Reservists and National Guard Forces are an integral part of our Armed Response around the world, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places. Part of the compensation available to Service members serving in this manner is the Montgomery GI Bill. Through the Selected Reserve program, it is now possible to receive educational help without activation to active duty status.
Whether you are a reservist drilling monthly near your home and for two weeks annually, or if you are currently serving on temporary active duty or other activation related active duty, the Reserve GI bill can provide valuable resources and funds to you. The GI Bill program, MGIB-SR for short is a program designed to provide educational assistance to any of the five branches of service reserve components. You can take the funds you receive from the GI Bill and use them for any college, university, or other program for your education. You can even use the educational funds for correspondence courses in some cases. In other uses, there are times when even refresher or remedial education courses may be eligible for usage of GI bill funds.
The GI bill also covers some types of course like vocational and flight training, and apprenticeship programs.
Using the MGIB-SR is fairly easy. The educational benefits for tuition can be sent from the VA directly to your learning institution.
To qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill you simply have to have signed a six-year hitch that began after June 1985. For military Officers, you have to have agreed to a six-year period that is in addition to the original commitment. Sometimes in some circumstances your six-year qualifying period must end after September 1990. You have to have completed your original IADT training. You must possess an equivalency certificate or a high school diploma.
You have to currently be in good standing with your unit in the Selected Reserve. The MGIB-SR program also carries provisions for special circumstances, it is meant to be a broad ranging inclusive educational benefit for Reservists.
It is up to the Service member to make sure that their school or institution is qualified to receive funds from the GI bill program. If you are unsure inquire at your schools financial aid office. From the date you leave the selected reserve you have a maximum of fourteen years to claim your benefits, so be sure and investigate what benefits you are eligible for.
