Each year there are military Veterans that have the Montgomery GI Bill who have their benefits expire because they were lax and didn’t pay attention to the time limit. As a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, you have ten years from the day that you separate from Active Duty Service to use your Montgomery GI Bill Benefits. This may seem like a long time, but there are a great number of people who miss out because either they are unaware of the benefits that they have under the program, or they simply let the time limit expire without making full use of their benefits.
In some cases it is possible for you to have an extension granted, but these cases are fairly rare. For the most part you have a calendar ten years from the day that you separate from active duty service to access the educational money that you have available to you under the MGIB.
The Montgomery GI bill has a lot of resources available to the typical Servicemember Veteran. You can use the MGIB bill to: attend an approved college, university or technical school, receive training from a vocational school if approved by the federal government, even in some cases you can receive training as a pilot. You can often qualify for vocational Veterans job rehabilitation to work alongside your MGIB benefits, and if you qualify then the services that you receive as a veteran can be very comprehensive.
Some of the tasks that you can accomplish are: identify jobs and careers that you are interested in, explore aptitude and job skills as they relate to the training you already have, and working toward a specific job or vocational goal with the help of trained counselors and vocational assistance. The truth about your Montgomery GI bill benefits is that there are a lot of things you can use your benefits for, and some of the applications of the MGIB are not very well known. So it is in your best interest to apply as soon as you are able to, and see what you qualify for.
Remember, you cannot use what you don’t apply for, so give it some thought. Even if you decide not to go to school right now, if you apply you can perhaps qualify for additional subsistence and support payments that may make all the difference in your decision to attend school or not. Check out scholarships.net for more info re college scholarships.
I was one of those people that let the GI Bill expire and now that I want to go to school… I am at a dead end right now.. I got out in Aug ’97….this is terrible, but it’s my fault.
I was wondering if my dad can use his GI Bill for school and use it for his daughter at the same time? His Bill expires in another 6 years. Any answers