Post 9/11 (2001) GI Bill is really post 8/1 (2009) GI Bill

Some service members who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks were left behind when it comes to receiving the benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill is an education funding program administered by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Effective August 1, 2009, it currently provides upwards of $30,000 per school year for fully eligible veterans who served on active duty after the attacks. Compare this to the one thousand dollar or so stipend available to veterans under the outdated Montgomery GI Bill.

{mosads}Because of a legislative oversight, we veterans who served after 9/11 and also completed our education before the Post 9/11 GI Bill went into effect in 2009, were ineligible to receive the very generous new benefits. Since compensation under Post 9/11 is not retroactive, we were instead stuck with the Montgomery GI Bill, a program started to serve World War II returning veterans. Many of us supplemented the meager VA benefits we were receiving with — what else? — student loans. Some of those loans are well in the six-figure range.

I served on active duty in the Army for sixteen months in the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003-2004. I returned to the States to complete college and law school by 2009. Then I deployed for another year to Afghanistan where I received the Bronze Star Medal, then another in Kuwait. My federal student loans are well north of $150,000.

An education is the best token of appreciation a country can bestow on its returning warriors. When I see veterans and their spouses, and their children receiving educational benefits, it makes me proud. They’ve earned it. So, why can’t all veterans who served combat in the wake of the most catastrophic attack on American soil receive the same benefits? Why omit the veterans who bore the initial brunt of these wars? It’s beyond me!

So, here’s the fix: The Congressional committees on Veterans Affairs and Education need to come together and pass a bill to have federal student loans forgiven for this forgotten segment of the veteran population. It’s just that simple.

As the old Army saying goes: “Too easy!”

Benbow is a captain in the Army Reserve, where he serves as a public affairs officer. He is a full-time  regulatory management analyst for the U.S. State Department. He completed undergraduate studies  at Hampton University in 2006, and law school at Mercer University in 2009.