Unemployed Veterans: Get 1500$ per month to go to school ( 17,676$ total )

knickdigger said:   attending school might disqualify you from state unemployment benefits

Very true though there are a lot of people out there that have used their unemployment benefits up and this would pay for school and some cash for living expenses. The VA will also help with job placement which might help some Vets get a good job with the government.

I also wanted to mention that a Veteran is a person that has served in the military, including reserves and national guard, and they DO NOT have to have been in combat. If you know of a Vet that is out of work and between the ages of 35-60 please let them know about this program.

bugle said:   every combat serving honorably discharged veteran should be given a free ride though college if they want it and can maintain a 3.0 gpa. it's the least our government should do for them.

sounds great.
I think every mother should have day care provided for free while they go to work. It's the least our government should do for them.
I think every child should get a birthday present for free. It's the least our government should do for them.
I think every dog should get petted twice a day. It's the least our government should do for them.
I think I should get a private swimming pool for free. It's the least our government should do for me.

GudSpellur said:   •Received an other than dishonorable discharge
•Are not be eligible for any other VA education benefit program (e.g.: the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Assistance)

I'll try and not get into the politics of whether or not this program is wise, but just a practical note about what these two requirements, taken together, mean.

First, the vast majority (probably above 99%) of servicemembers who receive an honorable discharge within the last 11 years qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill, both of which are more generous than this program. In fact, receiving anything but an honorable discharge is probably the primary diqualifier for these programs -- you don't qualify for a cent from either if you don't have an honorable.

Second, though it's common in the lexicon, receiving a dishonorable discharge is extremely rare. You can only get a dishonorable discharge from a court-martial and even then they're typically only given to those convicted of rape or murder. It is common, at least in the Army, for personnel to receive prison sentences for over a year and only receive a "bad conduct" discharge. If this is correct, and I am reading it correctly, then personnel with bad conduct discharges would qualify for benefits under this program.

So this program primarily benefits those with discharges that are neither honorable nor dishonorable (typically these discharges are General (Under Honorable Conditions), Other Than Honorable, and Bad Conduct). Most of these discharges are related to misconduct. Most often, the misconduct is in these categories: positive urinalysis, larceny, repeated disrespect to superiors, DUI, assault/domestic abuse, etc.

The key words here were every combat serving honorably discharged veteran. These are people who put their lives on the line to make it possible for you to continue living free and without fear. You can't put a price on that.

Agree strongly on the combat part. Unfortunately, many have never seen a day of combat and get classified the same way as someone who did enter combat. An air force guy sitting thousands of miles away from the theatre punching away at a computer terminal was never in any risk.

aaron27 said:   GudSpellur said:   •Received an other than dishonorable discharge
•Are not be eligible for any other VA education benefit program (e.g.: the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Assistance)

I'll try and not get into the politics of whether or not this program is wise, but just a practical note about what these two requirements, taken together, mean.

First, the vast majority (probably above 99%) of servicemembers who receive an honorable discharge within the last 11 years qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill, both of which are more generous than this program. In fact, receiving anything but an honorable discharge is probably the primary diqualifier for these programs -- you don't qualify for a cent from either if you don't have an honorable.

Second, though it's common in the lexicon, receiving a dishonorable discharge is extremely rare. You can only get a dishonorable discharge from a court-martial and even then they're typically only given to those convicted of rape or murder. It is common, at least in the Army, for personnel to receive prison sentences for over a year and only receive a "bad conduct" discharge. If this is correct, and I am reading it correctly, then personnel with bad conduct discharges would qualify for benefits under this program.

So this program primarily benefits those with discharges that are neither honorable nor dishonorable (typically these discharges are General (Under Honorable Conditions), Other Than Honorable, and Bad Conduct). Most of these discharges are related to misconduct. Most often, the misconduct is in these categories: positive urinalysis, larceny, repeated disrespect to superiors, DUI, assault/domestic abuse, etc.

Did you notice the ages that are elegible for this program (35-60)?

This is for Vets that would have used their GI Bill up years ago.

kloakndaggers said:   Too bad majority of them are fighting wars that should not have been fought in the first place.Yeah but they weren't given the option of only fighting in wars that were justified, so don't blame the individuals. Give them all due credit as they deserve, just as we did the firemen and cops on 9/11. Blame the dum-arse dude who sent them there another day/thread.

aadam101 said:   knickdigger said:   attending school might disqualify you from state unemployment benefits

State laws vary. In my state you need to be available to work. Going to school doesn't make you unavailable to work.

