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Congratulations on your decision to leave the United States military. This thread will be your one-stop-shop for all things veteran related. It is the consolidation of the following threads:
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# ? Sep 1, 2024 02:34 |
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"Chapter 1607, also called REAP, is a bill that is basically phased out completely. It was a halfassed attempt to reward deployed reservists/guardsman before Post 9/11 came out. If you qualify for REAP, you qualify for 60% Post 9/11, which is always better." This isn't necessarily true depending on what your state offers for benefits and what your BAH rate is. In my case, I receive 100% free tuition through the state which means that portion of Post 9/11 is basically irrelevant. 1607 with the buyup will pay me about $200 more per month, although to use the state benefit you have to also use Post 9/11 if eligible. That said, my state will make up that $200 difference that I lose by not using 1607.
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Is it a good idea to take mini-mester classes (ie 4 weeks, one 3 credit class counting as full-time) while using the Post-9/11? I know just from a get your degree as fast as possible standpoint it's obviously better, but I'm considering my options to see if it's in the cards to stretch the blood money and go for a PA program (90% are graduate-level, a few undergrad left) without taking a ruinous amount of loans for grad school.
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FOURTH WAVE LESBRO posted:Is it a good idea to take mini-mester classes (ie 4 weeks, one 3 credit class counting as full-time) while using the Post-9/11? I know just from a get your degree as fast as possible standpoint it's obviously better, but I'm considering my options to see if it's in the cards to stretch the blood money and go for a PA program (90% are graduate-level, a few undergrad left) without taking a ruinous amount of loans for grad school. i took interim courses every chance i could, just as a way to bang out stupid classes i didnt want to sit through for a semester. an online intro to theater course to count as my arts elective. a 2 week public speaking course where every speech is improvised. poo poo like that, you bang em out quick, get the credit, and only have to sit next to a 400 lb blob wearing the same anime t-shirt every day for 2 weeks instead of a full semester
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Nostalgia4Butts posted:i took interim courses every chance i could, just as a way to bang out stupid classes i didnt want to sit through for a semester. Oh I understand that it's a lot faster to bang out some classes in these mini-mesters, but is it worth it to burn 4 weeks of blood money for one 3 credit course?
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FOURTH WAVE LESBRO posted:Is it a good idea to take mini-mester classes (ie 4 weeks, one 3 credit class counting as full-time) while using the Post-9/11? I know just from a get your degree as fast as possible standpoint it's obviously better, but I'm considering my options to see if it's in the cards to stretch the blood money and go for a PA program (90% are graduate-level, a few undergrad left) without taking a ruinous amount of loans for grad school. If your major has some stuff that could be applied to research fields, maybe you could see about helping out a professor or something through a program like the NIH offers at some schools. Might get you a few grand.
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FOURTH WAVE LESBRO posted:Oh I understand that it's a lot faster to bang out some classes in these mini-mesters, but is it worth it to burn 4 weeks of blood money for one 3 credit course? You have to crunch the numbers and figure out the total value you can extract from your GI Bill for a 4 week course - we can't do this for you because we don't know your tuition, whether your school is Yellow Ribbon, your school's zip code for BAH, or what kind of program you would be potentially saving benefits for in the future. Find all of those numbers and determine the dollar value of your GI Bill for a 4 week course. (Tuition benefit, housing allowance, probably not book stipend). You can convert this info into a benefit-dollar/credit hour ratio or something like that. Now, is your benefit burn rate worse than it usually is during the school year? If so, it may be worth paying with cash, especially if you KNOW you've got years of schooling ahead of you and want to use your GI Bill conservatively. Example: I did a 10 week summer course as an undergraduate and used my GI Bill. I wish I had paid out-of-pocket, because I now go to school in an expensive city and my benefits would have been more valuable because of the housing allowance alone. Good luck
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Any Army Aviation goons in here? Looking into getting my A&P license and I want to test out, but not sure where to start. I know I need an FAA form or endorsement to start it, but also not sure where I can find a DME to let me do the hands-on portions. Eventually want to land a job with Boeing or Lockheed or another aerotech company, and I am pretty certain most jobs that would pay me well (at or more than my current job does) will want an A&P license.
