Has anyone found a work around for Reserve Units splitting orders?

2018-03-20T09:36:46-04:00

I recently put in for my GI Bill Benefits and my rating came back at 60%. I made an appeal since the only thing they counted was my deployment, and I am sitting on 200+ days of various orders from various schools. I was denied the appeal and was told that none of them were over 30 days so they do not count. My issue with that is (as I have seen it happens a lot) is the orders INTENTIONALLY being split to deny Reserves the extra benefits.

It is too late for me since my orders are completed, but I have a few soldiers getting ready to go on a course that is over 30 days, and the unit is making them RST Drill days to bring it under 30 days. I have already been screwed out of 40%, so if anyone has found a workaround to get these soldiers the benefits they SHOULD be earning already, that would be awesome.

Response by SSG Edward Tilton made Mar 20 at 2018 10:34 AM

2018-03-20T10:34:51-04:00

I was a victim of the same thing. I can't figure a way around it. The ABCMR was no help

Response by PO1 Mary Vermont made Mar 20 at 2018 10:53 AM

2018-03-20T10:53:04-04:00

Wow that sucks! Military playing same game as civilian companies, to screw employees out of benifits

Response by SFC Andrew Miller made Mar 20 at 2018 11:01 AM

2018-03-20T11:01:22-04:00

There really is no way around the service requirements and my understanding is that the duration of schools and limiting to under 30 days has more to do with force strength reporting than trying to deny benefits to anyone. I have not researched it extensively, but I have been told that before.

I would recommend using Tuition Assistance before using GI Bill. There are many regionally accredited schools out there with tuition below the $250/semester hour cap for TA. If you were planning on attending full time it wouldn't be enough to cover the whole year, so that is one drawback. It only covers 16 semester hours per year.

Also if you use TA benefits you can save your GI Bill benefits for later in hopes of attaining additional AD time to add.

Here is a good tool to compare schools that are allowed to accept TA.

https://www.dodmou.com/TADECIDE/

I also recommend to anyone else to use the GI Bill comparison tool prior to converting to Post 9/11 GI Bill, because it might be advantageous to use one of the others first depending on the situation.

https://www.vets.gov/gi-bill-comparison-tool

DoD Comparison Tool - Home Page

Welcome to the new Department of Defense TA DECIDE. This dynamic information and comparison tool is designed specifically to aid participants of DoD's Tuition Assistance (TA) program in making informed choices on schools and education programs. The TA DECIDE engine is fueled by more than 10 recognized and trusted data sources from across the departments of Defense, Education and Veterans Affairs. It provides a first of its kind experience,...

Response by MAJ Ronnie Reams made Aug 15 at 2022 9:51 AM

2022-08-15T09:51:35-04:00

30 days seems short. I knew USAR officers that went through life 179 days at a time. There was something magical about 180 days. A friend was OIC of the 80th Div rifle team and would do 179 days, off for a day and 179 more days. Blue Ridgers had many iterations, Airborne, Infantry and Training before going away.