You can apply for this program and if accepted turn it down if you are better off staying on state unemployment.

It should also be noted that you have to be unemployed on the day you apply so if you are accepted and then get a job, from how I read it, you can still go to school and get these VRAP benefits.

One other thing, why is this in Finance and not a hot deal? A free education and enough cash in pocket to buy AT LEAST 4 Crown Vics!

Saladdin, You speak the honest to god truth. There used to be what we called the three hots and cot rule for combat vets, if you had them you weren't in combat(but you claimed it) you were a REMF. Irony is we would see some of the Saigon Commandos come up for 30 days, command a motor platoon (no one would trust them with a line platoon) and go back to their desk in Saigon with a CIB. On the other hand helo pilots were given a transportation MOS back then and those guys showed more courage than just about any one out there. If you were down and needed MEDEVAC they came to get you. They deserved battle stars and didn't get them. There were about 10 a day go down in Lam Son 719. Those flight crews(along with the Spad drivers and Spooky crews they got down in the weeds with us) deserved more credit than the Saigon Commandos.

This program is geared toward those who didn't get their GI Bill because of time limitations on when you could use the older GI Bill. You had 8 or 12 years after separation depending on your date of separation.

GudSpellur said:   nsdp said:   Saladdin, You speak the honest to god truth. There used to be what we called the three hots and cot rule for combat vets, if you had them you weren't in combat(but you claimed it) you were a REMF. Irony is we would see some of the Saigon Commandos come up for 30 days, command a motor platoon (no one would trust them with a line platoon) and go back to their desk in Saigon with a CIB. On the other hand helo pilots were given a transportation MOS back then and those guys showed more courage than just about any one out there. If you were down and needed MEDEVAC they came to get you. They deserved battle stars and didn't get them. There were about 10 a day go down in Lam Son 719. Those flight crews(along with the Spad drivers and Spooky crews they got down in the weeds with us) deserved more credit than the Saigon Commandos.

This program is geared toward those who didn't get their GI Bill because of time limitations on when you could use the older GI Bill. You had 8 or 12 years after separation depending on your date of separation.

IIRC upon enlistment the GI bill was voluntary but this was 20 or so years ago. Do all personnel get it automatically now? If not there are some people that may not have signed up for it and can use VRAP now.

Unless it has changed in the last few years you sign up around boot camp and you pay in $100 for 12 months (which was a lot when I started out making $800 a month). Some guys didn't pay in so they did not receive the GI Bill, now I can understand why. Out of everyone my age, I knew 2-3 people who took classes. I was taking classes at night on the tuition reimbursement plan ( a less known awesome benefit that pays 75% of tuition for all classes you take while in service so no need to use your GI Bill until discharge). I'd guess to say that less then 20% of people actually use their Gi Bill and even less actually complete a degree with it. Just a guess.

Also, the VA loan is an awesome deal. No PMI for me at 4.375%.

The service changed my life. I owe it everything I have today.

GudSpellur said:   nsdp said:   Saladdin, You speak the honest to god truth. There used to be what we called the three hots and cot rule for combat vets, if you had them you weren't in combat(but you claimed it) you were a REMF. Irony is we would see some of the Saigon Commandos come up for 30 days, command a motor platoon (no one would trust them with a line platoon) and go back to their desk in Saigon with a CIB. On the other hand helo pilots were given a transportation MOS back then and those guys showed more courage than just about any one out there. If you were down and needed MEDEVAC they came to get you. They deserved battle stars and didn't get them. There were about 10 a day go down in Lam Son 719. Those flight crews(along with the Spad drivers and Spooky crews they got down in the weeds with us) deserved more credit than the Saigon Commandos.

This program is geared toward those who didn't get their GI Bill because of time limitations on when you could use the older GI Bill. You had 8 or 12 years after separation depending on your date of separation.

IIRC upon enlistment the GI bill was voluntary but this was 20 or so years ago. Do all personnel get it automatically now? If not there are some people that may not have signed up for it and can use VRAP now.

It was voluntary when I went through basic in '03 - but I don't think there was a single person in my flight or who I talked to at tech school who *didn't* take it. It was very strongly encouraged.

aarzi said:   umcsom said:   You can't put a price on that.