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I'm signing up for a teaching certificate program at my school. For the summer stuff, I want to use Hazlewood instead of GI Bill so I don't use up all my benefits before I graduate, and the summer stuff includes a paid internship. Can I do that? Also, just keeping folks updated on the saga of blue squares, I am now teaching weekly creative writing courses in a jail in my area.
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blue squares posted:I'm signing up for a teaching certificate program at my school. For the summer stuff, I want to use Hazlewood instead of GI Bill so I don't use up all my benefits before I graduate, and the summer stuff includes a paid internship. Can I do that? You can elect to use GI Bill benefits whenever you want, though I don't know how the program interacts with Hazelwood. I submitted a question to the VA asking whether I could elect to only use GI Bill benefits during fall semesters and they said it's fine. Just make sure your school certifying knows NOT to certify you for a certain term, especially if they have been johnny-on-the-spot and doing it automatically for a few terms.
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blue squares posted:I'm signing up for a teaching certificate program at my school. For the summer stuff, I want to use Hazlewood instead of GI Bill so I don't use up all my benefits before I graduate, and the summer stuff includes a paid internship. Can I do that? Unless I am misreading it, which is certainly possible, Hazelwood applies after you've exhausted your Federal benefits. quote:Have no federal Veteran’s education benefits, or have no federal Veterans education benefits dedicated to the payment of tuition and fees only (such as Chapter 33 or 31; for term or semester enrolled that do not exceed the value of Hazlewood benefits http://www.tvc.texas.gov/Hazlewood-Act.aspx
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If you're getting benefits from one, you can't have the other going. They can't be concurrent, is my understanding. I can't use the Texas Vet program (or Hazelwood) at the same time I'm using the GI bill because as far as the government's concerned, they'd be giving me twice the money for the exact same thing.
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poo poo... I can afford to go without GI Bill for the summer but I don't know if I can do that while also paying for 6 credit hours. Thanks for the responses.
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I've asked this before, but was hoping someone had an answer this time around- Does anyone know if the projected turnaround times listed on Human Resources Command's website re: CRSC is realistic? I am seeing forum posts claiming poo poo like 20-30 days, but all are from the 2012-2014 timeframe.
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My Ombudsman sent me a link that might be useful if some of you guys have spouses that are interested in going to school or know of a spouse of a wounded/fallen service member that is having trouble funding school. The spouses that can apply for scholarships need to meet any of the following: -a military spouse with a valid military ID. -are married to an active duty, reserve, guard, retired, medically retired, wounded or fallen service member (must be a service-related wound, illness, injury or death that took place after September 11, 2001). -are a dual service military spouse are a divorced spouse, but ONLY if you receive 20/20/20 benefits or 20/20/15 benefits. -are married when we ask for verification paperwork, usually a month after the applications close. The link is: [url] http://www.militaryfamily.org/spouses-scholarships/scholarships.html [/url]
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Does the VA have a central database for your address? Let me explain this stupid situation. I never got an ID card made when I got out. I got one made at an appointment at the local in/out patient facility here over a month ago, but it has to get printed at the main facility about 90 minutes away, then mailed to you. Did that. Told them what address to send it to, and went on my way. I never got it, I called and asked, they said it wasn't released yet.. or something, and the lady told me she released it and it would be sent to my house. I even confirmed the address they had again. Had another appointment there last week. Asked them the status on my ID card. They said it wasn't released yet... or something (yes, again). So the lady released it or whatever and I confirmed, face to face, that they had my address. About four days later my mom called me and told me that she got my ID card three states over. This has been happening ever since I enrolled in the VA, and every time I call I change my address. I've changed it on eBenefits as well (everything on eBenefits is current to where I live now). But my Aunt still sends me appointment slips every now and then. Seriously, who the gently caress do I need to call to get my address sorted out? It's not so much that they are sending me anything important that I need ASAP, but they might in the future, and I don't think my Aunt or Mom still needs to be sorting my mail if I have a perfectly good mailing address. Also, what is the book stipend time table? Is it $1000 for January-December, from Fall semester to the end of the Summer semester? Cole fucked around with this message at 14:00 on Dec 6, 2015 |
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Cole posted:Does the VA have a central database for your address? Nope. At least it seems like each VA office has their own database that they copy you into. Even my clinic and the hospital it falls under had two different addresses for me at one point. When you update your address you need to contact every single part of the VA that you do any business with separately to inform them and even then it's not guaranteed that it will be updated everywhere in their system. When they were doing the choice cards I didn't get mine for awhile because they had my address from when I was still in the military, more than 12 months out of date and updated with every part of the VA I had interacted with, and they thought I had a VA clinic with 10 miles of my house instead of the actual 140 miles it was to nearest clinic.
