"Why is John McCain, the Republican senator and former POW who requests we �??shed a tear�?? for all that is lost in war, not supporting a plan to improve college assistance to former GI�??s? Never mind the pity party, most Iraq and Afghanistan vets want to get a life.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged indicating that the Bush administration is bucking a bipartisan plan to update the creaky World War II-era GI Bill, in part because it would be a �??retention killer�?? �?? in other words, kids who have served one, two, three tours in the combat zone for Uncle Sam might be encouraged to then leave and get the education they were promised when they enlisted."
Creaky WW2 era GI Bill?! Thanks to the GI Bill I didn’t even have to work my freshman year. The only reason I have to work at all was because I bought a big truck. Hell, I got Pell Grants to pay for 90% of my tuition. I got paid to go to school. Us vets get more than we deserve.
[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
Us vets get more than we deserve.
mike[/quote]
Considering the sacrifices vets make, not just physical and mental, but the stress that their families/marriages go through, I don’t think we get more than we deserve.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
The GI Bill is outdated and needs to be updated.
Improve the military; bring back the draft.[/quote]
I agree with your first statement, but disagree with the second.
The Army is accepting all sorts of worthless bastards right now. And, to make matters worse, soldiers go through a pampered basic training where they are given all sorts of freedoms like cell phones and passes on the weekend.
Bringing back the draft will only make things worse.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
What is wrong withe the GI Bill? How should it be fixed?[/quote]
I don’t think it offers enough money. If a kid gives up what are basically his college years for the armed services, then I don’t think he should have to worry about full time work to support himself through school.
When this current form of the GI Bill was introduced, it offered enough money for a student to go to school full time and damn near live off it. Now, it barely covers college alone. It hasn’t kept up with the rising cost of education.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
When this current form of the GI Bill was introduced, it offered enough money for a student to go to school full time and damn near live off it. Now, it barely covers college alone. It hasn’t kept up with the rising cost of education.[/quote]
This is true but the major reason college tuition has risen is because of subsidization like the GI Bill program. The old GI Bill system made it so that colleges didn’t have to compete. They could charge whatever they wanted from vets because the GI Bill essentially paid for everything.
I didn’t receive enough GI Bill coverage to pay for all of my schooling so I had to take out loans and work part time but at least I didn’t have to work full time. My freedom from the military was all the benefit I needed.
BTW, for those of you who aren’t aware, the GI Bill isn’t free. Service members are expected to pay into it their first year of active service. It works the same way as insurance – many pay for a service that only a few will actually use. Many people for one reason or another become ineligible to receive the benefit even after paying for it – just like insurance.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Many people for one reason or another become ineligible to receive the benefit even after paying for it – just like insurance.[/quote]
I never expected my GI Bill to be a free pass through college - just a helping hand. In that, I got all I expected and more. I still expected to have to work part-time to get through college and I still expected to have to take out some loans. In the end, the only reason I had to take out loans and to work was because I didn’t feel like eating Ramen, and I wanted to drive a nice truck.
Being a vet already gives you an advantage with the FAFSA because you file independantly which gives you more money than as a dependant. Almost my entire tuition was covered in Pell Grants alone.
Now, all this said, how much money do you guys think you deserve? If you think it should adjust for each individual to cover his tuition I could get behind that. But it sounds like you guys want more money to buy beer and hookers.
[quote]Dustin wrote:
Mikeyali wrote:
Us vets get more than we deserve.
mike
Considering the sacrifices vets make, not just physical and mental, but the stress that their families/marriages go through, I don’t think we get more than we deserve.
Dustin
[/quote]
I humbly disagree. No one twists our arms to put us in the military. We go in with open eyes. Sure, I lost my college years to the military, but I miss the military fiercely every day since I left. In some ways I don’t feel like I gave enough back for what I was given. I just can’t help but think that all the praise the public has showered on us recently has gone to our heads. I’ve met many the vet who thinks his shit doesn’t stink. The only reason we get treated as well as we do isn’t for our sacrifices; it’s because the public feels ashamed to what they did to Vietnam vets. The pendalum just swung in our favor this time. We aren’t special and we deserve only what what promised to us when we signed the line.
[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
Now, all this said, how much money do you guys think you deserve? If you think it should adjust for each individual to cover his tuition I could get behind that. But it sounds like you guys want more money to buy beer and hookers.[/quote]
Enough to cover rent/housing and full time tuition. If you want more, I agree, work more.
Of course if there was a draft, there would be less of a need for attractive benefits.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Mikeyali wrote:
Now, all this said, how much money do you guys think you deserve?
Last time I checked people still get payed in the military…?[/quote]
I was going reply to complain about how low military pay is, but when I looked at the recent pay charts I realized that military salary has increased decently since I was in. Maybe the GI Bill benefits have increased, too. Maybe there’s not as much to complain about and I was just in at the wrong time for pay and college benefits.
One thing that the military does do right with regards to college, if they still do this, is pay for 75% tuition while you are active duty. Of course, many service members can’t even take advantage of this with deployments and exercises and such.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
One thing that the military does do right with regards to college, if they still do this, is pay for 75% tuition while you are active duty. Of course, many service members can’t even take advantage of this with deployments and exercises and such.[/quote]
That was an awesome benefit – a good distraction too but very unrealistic for many to complete a program while active for the same reasons you listed.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
malonetd wrote:
One thing that the military does do right with regards to college, if they still do this, is pay for 75% tuition while you are active duty. Of course, many service members can’t even take advantage of this with deployments and exercises and such.
That was an awesome benefit – a good distraction too but very unrealistic for many to complete a program while active for the same reasons you listed.[/quote]
My wife has a lot of students in Afghanistan and Iraq taking classes on line.