WILL GI
BILL
REIMBURSE FOR EARLY TUITION PAYMENTS?
Readers of Tom Philpott’s Military Update column sound off
I
am a soldier currently serving in
Iraq.
I have applied for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and am awaiting notification
that I qualify. I am going to transfer the benefit to my son who will
be attending a university this fall.
We
have already started receiving tuition bills and other charges. Will
the GI Bill cover these expenses? That is, will it reimburse us for
our initial payments? I cannot find anyone who can answer this.
KEVIN CARRIGAN
Major,
USA
Victory Base,
Baghdad
By law, the Department of Veterans Affairs is required to make
Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition payments directly to colleges on behalf of
eligible veterans and dependents. So if you have to make payments
early that the GI Bill then will covers, the school would be
responsible for refunding those payments to you. – Tom Philpott
VEAP:
A PALE COMPARISON
Congress screwed many veterans, including myself, with the old
Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program [offered to new entrants to
the armed forces
after
Dec. 31, 1976,
and before
July 1, 1985.]
I am
angered over the way the current crop of veterans is treated, when we
had to shell out money and then take loans for school. I received
$235 month for tuition to a state university. The money was a drop in
the bucket, enough for books only! There was no service-provided
tuition assistance.
I
served 20 years, and spent many holidays and many nights at sea, and
that is what I received for education benefits?
When
is Congress going to take care of us?
CHARLES ANDREWS
DuPont,
Wash.
TRICARE VS. MTF
It
seems the purpose of TRICARE, since its introduction, has been to
replace military treatment facilities. And it’s succeeding, big time!
The
billions of dollars going to major health care firms, at the expense
of MTFs, show why they cannot properly provide the medical services
needed by our retirees, their families and other beneficiaries
entitled to MTF care.
If
and when we need a military health care system because of a major war,
how are those TRICARE contractors going to provide the needed
services? Will the Department of Defense draft TRICARE civilian
providers?
I
think not!
PAUL
L. BALAICH
Master Sergeant, USAF-Ret.
Via
e-mail