Is Any Legislation Before Congress That Would Allow Retirees to Transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits?
Q: Is any legislation before Congress what would allow retirees to transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits pass yet?
A:What you are talking about is the Pre-August 1, 2009 retirees which by law can’t transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to dependents. And the answer is no, there isn’t anything in the pipeline that would allow that to happen.
There have been a few bills over the years that if passed would have made that happen, but the support just wasn’t there. Not only did neither bill pass, neither one even came up to a vote. After the last proposal failed, no other legislation has tried again.
I even started a petition to President Obama that would accomplish this very thing, but it failed to get the required 25,000 signatures so it was never action-ed.
Army and Air Force veterans retiring after August 1, 2009 have a recourse they can take by submitting a request to their service branch Discharge Review Board.
However to be successful they have to be able to prove they were not aware of the requirement to transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits while still serving; something that is easier to do for those retiring soon after August 1, 2009.
The Air Force window of opportunity is for veterans retiring between August 1, 2009 to November 1, 2009. The Army did not put an ending date on their request option.