Education benefits are among the most important incentives offered by the Armed Forces and a pair of new bills that recently entered Congress could extend them to more members of the military community. The two pieces of legislation were introduced into the House of Representatives and are focused primarily on troops who had to retire due to injury, according to Military Times.
The first of the two bills is officially known as HR 833, but more commonly referred to as Expanding Education Opportunities for Post-9/11 Vets' Families. Introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the bill would make it easier for troops who retired from active duty for medical reasons to transfer their benefits to an immediate family member. Specifically, it would provide soldiers with 36 months after their separation from service to transfer their benefits.
"The bill simply restores equality and fairness to the process, allowing the service members to determine who gets to use their earned benefit," Chaffetz said in a statement.
The second bill deals primarily with troops who transfer from active duty to the reserves. Most importantly, it helps close a gap that resulted in soldiers who retired or transferred to the reserves due to injury not receiving all the benefits to which they were entitled.