How Long On Active Duty Do I Have to Serve to Reset My Montgomery GI Bill Delimitation Date?
Q: Sir, I was active duty Air Force from 1995-1999. After my enlistment was fulfilled, I joined the Air National Guard immediately after. I was on Title 10 active duty orders following the September 11 attacks for 11 months as well as on active duty orders for four months in 2003 in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. My question is this: by serving on active duty orders in excess of 90 days after my honorable discharge from active duty, will either of the cited examples above reset my ten year waiting period? And if not, do the above examples qualify me for the Post-9/11 GIB? Thank you very much for your time and insight.
A: Yes, your additional service did reset your Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty (MGIB-AD) ten-year window. All it takes is at least 90 days of qualifying service after your last discharge. Because your ten years starts from your last date of discharge, which would have been in 2003, your “new” ten-year window would have ended last year – 2013.
But don’t despair, you also qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. With 15 months of qualifying active duty service after September 10, 2001, you would be at the 60% tier meaning the VA would pay up to 60% of your in-state tuition and fees and you would get 60% of the housing allowance and book stipend. You would have up to 15 years from your last date of discharge, until 2018, to use up your remaining Post 9/11 GI Bill entitlement.
As far as how much entitlement you have left to use, it would be the same number of months that you had left from your MGIB-AD. If you did not have any entitlement left, even if it has expired, then you would get the 12 additional months under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, but not both.
If you enlisted for at least six year in the Air National Guard, you also most likely had the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR), however, that GI Bill ended when you got out, so there aren’t any benefits left to use if you did have it.
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