When Is a Good Time to Transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits to a Dependent?
Q: My husband wants to transfer his Post 9/11 benefits to our son who won’t be going to college until the fall of 2012. Does he have to wait until next year to transfer or can he go ahead and do that now? And does when he physically transfers the benefits affect the remaining time he may have to serve or not? Also, where can I go to find out what percentage tier he would be at? He has been in for 18.5 years, the first 6.5 he was active duty, got out but stayed reserves. About a year and a half after that he was activated(after 9/11 happened) and mobilized but stayed stateside for a year. After that he went AGR for approx. 6 months before getting activated and mobilized again except this time he spent the next year in Iraq. When he came back he went back to AGR for another 1.5 years before becoming a recruiter where he has been at for 6+ years. The exact times are approximate but close. Would he be considered at the 100% tier? Thank you in advance for your help.
A: First, let’s work up how much Post 9/11 GI Bill qualifying time your husband has with all the different statuses he has had. It sounds like his first 6.5 years happened before 9/11, so they would not count. As far as Reservists time counting, his activations would have to been on a Title 10 order in support of a contingency operation, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and others. He would have to see if his 1 year stateside activation would count.
As far as his Iraq mobilization, it would count. As if right now, none of his AGR service time would count as I had said, only Title 10 time after September 10, 2001 counts. So for right now, assuming his two mobilizations count, he would have two years of qualifying time.
However, the rule on Title 32 time will be changing in October. With the passage of the GI Bill 2.0 legislation, AGR time going back to August 1, 2009 will count. So factoring in his qualifying AGR time, he would have another two years for a total of four years.
Once he verifies that his mobilization time counts and provided his current enlistment takes him out to at least 20 years, then he can make a transfer request without additional time. However if not, then he may have to enlist for the amount of time it would take to get him to 20 years.
Once over that hurdle, then he can make a transfer request to your son. After approval, your son can request his Certificate of Eligibility by submitting VA form 220-1990e from the eBenefits website. The important part is that he make his transfer request and gets it approved while he is still serving. After retiring, it is too late.
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