
To receive a briefing on the benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, call the 21st TSC career counselors at 484-8716.
