An appeals court has ruled in favor of an Army veteran who petitioned the Department of Veterans Affairs to have the cost of his education covered under both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bills.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled the VA was mistaken when it originally denied the claim, made by a former soldier known as BO who had split time in the Army.
Active duty service members who elect to participate in the Montgomery GI Bill pay $100 per month for 12 months and are then entitled to receive a monthly education benefit once they have completed a minimum service obligation. Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits are based on active service time since Sept. 10, 2001 and are maximized after 36 months of service or for those who are discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 consecutive days of service.
According to the lawsuit, BO served from 2000 to 2002 as an enlisted soldier; from 2004 to 2005 in the Army National Guard; and from 2007 to 2011 as a commissioned officer.
BO paid into the Montgomery GI Bill when he was an enlisted soldier and was eligible for the maximum benefit amount as a result, the suit states. He also qualified for the Post-9/11 GI Bill as a result of his service.
BO used roughly 25 of the maximum 36 months of his Montgomery GI Bill benefits to earn his undergraduate degree and returned to the Army as an officer.
By 2015, BO was again out of the Army, but had been accepted into Yale Divinity School and planned to return to the service as a chaplain. To cover his education costs, he applied to use his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, according to the suit.
In his application to use the benefits, BO argued that since he served in two different periods, he was eligible to use the maximum educational benefits allowed by law. Those benefits are capped at 48 months and BO argued he had 23 more months of educational benefits coming to him. But, the VA ruled that BO had only 10 more months of benefits available.
On Aug. 15, the VA Appeals Court ruled that a veteran who has split time like BO does not have to give up or use all their Montgomery GI Bill benefits before receiving benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill program.
Such a veteran is allowed to receive entitlements under both programs "subject to a 26-month cap on utilization of each of the two separate programs and a 48-month cap overall," the court wrote.
In the ruling, the case was sent back to the VA appeals board, which was ordered to provide BO with 22 months of educational benefits. The VA has not announced if it will appeal the decision.
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Reach Julia LeDoux: Julia@connectingvets.com
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