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Delizin posted:Nope. At least it seems like each VA office has their own database that they copy you into. Even my clinic and the hospital it falls under had two different addresses for me at one point. When you update your address you need to contact every single part of the VA that you do any business with separately to inform them and even then it's not guaranteed that it will be updated everywhere in their system. oh jesus christ this is how people die
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So, I was talking to some of my coworkers and Hiring For Heroes is pretty legit. https://www.hireheroesusa.org/resume-tools/ Essentially they'll write your resume, and work with you until you get a job that you want. They won't stop calling you or emailing you until you tell them to stop, and are there to help you network to get the job you're looking or and tailor your resume to such. I like it, and figured others could use it too.
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So I've got a little over a month break between my last fall semester class before spring semester starts up, does anyone know if I am able to use the GI Bill to sneak in some flight training in that time? I really need to get my instrument instructor rating.
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As I recall it's only good for ground school, not flight time unless that flight time is part of an actual college program.
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Godholio posted:As I recall it's only good for ground school, not flight time unless that flight time is part of an actual college program. It's a 141 school and is technically part of ERAU, so it does pay for flight time, so that's already sorted out. It's a military aero club too so I'm not too concerned with them doing shady poo poo like the helo schools were to get money. I'm just not sure if I'm still technically considered "in school" during the winter break between today and January 19th. I'm definitely not getting BAH for those days, which leads me to believe I am not, but it's the VA so who knows. I do know I can't double dip and do flight school at the same time as college, which is why I asked the question. e: After talking to the VA rep at my college and talking to the flight school, the answer to this question is yes. e.pilot fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Dec 11, 2015 |
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Wanted to give an update on that Hiring for Heroes thing. I just got my resume back and the dude working with me is going to help me get a linkedin account and start to network. The resume was great, took a few days, but looks really good. Naturally it will be modified to each job I apply to, and he'll do that for me. Seriously, if you give it a go, it'll help out if you're hurting trying to get a job.
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Do I need to sign up for ![]() ![]() Is it possible to sign up with the VA online? I found the 1010ez form but it doesn't seem like I can submit it online. I don't give a gently caress about health care I just don't want to pay the government money for something I'm not using.
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VA health benefits count as health insurance under Obamacare. Easiest way to do it is to go to a local Veteran's Service Officer in person or call them and get them to enroll you. Some counties have VSO offices or you can go to organizations such as Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, etc. They should all be able to help get you enrolled.
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Thanks. Apparently I did submit that 1010ez online, because I got a phone call today to setup an initial appointment and all that. Neato.
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Can I get lasik at the VA and if I can how big of a risk is lasik in the hands of the VA?
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Cole posted:Can I get lasik at the VA and if I can how big of a risk is lasik in the hands of the VA? The VA only performs lasik in very specific circumstances that makes it medically necessary to have corrective surgery instead of glasses/contacts. Tricare doesn't cover it either. However, I did come across this article from a few years back: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20091209/LCA-Vision-to-provide-free-corrective-vision-surgery-to-US-military-veterans.aspx quote:LCA-Vision Inc. (Nasdaq: LCAV), a leading provider of laser vision correction services under the LasikPlus® brand, announced today that it has joined forces with the Wounded Warrior Project to provide free LasikPlus® corrective vision surgery to U.S. military veterans and their spouses/caregivers across the nation. LCA-Vision supports the Wounded Warrior Project, and is doing its part to enhance the lives of America's heroes. I have no idea if this program is still ongoing, what kind of lasik they provide or what the qualifications are, but I am thinking about calling them up to get some more details after the holidays. I was planning on paying for lasik out of pocket, so that could be a nice alternative. For the best results from lasik you want to make sure that whoever is performing the surgery is doing it will all lasers and use a machine to measure your eye to find all the imperfections and then correct them. A lot of places call this wavefront technology or custom lasik, but it probably has other names as well. If you get the older style lasik it is a more generic procedure that is based on your prescription so the results can vary a lot more.
