As a National Guard Member, Can He Transfer Benefits to Our Child?
Q: My husband was in the Army Reserves from 1986 until around 1992. He never used his GI Bill at that time. Recently, he returned to the National Guard, so he now falls under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. As a National Guard Member, (assuming he has the proper time in service and enlistment commitment) is he able to transfer his benefits to our child going to college next year?
A: Actually, he probably still has the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserves, until he actually switches over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Transferring benefits to dependents for Guard members is a two-step process. First you have to qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill and then you have to meet the service requirement.
To qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, he needs to have at least 91 days of qualifying active duty time after September 10, 2001 (which usually means deployed for a contingency operation) to get the minimum benefit of 40%. To get the full benefit of 100% requires 3 years or more of qualifying service.
For the service requirement part, he needs at least six years of Armed Forces time and has to sign up for an additional four years, unless he is within four years of retiring and then the amount of extra time will be pro-rated down.
Once he accumulates enough time to qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and meets the service requirement, he will need to go to the TEB website and request a transfer. Your child will have to be listed as his dependent in DEERS for him to make a transfer request, which he/she probably already is listed.
Once the transfer is approved, then your child has to go to the VONAPP website and submit VA Form 22-1990e. Once the VA Form 22-1990e is approved, then you will get back a Certificate of Eligibility, which your child will need when registering for school.
Once your child’s Certificate of Eligibility and the school’s Certificate of Enrollment match up at the VA, that will trigger the start of the payment process.