An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Nov. 15, 2017

Guard members to see changes in GI Bill benefits

By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. – Recent changes to Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits will allow more Guard members greater time in which to use those education benefits, said National Guard Bureau officials.

"Some of these changes are going to add categories of eligibility," said Ken Hardy, chief of the Education Services Branch at the NGB. "This is going to affect thousands of Soldiers [and Airmen]."

Signed into law in August, one of the biggest changes enacted in the "Forever GI Bill" is that beneficiaries are no longer required to use their benefits within 15 years of their last qualifying period of active duty service.

"That's why it's called the forever GI Bill," said Hardy, adding that it's not a new GI Bill, but simply changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. "Basically, your GI Bill no longer expires, as long as your last period of active duty was on or after Jan. 1, 2013."

Additionally, Guard members who took part in the Reserve Education Assistance Program — an education benefit for reserve component members that ended in 2015 – may now convert any unused REAP time to the GI Bill.

"Soldiers [and Airmen] who had used REAP before but weren't using REAP when it ended weren't eligible to transfer that entitlement to the Post-9/11 GI Bill," said Hardy, adding that under the new law, those Guard members are now eligible.

"Now, the Soldiers and Airmen who lost that [benefit] are allowed to apply their remaining months of REAP to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, " Hardy said.

With the new GI Bill changes, Guard members also start out at a higher benefit tier.

Under the previous rules, after 90 days of qualifying service the GI Bill covered 40 percent of tuition, books and supplies and a housing allowance. At six months of qualifying service that was bumped to 50 percent, with an additional 10 percent added for each period of six months. Now, eligible Soldiers and Airmen start out at the 50 percent tier.

"At six months [of qualifying service] you'll go to 60 percent and that will stay until you hit 18 months and from there the rest of the tiers stay the same," said Don Sutton, the GI Bill program manager at the NGB.

Many Guard members already qualify for the 50 percent tier.

"Most Guard members are at the 50 or 60 percent tier because they have one deployment that is either just under or just over 12 months," said Sutton.

Additional changes are scheduled to take place next year, including changes to the transfer of education benefits.

"One of the things that [is scheduled to] change is being able to transfer benefits when a dependent is deceased," said Sutton, describing a situation where a service member passed his GI Bill benefits to his daughter, a high school senior who was killed in a car accident before she could use those benefits.

"He couldn't take those benefits and give them to another one of his children," said Sutton. "This law changes that. In cases like that, the transferring parent [will be able to] transfer benefits to other dependents if the original dependent is deceased."

Additionally, said Sutton, the scheduled change will also allow dependents who have been given benefits to transfer them to other dependents.

"There is a provision that if the dependent has benefits and the sponsor passes away, that dependent can move the benefits they had to other dependents," said Sutton, who stressed those changes aren't scheduled to go into effect until August 2018.

However, the recent changes currently in effect were made to allow Guard members greater access to earned benefits, he said.

"This is a way to equal the playing field," said Sutton. "It gives those who earned the benefits a greater chance to use them."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 108th Medical Company Area Support, 213th Regional Support Group prepare dummies for a simulated casualty evacuation at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, July 17, 2025. The 108th Medical Company engaged in a weeklong field medical exercise to validate their readiness and elevate their medical and basic Soldier skills. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Christopher Booker)
Pennsylvania Guard Medics Simulate Chaos in Exercise
By Capt. Christopher Booker, | July 18, 2025
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Soldiers assigned to the Pennsylvania National Guard's 108th Medical Company Area Support, 213th Regional Support Group, are engaged in a comprehensive two-week field medical exercise here.The...

Nevada Air National Guard's 152nd Maintenance Group and 152nd Logistics Readiness Squadron personnel load Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) equipment onto MAFFS #8, aircraft #554 at the Nevada Air National Guard Base on July 12, 2025. U.S. Northern Command activated two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) Aircraft, one from the 152nd Airlift Wing out of Reno, Nevada, and one from the 146th Airlift Wing out of Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in California. Two C-130 aircraft equipped with MAFFS and their associated personnel will support firefighting efforts in the Western United States. The 152nd Airlift Wing’s “High Rollers” and 146th Airlift Wing's “Hollywood Guard” report on July 14, 2025, and will be initially based out of Channel Islands Air National Guard Base in California and are anticipated to be in place through August 14, 2025.
Nevada Air Guard Wing Assists in Firefighting Efforts
By Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber, | July 18, 2025
RENO, Nev. – U.S. Northern Command has activated two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System Aircraft, one from the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing out of Reno, Nevada, and one from the 146th Airlift Wing out of...

Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, 30th Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines, SEA to the CNGB, join Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, the adjutant general of Texas, for an aerial assessment of flood-affected areas in Central Texas and to visit Guardsmen on duty supporting civil authorities with response efforts, Kerrville, Texas, July 15, 2025. To date, National Guard search and rescue operations, led by the Texas National Guard, have resulted in the rescue of more than 525 Texans. Hundreds of Guardsmen remain on mission to continue working with interagency partners in search and rescue and recovery operations.
Nordhaus, Raines see Heroism, Partnerships in Central Texas
By Master Sgt. Zach Sheely, | July 18, 2025
KERRVILLE, Texas – Early on July 4, almost 30 inches of rain fell within hours across Central Texas’s Hill Country, surging the Guadalupe River and triggering catastrophic flash flooding.Within hours, Texas National Guard...