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If you do get some details, mind posting them? I was going to look into this in 6-8 months, but if there's a reasonable program to get a deal sooner that might sway me.
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Delizin posted:The VA only performs lasik in very specific circumstances that makes it medically necessary to have corrective surgery instead of glasses/contacts. Tricare doesn't cover it either. Definitely let us know. My vision isn't horrible, but it is bad enough that I can't read the board at school even from the front row.
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Yeah, I'll definitely post some details, especially if it is worthwhile. Hell even if it is just a 5-10% discount that is pretty sizable on something as expensive as lasik.
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The last VA location I went to mentioned that they might be able to get me LASIK when I first showed up there, but my dumb rear end forgot to inquire further. I'll have to ask the OIF/OEF folks at this one, because they seem to be more or less on top of their poo poo.
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I called up the main appointment number for LCA-Vision and after a bit of searching for answers the women I spoke with told me that she was told that they are no longer participating with the Wounded Warrior Project to give free lasik to people. I guess it might have started costing too much and they didn't divert funds from the main goals (fundraising, paying executive salaries) of the charity to cover the expenses. I do hope some people got to take advantage of it while it was still ongoing though and it wasn't just a press release meant to demonstrate all the good they are doing without actually having to do anything.
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Cole posted:Can I get lasik at the VA and if I can how big of a risk is lasik in the hands of the VA? I'd recommend PRK instead of Lasik. I got PRK and it's awesome. Apparently if the doctors gently caress up or weird happenstance, the flap they open from lasik can rip off.
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My wife was eligible for 100% Post-911 GI Bill, which I believe passes to me. My question is that if I use her GI Bill, do I get to keep mine also? Can I exhaust her 100% benefits before resuming my lovely 60% or once I use hers does mine go away?
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I don't know anything about the GI Bill transferring. The only thing I could find about it was an article about a law maker attempting to amend the Post 9/11 GI bill in 2013 to add a provision for that, but I couldn't find anything about whether or not that was successful. As far as other VA benefits, you might want to look into Survivor's Education Benefits. The VA decided I probably wasn't much longer for this world, so they gave it to my wife prematurely. They gave her approximately $1,000 every month that she goes to school, paid at the end of each month. They scale the payments based on how many credits you take up to full time, and I think they give you less if you are going to a trade school or certificate program. Not quite as good as the GI Bill, but you can probably stack them. Possibly even if you are able to transfer your wife's GI Bill. There is a bit more info about it here as well as some other programs for surviving spouses. http://benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/benefits-summary/SummaryofVADependentsandSurvivorsBenefits.pdf Best of luck
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Delizin posted:I don't know anything about the GI Bill transferring. The only thing I could find about it was an article about a law maker attempting to amend the Post 9/11 GI bill in 2013 to add a provision for that, but I couldn't find anything about whether or not that was successful. You can transfer it to your child or spouse, but it's a positive election by the service member, not something that just happens. In the Army it's a retention tool that incurs ADSO. http://www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/post911_transfer.asp There are survivor benefits, but the death has to be under certain circumstances. See the DEA link. http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/survivor_dependent_assistance.asp
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So one of the things I am considering post-college is moving to a place like Indonesia where I can easily live on my $360 a month of disability, and try to do some internet stuff for extra cash. Is there any reason why relying on my disability pay while in a foreign country could backfire? http://www.benefits.va.gov/persona/veteran-abroad.asp This link seems to say I'd be fine. Edit: this would be a temporary thing, and it was an idea I had while drunk at midnight blue squares fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jan 12, 2016 |
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blue squares posted:So one of the things I am considering post-college is moving to a place like Indonesia where I can easily live on my $360 a month of disability, and try to do some internet stuff for extra cash. Is there any reason why relying on my disability pay while in a foreign country could backfire? I can think of reasons why moving to Indonesia to do some internet stuff for extra cash after graduating college could backfire, but risk to your $360 a month isn't one of them.
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# ? Sep 1, 2024 02:34 |
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Do it, pussy.
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