Marine's, family, friends, please read and act

[SSgt Ramsey]

Marines, family, and friends:

Recently, Congress approved and implemented the new Post 9/11 GI Bill program which drastically increases the benefits available to Veteran's in pursuit of their educational desires and dreams over the Montgomery GI Bill program. In addition to increased benefits for tuition, it also includes a annual book/supply stipend and a housing allowance equal to that of a E-5 w/dependents rate in the zip code their shool is. For most Veteran's, this is between $1000-$2000 a month for safe, convenient, and affordable housing while attending their school of choice.

I wish to attend the Motorcycle Mechanic Institute in Orlando, Florida for the Harley Davidson Mechanic program to increase my knowledge and achieve the skills needed to work on these motorcycles in the safety and comfort of my home garage in my spare time. As many of you know, this is the only recognized factory sponsored school for producing factory qualified and certified mechanics for both entry level and throughout the career of mechanics to increase their skills and knowledge.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill is not recognizing this program of study and school to be eligible for the increased benefits and payments afforded to qualified Veteran's. Their "logic" is that since the school program of study does not lead to a Associates or Bachelor degree, it is not worthy under the new program. Incidentally, previous to this this school was fully supported and eligible for GI BIll monies under the Montgomery GI Bill.

I simply wish to receive the training to work on my bike and those of my friends who own Harley's in my spare time for something to do. I also want to participate in their partnership with Snap-On tools with student discounts of up to 55% off selected tools to have the necessary and quality tools to facilitate this.

Without this Bill being changed to include MMI and other such skilled trades, my dream will not be a reality for me and many other Veteran's. I will not be able to attend this school without the benefit of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill program as I'm married, have a home, and a teenage daughter at home.

I have contacted both the offices of Congressman Rick Boucher (D, VA) and also Senator Jim Webb (D, VA) with my concerns, issue with, and reasoning for amending the current legislation to include these types of programse eligibility under the Post 9/11 GI Bill for all Veteran's.

I am humbly asking those of you who wish to do so contact your elected leadership from your home states in this issue. If enough of them receive letters or correspondence requesting the required changes to this bill to include these types of programs to authorize more Veteran's into these and other types of programs.

Thank you all very much for your time and consideration in reading this post and thank you in advance if you do in fact contact your Congressman and Senators.

[SSgt Ramsey]

Since I posted this there have been 43 reads, yet not one response from another Marine, Veteran, Retiree, or anybody else stating whether they are for, against, or any constructive/deconstructive criticism of my post.

I don't get it....countless Marine's returning from Iraq or Afghanistan who EAS and wish to use their new Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits who wish to pursue a non-degree certificate in the skilled trades are basically out of luck as the legislation stands now.

What happened to taking care of your own and each other?

This is a very real and very limiting bill folks....a lot of our returning Vet's are not interested in achieving a Associates or Bachelor's degree for whatever reason, but that should not preclude them from receiving training and getting the highest possible benefit available to them due to the non-degree stigma of these programs.

My local Harley Davidson Dealership charges $65/hr bench fee for a MMI Certified mechanic to wrench their bike. This is not a small industry and it is only going to continue to grow as more and more people ride motorcycles for recreation and fun. This is only one example.

I've contacted everybody I can logically think of to help fix this eggregious oversight and problem with the GI Bill. I surely can't be the only one who thinks this is unfair and needs to be addressed and amended.

By doing nothing, we are all collectively rolling over and accepting blindly what the VA says we should rate as Veteran's who have served our Country as Marine's.

[NoRemorse]

Got no support so far from any CT politicians. I know some reservists who work for the municipalities, they might have a better angle.

I'm surprised you weren't able to get much from Senator Webb.

Maybe it needs a big name to push. Celebrities like Gary Sinise or something along those lines.

[SSgt Ramsey]

It's much simpler than that NR...we need to contact our Senators and Congressman en-masse and outline what is broken, why, and a proposed fix to make the Post 9/11 GI Bill more accessable to ALL Veteran's....

This new bill has some great points, but it has its flaws....

The original GI Bill has to be destroyed completely and more modern benefits be included in the new GI Bill to encompass them, such as new and improved programs for technical trades, increased Apprenticeship programs etc.

Why they didn't totally dismantle the old and create a entirely new GI Bill is beyond me....I don't understand....

[NoRemorse]

Then we could work on a form letter and a few variations of it to make things simpler. You can submit stuff online to your Senator, print out a version and send it in, come up with something you can say when you call the hotline.

We can bombard the crap out of them but ammo would be appreciated for some. We're Marines, we tend to be terse but tactful. This isn't an issue we can cover with a few words. I'm not asking for anything lengthy but something from the heart would work well.

It could also be sent in to news stations.

[SSgt Ramsey]

You can't contact your Senator's and Congressman any more on these matters for official assistance without signing a statement and Privacy Act Release for them to address your concerns.

A simple letter stating that you feel that all programs of study from accredited institutions for certificate programs for the trades or skilled labor should be included in the Post 9/11 GI Bill with all the same benefits afforded to those seeking the higher degrees would do it.

