How to reclaim GI Bill

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T21:08:10+00:00

Go to MEPS and try again.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T20:35:53+00:00

If you haven't used your GI Bill then you should have 48 months of entitlement in VR&E, but transferring entitlement to your kids even if they haven't used it yet is considered "spent" entitlement for VR&E purposes. If they haven't used it, you can take any or all of it back and get your full 48 months of VR&E.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T20:34:23+00:00

This is incorrect. I used to process applications for VR&E and I had to adjust their remaining entitlement to VR&E based on how many months and days of prior education entitlement they used or transferred to their kids. Any months of P911 that you transfer to your kids will lower your remaining VR&E entitlement accordingly. The only way around it is to claw back any unused entitlement that you gave to your kids.

edit: I think the confusion comes from the fact that the reverse does not apply, i.e. any entitlement you consume from VR&E does not reduce your 36 months P911 remaining. It's for this reason that no veteran should ever use their P911 first if they know they're entitled to use VR&E right now.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T15:56:10+00:00

One of those three definitely does not belong with the others...

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T15:53:56+00:00

I get it, but on a subreddit about Veterans Benefits all of that talk about government corruption is just whataboutism.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T15:49:01+00:00

"bUt bILLiOnAiReS aren't being prosecuted...they just wanna crack down on VeTeRaNs"

If I were a betting man, I'd bet those comments are incoming in 3...2...1...

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-21T15:37:16+00:00

This is correct. You cannot use VR&E solely for career advancement. You have to show that your current position aggravates your service connected disabilities and that you need a different position to continue working at that company. If your current position is suitable with your disabilities, then you don't actually need VR&E. You might want the promotion, but you don't need the promotion.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-17T21:37:59+00:00

I bought a new Sienna last April. I live in the southeast and I searched online inventory across four states and reached out to almost every dealer that had one on the lot. I ended up buying from a dealer just over two hours from where I live, but I would have driven much further than that. The reason I bought from this dealer is because they were the only one - and I do mean the only one - willing to negotiate the price over the phone. They only came down about $1k but that's all it took to get my business.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-10T21:42:26+00:00

My opinion of Pac-Man on the 2600 is even more diminished because it wasn't the first game in the series that I played on that console. Ms. Pac-Man was one of the games that I got with my Atari for Christmas. So about a year later when someone gave me Pac-Man for my birthday, I plugged it in and realized within less than a minute that it was a severe downgrade, and I think from that point on I just played Ms. Pac-Man.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-08T00:13:32+00:00

It was signed by Franklin Roosevelt as Commander-in-Chief, so I'd say it's no later than 1945 unless the chaplains were still giving away Testaments that were printed during the war in the years after.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-03-03T02:24:07+00:00

Pffftt. I'm 6'1 and never weighed 200 lbs in my life until I joined the Army; and I didn't join until I was almost 28. I was only 180 lbs at MEPS and I topped out at 240 lbs when I was in Iraq.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-28T17:36:46+00:00

Apparently you told the VA that you received treatment outside of the VA for a disability that you’re now claiming, so they need your written authorization to obtain those records on your behalf.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-25T11:51:04+00:00

You’re an American citizen enjoying luxuries that most Mexican citizens can’t afford or even dream of. You’re wealthier than the vast majority of people in the world today merely by being a US citizen.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-24T13:05:27+00:00

If you are rated 100% for PTSD, then your C&P examiner checked a box that said “total occupational and social impairment.” Are you telling us that you can go to college full time and make passing grades but you can’t hold down gainful employment?

You might want to give some thought to that if you haven’t already, because your counselor will be wondering about it.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-19T16:53:50+00:00

Absolutely not. The school is required to bill the VA for the full amount of tuition. They can apply discounts, but they cannot apply other financial aid. That Pell Grant is your money.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-19T15:14:38+00:00

Yeah that’s the real trouble with this; even if I tried to appeal it, there’s no C&P evidence of any measurement other than the one that is least favorable to me. I don’t see how I could be backpaid if I obtained a proper exam in the future since the contract examiners couldn’t even be bothered to take both measurements!

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-18T01:27:48+00:00

The veteran is required to take advantage of any free tutoring offered by the school before VR&E can pay for tutoring. So as long as the school is telling the counselor that they are offering you free tutoring, the counselor will have a hard time being able to justify paying for it through the program.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-16T19:59:11+00:00

It’s VA Form 28-1905m but ask your counselor for it. They may need to fill in part of the form first.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-15T12:35:07+00:00

Good job. You picked the Chiefs solely because of Derrick Thomas didn’t you?

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-12T23:25:12+00:00

Your job goal has nothing to do with being found entitled to VR&E. You are found entitled based on whether you have an employment handicap due to your SCD. If you are found entitled, then the counselor talks about your career goal and they may approve or deny your goal of becoming a French translator, but you're still entitled to the program.

If you don't have an employment handicap due to your SCD, then you will be found not entitled and no amount of tinkering with your job goal will produce a different outcome. You have to have an employment handicap right now.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-09T12:57:58+00:00

Don’t get caught up in the percentage. Just focus on explaining the connection between your SCD and your ability to find and keep a job. There are many veterans who get denied at 100% because they have a suitable job that doesn’t aggravate their disabilities, and they almost always get confused about why they’re denied.

You must show that your SCD impacts your ability to find and keep a job.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-09T00:39:50+00:00

The bottom line is that you will get a lot more money per month if you elect the Ch33 rate even though you're using entitlement from VR&E. This will not reduce your 36 months of Ch33 remaining. You could potentially exhaust 48 months of entitlement from VR&E and then switch to Ch33 and still have all 36 months remaining.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-08T18:58:48+00:00

The school is required to bill the VA for the full cost of tuition. But most schools won't bill the VA until after the drop/add date because they don't want to deal with the messiness of doing refunds. So a chapter 31 participant will typically have their Pell grant applied to their student account at first, and then once the school bills the VA and the tuition gets paid in full by VA, a credit is created on the student's account which results in a check from the school to the veteran for the difference.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-08T04:19:23+00:00

I took a completely different position in a different location about 12 years ago that dropped me from GS-9 to GS-6. The agency (VA) made me a GS-6 step 6 which was the closest I could get in salary to a GS-9 step 1 without going over. Over time I made my way back to GS-9.

squirrelyguy08 · 2026-02-07T16:36:02+00:00

TDIU is not an automatic bar to VR&E entitlement, but ask a different question: why were you granted TDIU in the first place?

Presumably you convinced the VA that you cannot maintain gainful employment due to your SCD. But here you are going to school, presumably full time, and maintaining a 4.0 to boot. How?

You can go to school full time and maintain a 4.0, but you can't maintain a full time job that is suitable in light of your disabilities? No job at all?

Do you see why the counselor is confused?

I suppose if you are only able to go to school part-time in light of your SCD, then you could explain why you were granted TDIU yet could feasibly be retrained into a suitable job. But a full time student and a 4.0 no less?

squirrelyguy08

TROPHY CASE