You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
The Department of Defense announced Friday that service members who have been in the military for more than 16 years will no longer be able to transfer GI Bill benefits to their dependents, Military Times reports.
Currently, military members who have served at least six years are eligible to transfer their benefits to a spouse or a child if they agree to serve at least four more years. Members who are unable to serve an additional four years, due to mandatory retirement, medical issues or high-year tenure, are no longer eligible for transfer. The Pentagon is changing the policy “to more closely align the transferability benefit with its purpose as a recruiting and retention incentive,” they said in a statement.
The 16-year cap will be effective in one year.
"By giving them a one-year window, we believe it will give them ample time to gather information and make decisions," Jessica Maxwell, spokeswoman for the DoD, told Military Times. She also said that the policy change will affect about 9 percent of active-duty service members, National Guard members and reservists.
The American Legion has expressed concern about the cap, saying that the "transfer or lose" rule disadvantages veterans from fully using their earned benefits.