Many of the skilled trades/labor do not have an associated higher degree such as a Associates or Bachelor degree but are no less vaild as an occupation or vocation.

[NoRemorse]

Here's what I sent in to my Senators in case anybody wants to use it as a draft.

Quite frankly I think my version sucked and I still have yet to receive a response from either in the form of a letter, email or automated phone call, then again it was a holiday.

It's come to my attention that with the new Post 9/11 Montgomery GI bill veterans have access to increased funding for a more restricted list of schooling/training.

As a Marine I can understand the plight of my brothers who wish to seek some sort of vocational training to increase their value, knowledge base and employability.
The crux of the matter is this; with the new GI bill returning service members are unable to select vocational or training schools based on their tier or academic status.

A service member looking to go into a trade would be unable to use the GI bill for funding in most scenarios because the trade schools most widely used or accepted in the various trade industries are not covered by the bill.

This is very disconcerting and disheartening. While many of my brothers will suffer a smaller burden monetarily while attending college those who chose to improve their skill base in a way that was covered under the prior bill are locked out of the system.
I write this in the hopes that someone can head an initiative to reform the new Post 9/11 Montgomery GI bill in order to provide these deserving service members with a more just reward; even though we will be hard pressed to ever repay the debt owed to them for the service they have done for their country.

While they served for myriad reasons and many would ask for little or nothing it is our duty to make sure they are well taken care of and able to parley their experience and skills into gainful employment in the private and public sectors.

It is our duty and our privilege as Americans to stand for our brothers and sisters.

[SSgt Ramsey]

NoRemorse....that's perfect, thanks...hopefully more Marine's will pile on and generally make a nuissance of ourselves in contacting our Senator's and Congressman....

While I did notify Congressman Boucher on this, I officially requested action from the office of Senator Webb...Senators usually have more "pull" with Congress as there are only 2 per state.

I just got lucky that Senator Webb is from Virginia and helped draft the new Bill with Senator Akaka from Hawaii and championed it. That he's a former Marine Platoon Commander helps out also.

[NoRemorse]

I don't know how many caseworkers Senator Webb has but I'd definetely go hunting for more Virginia service members to make sure this becomes a priority for them. I'll ask around at home here and hit up the recruiters in the area.

[SSgt Ramsey]

While I agree that where Senator Webb is from Virginia and those of us who are legal residents of Virginia may have a direct voice with him, I don't ultimately think it really matters who we contact.

The fact that we as Marine's unify and voice our concerns and opinions is the important thing here....who we contact is a point of semantics.

This is what we defended, this is our ideal of Freedom that we have a voice in our Government...in that the little guy can have a impact on their future...this is what is important.

To all of you who do in fact take the time to write your Senators in this issue, or any Veteran's issue that you feel is wrong, I applaud you and thank you. This is how things are changed.

I'm not done in contacting people, not by a long-shot....but it's a start...this isn't just about SSgt Ramsey and my desire to attend UTI for the Harley mechanic class...this is about all the returning Veteran's who wish to pursue this and other types of training they desire to do and go on to live their version of the American dream. That is what is driving me...that I may help out some kid I will never know who is sitting in Iraq or Afghanistan the choice of what they can take for higher education, and not be told what they can take and pursue.

[drknite30]

Just joined this site and this is the first thing I looked for. I have been fighting the VA on this out dated rule for two years. I have been looking to go for flight training and I would have to pay half of the course price. That's $35,000. I have gone through my Congresswoman and Senator's offices. And I got no where. I even wrote and called the Congress Sub-Committee on the VA, this was before the new post 9/11 bill. And no change to the bill on that.
Now I'm am 20% disabled Vet also, so I'm told I rate for Voc Rehab. Where I'm told I can go to any school and they'll pay for it completely. Except flight training where again I have to pay for half of the price. Talking to the VA reps, they agree with me, but they tell me it has to take a change of law to fix it. I thought the point of it is to get you training for a job. I am not giving up on this also. I have two years left on Voc Rehab, as I just need six months for training. So hopefully something can get done.

[Old Marine]

This is nothing new. When I retired in 1973 I went to college and took 12 units of Motorcycle Repair. I was informed by the government that I could not major in Motorcycle Repair and have them pay for it. I ended up majoring in Anthropology. They paid for that.

[SSgt Ramsey]

I got a call back from the Senators office from his Aide that after contacting the DC office, the change to include these non-degree and certificate programs is in the works now.

How soon this will take place, I don't know....they have to change the legislation to reflect this as a amendment then pass it and it will become effective.

I do know that the IAVA is actively engaged in this now and it lobbying for change at the Congressional level and I think it has some support from both sides for implementation.

[SSgt Ramsey]

For those that did write their Senators and Congressman, has anybody else heard back a response regarding this?

I'm chomping at the bit to enroll in MMI for the Harley Davidson mechanic course...this needs to be done soon

[NoRemorse]

Don't remember if I posted before but Lieberman's office sent me a letter. I have to see if I can call up and speak with one of his guys in person.