Are You Eligible Under the Changing Post 9/11 GI Bill?

The GI Bill is a living, breathing benefits program designed to support the ever changing, modern day educational needs of veterans and active duty military.

Keeping up with understanding the eligibility requirements takes something of an education in itself.

To allow veterans to fully leverage their benefit entitlements of the changing Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Army continually clarifies GI Bill eligibility requirements for soldiers and veterans.

Generally speaking, the somewhat complex Post 9/11 GI Bill program is for veterans who served on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001.

A Sept. 2011 message to field commands throughout the Army Human Resources Command aimed to clarify the details of eligibility, often misunderstood because certain periods of active duty do not qualify as "active duty service" for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

The periods of service that do not qualify as active duty for soldiers to be eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill include:

 Active-duty service completed by Sept. 10, 2001

 First five years of service following commissioning from one of the U.S. military academies

 First four years of service following commissioning through an ROTC scholarship
(However, the three-year active-duty service obligation incurred by non-scholarship ROTC officers, officer candidate school officers and direct commissioning officers does qualifying members for Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility.)

 First three years of active duty for soldiers enlisted under the Student Loan Repayment Program.

 Full-time National Guard duty performed under Title 32 orders for Active Duty for Operational Support or Active Duty for Special Work

 Service as a cadet or midshipman a U.S. military academy

 Active duty for initial entry training following enlistment in the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve or Coast Guard Reserve.

 Service terminated because soldier was a minor, was erroneously enlisted or received a defective enlistment agreement

 Selected Reserve service establishing eligibility for a Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service position under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, Section 1606; or an intelligence senior level position under Section 1607 of Title 10.

 Selected Reserve service that established eligibility for entitlements under Chapter 30 of Title 38.

 Annual training conducted under Sections 10147 or 12301(B) of Title 10.

 Non-active-duty status in the Individual Ready Reserve.

Education and housing benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill are payable for training pursued on or after Aug. 1, 2009. No GI Bill payments can be made for training pursued before that date.

The latest details about the Post-9/11 GI Bill are always available if you go to the Veterans Affairs Department's website.