Actually you can put a price on that...

Our "Freedom" costs over $255 million per day, or a little less than $1.8 billion a week. That is just for Iraq and the taxpayers get the joy of footing the bills. Oh and that's a very conservative estimate.

I'm not saying we shouldn't support our troops, but given the fact that they're bankrupting our country into the ground and the fact that we already pay obscenely high taxes, maybe we should cut back that "Freedom" a good bit so we're not spending over 5x as much as the next country?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expen...

Hey look, I just put a price tag on our "Freedom".

Which is extremely ironic given that the US has the highest incarceration rate on the PLANET.

Go ahead and tell us just how free we are.

I already pay more in taxes than I'll ever see in benefits, how about all the Government leeches?

Support our troops, but just maybe if you haven't figured out what you wanna do by the time you're 60 you should get your act together...

saladdin said:   Unless it has changed in the last few years you sign up around boot camp and you pay in $100 for 12 months (which was a lot when I started out making $800 a month). Some guys didn't pay in so they did not receive the GI Bill, now I can understand why. Out of everyone my age, I knew 2-3 people who took classes. I was taking classes at night on the tuition reimbursement plan ( a less known awesome benefit that pays 75% of tuition for all classes you take while in service so no need to use your GI Bill until discharge). I'd guess to say that less then 20% of people actually use their Gi Bill and even less actually complete a degree with it. Just a guess.

Also, the VA loan is an awesome deal. No PMI for me at 4.375%.

The service changed my life. I owe it everything I have today.

Just for your situational awareness, the Post 9/11 GI Bill (which is what is offered to new recruits now) doesn't require any initial "deposit." It's free and even transferrable to your dependents if you serve at least 6 years active duty. I don't know how old you are Saladdin or if you've used your Montgomery GI Bill, but if you use all 36 months of benefits then you can receive your $1200 back.

Oh and TA(tuition reimbursement while serving on active duty) is rumored to be on it's way out.

BradisBrad said:   saladdin said:   Unless it has changed in the last few years you sign up around boot camp and you pay in $100 for 12 months (which was a lot when I started out making $800 a month). Some guys didn't pay in so they did not receive the GI Bill, now I can understand why. Out of everyone my age, I knew 2-3 people who took classes. I was taking classes at night on the tuition reimbursement plan ( a less known awesome benefit that pays 75% of tuition for all classes you take while in service so no need to use your GI Bill until discharge). I'd guess to say that less then 20% of people actually use their Gi Bill and even less actually complete a degree with it. Just a guess.

Also, the VA loan is an awesome deal. No PMI for me at 4.375%.

The service changed my life. I owe it everything I have today.

Just for your situational awareness, the Post 9/11 GI Bill (which is what is offered to new recruits now) doesn't require any initial "deposit." It's free and even transferrable to your dependents if you serve at least 6 years active duty. I don't know how old you are Saladdin or if you've used your Montgomery GI Bill, but if you use all 36 months of benefits then you can receive your $1200 back.

Oh and TA(tuition reimbursement while serving on active duty) is rumored to be on it's way out.

Thanks for the current situation status report.

I think it is safe to assume that very few recently seperated will be able to use this.

saladdin said:   The real problem is the marketing the branches use: "Learn a skill"

The service does not, except for rare instances, teach you a real skill. The equipment I was using in the mid 90's was from the 70's. That is why the unemployment is so high for Vets.

At 20, I could mop, wax, paint, dig trenches, sleep in the desert with the best of them. But that has no meaning, physically, in the job market.Most modern jobs (service) don't require any "training." Modern jobs require discipline and hard work, and military is suppose to instill that.

BradisBrad said:   P.S., this thread was better off before bugle's post. We'd be better off explaining the program and inviting questions than have a political discussion about "should we" or "should we not" support/have/respect our established military.

you're absolutely right and i apologize for that. something for vets is better than nothing and i hope those who are eligible acknowledge and take advantage of this program because of OPs post.

Nessy said:   Need to supplement this with a list of schools that properly support vets. Vets have documented troubles getting back into school settings, and a lot of the colleges that cater to vets only cater to their dollars.

From the OP

Participants must be enrolled in a VA approved program of education offered by a community college or technical school

I doubt there are many of these that have anything like that.