Army & Marines Suspending Tuition Assistance Program

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Anthony Pina, Mar 9, 2013.

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  1. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Let's let this tedious thing go.
     
  2. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    Glad I missed this one.
     
  3. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    I was hoping it wouldn't stop. It was just getting places. :stups:
     
  4. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    ....forget what I was going to say....have fun
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 12, 2013
  5. scottae316

    scottae316 New Member

    ...........
     
  6. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Air Force just discontinued TA as well.
     
  7. NMTTD

    NMTTD Active Member

    Given that the average person needs to use student loans to get an education and then graduate with astronomical debt, its a bit irritating to see people on here and elsewhere complain because they might have to use their GI Bill instead of their GI Bill AND TA to pay for their education. We have to rob Peter to pay Paul just for the chance to have a degree to maybe earn better wages and military gets their degree(s) paid in full and they are complaining? Yes, I know they have a crap job that is dangerous. So do police and firefighters. Where's their TA or GI Bill equivalent?

    My cousin was in the Army for 8 years and now works border patrol in California. He got hurt in the military and was discharged honorably and gets money each month because of it. He used a VA loan to buy his house and has 1 degree that was paid in full and is working on another. He was the one who brought up the police/firefighter angle. He said that the military certainly isn't the only place where you put your life on the line in the name of duty, but it seems to be the only one anyone bothers to remember. He also said that while he doesn't necessarily feel he should have all the perks he gets from being in the military, he's gonna use the heck out of them because they're there and it keeps him from acquiring debt. And I agree with him completely.

    If those in the military still have the GI Bill, why are they complaining? It's not like everything was stopped. A lot of us can't even get employer assistance on tuition, can't test out of most/all of our classes, and don't have a good enough job to pay for our degrees out of pocket. So we are left to accumulate debt via loans, as I mentioned. With no debt, free education, and a stipend to boot for military, I have a REAL hard time feeling bad.
     
  8. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    We military people do have it good.

    You should not feel bad. People in the military have it great. The only drawback is the whole combat/death thing and I'm not trying to be facetious about that. The military is an outstanding career with excellent benefits and superior fringe benefits as well. I am starting to keep a lid on things about the military so the secret does not get out. I like that most people view us as uneducated rubes with no other course of action in life except to use the military as a last resort. Let's keep it that way.
     
  9. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Rich Douglas is only 11 posts away from 9,000. Should we give him a roast thread?
     
  10. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Nope................
     
  11. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    GI bill is not an automatically entitlement program. Service members must select the program at the beginning, and continue to contribute $100.00 per month for the first year. Otherwise, they do not entitle to the program. As a Private and Private First Class $100.00 out of the paycheck a month is huge amount; while some have to support their families. It is not likes civilian could switch to higher paying job. I joined the service in 2002, and I calculated that I made $2.00 per hour as a Private/Private First Class. Also, you cannot use the GI Bill up front during the contribution.
     
  12. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    This was the old Montgomery GI Bill. Military members do not have to contribute any money in order to be eligible for the new Post 9/11 GI Bill.
     
  13. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Agreed, despite the abruptness.
     
  14. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Surely the curtness of Cory's post was mitigated by the inclusion of an ellipsis of record breaking length?
     
  15. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Is that what that was? I thought he had a runny nope.
     
  16. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    None of us get shot at (unless you're a police officer) or face being blown up while on patrol or have to be away from our families for a year at a time in our jobs either. These cuts could have been handled better. Service men and women shouldn't lose a benefit that was likely a huge contributing factor to them enlisting in the first place.
     
  17. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Firefighters: Webster firefighters hurt in Christmas Eve ambush speak | Press & Sun-Bulletin | pressconnects.com

    Teachers: Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Nurse, pilot, and tech: Hospital releases names of pilot, nurse killed in medical helicopter crash in Oklahoma City

    And so it goes.

    I'm not so sure the military deserves special treatment in this matter. So there are budget cuts. So the available benefits change. Fine. Get out. Or don't come in. The military has been all-volunteer for four decades now. No one is required to be there. And don't think for a minute that current enlistees can't get out before their commitments are up; it happens all the time.

    The military seems to be changing their deal. It's up to those in the military to decide whether or not to stay with it.
     
  18. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    In saying this, I'm not intending to contribute to any side of the debate, but I wonder what the comparison is between the age-graded death rate of active servicemen vs civilians in the homeland. It might not be intuitive. Of course, a warzone is a dangerous place to be, but fire isn't constant and there are several important causes of death at home that don't play a factor while there.

    For what my little anecdote is worth, my brother made it back from Afghanistan alive. Compared to my father, a store owner, who one fateful night didn't make it back home from work alive.
     
  19. fmlyhm

    fmlyhm Member

    With all of the obvious waste in the military, it irritates me that this program is where they start to "trim the fat".
    I cannot post the rest of my feelings due to not wanting to be kicked off the forum.

    :tongue-tied:
     
  20. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Don't get mad at something--bad priorities--that doesn't exist. The military has very little discretion over what it must cut or can save. The cuts are largely across-the-board.

    Remember, the Congress and the President designed this to be so terrible it would never go into effect, that they would replace it with a deal that all could accept. That's why there is almost no flexibility in all of this. It's supposed to be an indiscriminate slashing.
     

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