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The following information was provided by http://blogs.stripes.com Post 911 GI Bill Update "The Defense Department next week will begin accepting online applications for troops to transfer their education benefits to a spouse or child. The site -- https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB -- won't be operational until Monday, June 29, but department officials have already begun spreading it around to get the word out. None of the rules of the program have changed; Servicemembers with at least six years who agree another four-year tour will be allowed to share their new GI Bill benefits with a spouse, and those with 10 who sign up for four more years can give their education benefits to a child. But, Pentagon officials gave us a few new wrinkles that folks looking to transfer their benefits will want to keep an eye on: -- Troops can only name transfer beneficiaries while on active duty. Servicemembers who qualify can split their benefits between a spouse and several children, and can change how much each receives whenever they want. But once they separate from the military, they won't be able to put new names onto their list of relatives eligible for benefits. So if a servicemember gets divorced and remarried after leaving the service, or if a father forgot to name one of his children a potential beneficiary while he was on active duty, those individuals won't be eligible for any GI Bill tuition money. The reason is that the transfers are designed to be a retention tool, so the Pentagon isn't overly concerned about life changes after a servicemember leaves the military. -- Troops need to serve until Aug. 1, 2013, to be eligible. The "four more years" outlined in the measure is not simply a four-year renewal any time this year. Servicemembers must stay in the ranks until August 2013 to be eligible to transfer, and need to agree to that before they can get the proper paperwork for the tuition swap. For troops who have recently re-upped, it means signing onto another extension. If their current tour takes them to the end of 2011, for example, they'll have to agree to another 20 months before they'll be OKed for the transferability program. -- If you're not using benefits this fall, it might be worth waiting to sign up. Officials are confident that they'll be able to process the rush of folks applying for benefits next week, but are asking families who aren't using the benefits next semester to wait until mid- or late-July before rushing into the system. When the VA opened its online applications for benefits earlier this year, the system was briefly overwhelmed." |
Legislative 
The Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA) is a non-profit organization representing the professional and personal interests of more than 130,000 active, retired and veteran total enlisted members of the United States Air Force and their families. 
Chapter 658 is the Little Rock AFB local assigned AFSA organization. We are apart of Division 610 which covers Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Our goal is to bring new members to our chapter and provide information to you regarding everything from legislation going through congress, to things locally going on to support the individuals that are wearing the service uniform! We are excited that you are reading this, and hope that you find a home with us Ch. 658 "The Razorback Chapter".
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