This past week, members of VoteVets.org spent a fews days in Washington, D.C. to meet with key senators on issues that affect active duty soldiers and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. We met with the legislative aide of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA). We also hand delivered a petition to House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), signed by nearly 17,000 soldiers, veterans and family members of veterans calling for an investigation into the practices of Sioux Manufacturing, caught red handed shortchanging kevlar in 2.2 million helmets for soldiers on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan. They've been contracted to produce armor for the new MRAP vehicles, giving anyone who is riding them at this moment a feeling of doubt and reluctance, I'm sure.
One of the most important issues we talked about to these key senators was the revised G.I. Bill and its key componets, which include:
Complete tuition costs for the most expensive in-state public school, averaging $1900/month. The current G.I. Bill max is at $1100
Living Allowance for students enrolled, paid on a scale of a married E-5 living in the area
Available to any member who was active duty or reserve that has served at least three months active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Maximum coverage for three years plus of active duty
Retroactive to anyone currently drawing G.I. Bill funds. They would also receive their initial input of $1,200
Sounds good right? Of course, anything meant to benefit war veterans is strongly opposed by administration officials. From The Stars & Stripes:
Defense officials are alarmed by the very real prospect that Congress this year will enact the robust GI Bill education plan designed by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. One Defense official, who declined to be named, described the bill as a "retention killer" for the all-volunteer military.
Webb reintroduced his bill, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (S 22), last week with changes that attracted strong bipartisan support, including the endorsement of Sen. John Warner, R-Va., former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"I’m just going to go full bore on this thing," Warner told Military Update in a phone interview.
That’s a worrisome vow for Defense officials who believe enhanced postservice education benefits, particularly if enacted while troops face multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, could trigger an exodus severe enough to put the viability of the volunteer military at risk.
No one disputes Webb’s claim that his enhanced GI Bill would boost recruiting sharply. But a Defense official said it also would encourage thousands of young servicemembers, trained at great expense, to separate after completing their initial service obligation to attend college full time.
In an interview, Webb described such arguments as "absurd."
It's not surprising that the folks over at the DOD are out of touch with today's active duty soldiers and veterans. They cannot wrap their head around the fact that many people who join are looking for education benefits, a change of pace to their current life, or just want to do their time. Others looked forward to a career that simply didn't work out. These are the people that are separating from the military. A growing amount of soldiers that would have stayed in are also leaving because of a needless war turning five years old this month. Two, three and four deployments have been enough for them. They see careers in a field they want a little more desirable than foot patrols in Baghdad for fifteen months.
The current incentive for joining is a paltry bonus and a chance to put a down payment on a house, equaling the maximum G.I. Bill allowance. In his State of the Union address this year, President Bush announced only one tweak to the G.I. Bill: tranferability of the benefits to family members. That's a kick in the head to combat veterans.
There is a fundamental lack of understanding with Defense officials about the purpose of the revised G.I. Bill. It's a measured cost of war for the rehabilitation of combat soldiers. An education gives them both a way to further and discover a new career and to reintergrate into society in a healthy way. Too many veterans come back from war, leave the service and are stuck back in their hometown. Their friends have moved on, and they still can't afford college. And these are the men and women who have done more than enough for this country, and it's high time to recognize their efforts.
The current administration and the next one needs take a hard look at itself and find out what would cause soldiers to leave the military en masse: education benefits they deserve, or 100 more years of sustained combat.
Call your state Senators to tell them you want them to cosponsor the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (S 22) when it reaches the floor soon. This bipartisan effort for overdue assistance can be in danger of veto if Congressional members don't realize the importance of it.
(Crossposted at VetVoice.)