2008 Woodie Awards
Iowa State U. veteran denied GI Bill benefits
Monica Kiley: Iowa State Daily (Iowa State U.)
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: News
Andrew Ogle, junior in kinesiology at Iowa State University, was three weeks into boot camp when he received a letter saying he was to be deployed to Iraq for 18 months.
Once there, information was leaked to his family and they found out his stay was being extended before he did. Then Ogle found out he wasn't going to receive the benefits he was promised when he enlisted.
Ogle is fighting to get his G.I. Bill benefits from the military, but he isn't the only one. All soldiers of the 1-133rd Battalion are joining together in a group effort to petition the U.S. government in order to receive Chapter 30 G.I. benefits, which would cover everything from their G.I. Bills to medical benefits they deserve for serving 725 days in Iraq.
"Submitting them as a unit makes a stronger statement," Ogle said. "I enlisted in the Guard to get the benefits to pay for school."
The G.I. Bill is a program that helps enlisted personnel pay for their higher education, but the catch is the enlistment has to be on active duty for two years.
It's simple for most of the military to meet the requirement, but the National Guard is not considered continuous active duty.
That is, until the 1-133rd Battalion was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
Serving a term of originally 608 days, the battalion was then bumped to 725 days in country. That is five days short of two years.
In an official letter from the Veteran's Administration, Ogle was told, "We reviewed your application and service records.
We regret that we can't approve your claim for benefits under the Montgomery G.I. Bill...based on what our records show, you don't meet the eligibility requirements."
Once there, information was leaked to his family and they found out his stay was being extended before he did. Then Ogle found out he wasn't going to receive the benefits he was promised when he enlisted.
Ogle is fighting to get his G.I. Bill benefits from the military, but he isn't the only one. All soldiers of the 1-133rd Battalion are joining together in a group effort to petition the U.S. government in order to receive Chapter 30 G.I. benefits, which would cover everything from their G.I. Bills to medical benefits they deserve for serving 725 days in Iraq.
"Submitting them as a unit makes a stronger statement," Ogle said. "I enlisted in the Guard to get the benefits to pay for school."
The G.I. Bill is a program that helps enlisted personnel pay for their higher education, but the catch is the enlistment has to be on active duty for two years.
It's simple for most of the military to meet the requirement, but the National Guard is not considered continuous active duty.
That is, until the 1-133rd Battalion was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
Serving a term of originally 608 days, the battalion was then bumped to 725 days in country. That is five days short of two years.
In an official letter from the Veteran's Administration, Ogle was told, "We reviewed your application and service records.
We regret that we can't approve your claim for benefits under the Montgomery G.I. Bill...based on what our records show, you don't meet the eligibility requirements."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ben Schroeder
posted 2/14/08 @ 4:30 PM CST
This is very interesting to me as I belong to the 1-133 and am currently "loaned out" to another unit and deployed to Kosovo. I am taking college classes here and they are payed for but I need to know what benefits I will be able to use for school upon returning home
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