Tuition Assistance Suspended for all Branches

I'll admit it's literally been a few decades since I took the oath, but the way they write things these days wouldn't this be a breach of contract concerning this?

This was/is one of the ways they get ppl to enlist, by offering a free education. If it's in your contract when you sign up... (IANAL)

As for those that say boo hoo you have to pay too, suck it. I may not agree where our govt sends our troops but they're still our sons & daughters.

reply to post by SilentKillah


You are right and I understand your point, I only disagree with your statement regarding it not being about politics, the whole sequester is a political scam. They are degrading the military and sparing no expense in strengthening the DHS, what is going on has nothing to do with a budget.

I just received a useful e-mail for any of you seeking CCAF with the lack of TA possibly being a hindrance to your career growth:

Alternatives to CCAF credit without tuition assistance

All of the general education requirements for CCAF can be completed with free CLEP or DANTES testing. You can get the study guides from your education office, library, or you can hit the link to the Peterson’s Air Force Education Resource Center. At the Peterson’s site , you will find practice tests for all 33 subjects and the e-book section has “Master the CLEP”…a book with subject reviews and practice exercises for the five general CLEP subject tests that are required for your CCAF (college composition, humanities, college mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences/history).

Apply for pell grants and/or student loans at www.FAFSA.ed.gov. This grant can provide you up to $5,500/year which will pay for 4-7 classes (and books). FAFSA can also provide information on low interest loans to pay for tuition.

You can also use your 9/11 GI Bill, but word of caution…using the bill while you are still in can cause you to lose money in the long run…part timers get paid less than full time students and you will also not get the BAH $ that you are eligible once you separate/retire…the numbers are here, and you should also discuss this with your education office.

HARM/SARM courses at Dyess AFB and Fort Dix can also count towards your CCAF…if your unit has the funds and are willing to send you in this fiscally strained environment.

Hit up your base education office to see what scholarships are available and how to apply for them. If you are willing to do some school work…a short essay for the scholarship should be a piece of cake!

Paying tuition outright…I know, it is a lot of money. But, if you can afford it, the amount of tax benefits for students can be huge. For example, the American Opportunity Tax Credit provides a maximum annual credit of $2,500.

Hope this helps some of you.

Originally posted by swimmer15
reply to post by SilentKillah

 

You are right and I understand your point, I only disagree with your statement regarding it not being about politics, the whole sequester is a political scam. They are degrading the military and sparing no expense in strengthening the DHS, what is going on has nothing to do with a budget.

High five for that! Shame on our government... seriously!

Second line.

It truly is a shame. These men and women are constantly safeguarding our freedoms and our government basically Sh%ts on them. It is truly a terrible deed.

To be very clear, it was the Air Force who made this decision, not "the Government" or anyone else. Sequestration, which many on this site wanted to see happen, caused across the board cuts, but it is up to the various services and agencies to decide how best to achieve those cuts. This is one of the ways the Air Force chose to cut expenses. It sucks, but it is reality at the moment.

I suggest you all visit one of the many "Sequestration Won't Hurt Anyone" threads and point out to those idiots that the cuts do matter, and they do hurt everyone in some way, especially those who deserve the most support, our armed forces.

Maybe the tuition assistance was an experiment that didn't work out as planned when they started recruiting anybody and everybody into the military, lowering standards to fill ranks. Some of these lower standards aren't going to have the brain levels to tolerate anything a college could give them.

Have you seen it from an outsider's perspective? There are two ways a soldier goes after the military. One, they go up; they get the happy family with the yellow lab, the career, they use their tuition for good. Two, they go down; their sole purpose for joining in the first place is to get the skills to hurt people, get some other sort of lab, be intimidating in a gang at a college selling junk for an addiction, that way if their health goes down they can find their chums at a VA and blame it on ptsd, all the while trashing the people (civilians) who didn't get to serve.

So you might say, oh no, now the happy families won't be so educated and won't break into a higher paid career. Another person would say thank you for not sending more users to universities on a free ride while they break their community in half. Personally, I have seen the second variety of soldiers making lives at home miserable and when I realized that those military exploiters weren't getting more, I'm glad. It hurts the good men and women but they are going to go out and be good anyways, tuition or not.

It's fair to everybody. It would be unfair if they started giving college support to only those that got up in the ranks in the military, which I think might be on the table in the future. This is just sequester stuff happening. They're restructuring things again.

Look, the women are in. Maybe now that the women are in they can't afford to pay everybody. Maybe some old guy up in the decision tree is thinking with 1950s values.

Originally posted by schadenfreude
I'll admit it's literally been a few decades since I took the oath, but the way they write things these days wouldn't this be a breach of contract concerning this?

This was/is one of the ways they get ppl to enlist, by offering a free education. If it's in your contract when you sign up... (IANAL)

As for those that say boo hoo you have to pay too, suck it. I may not agree where our govt sends our troops but they're still our sons & daughters.

If it's specifically listed in the service contract as a listed benefit, then it could very well be a breach of contract. However, I know that tort action lawsuits have been disallowed by servicemen and that prior cases of breach of contract in regards to military enlistment contracts have been dismissed in the courts. Even if it is for certain a breach of contract (and it sure smells like one), the hope of recourse is pretty slim. I find that to be one of the most disturbing factors in regards to enlistment. It's almost a total stripping of rights in some ways.

reply to post by SilentKillah


Thanks so much for that info, it gives all the different options at this point. Some are more doable than others depending on certain factors, but at least they spelled it out in black and white for everyone. I just got off the phone with my husband and he is going to look into the tax credit. For us, that seems the most plausible option. We cannot dip into the GI bill as we have already turned it over for our kids to use. We are most likely too high ranking to receive pell or scholarships and he's cleppted out of his Ger's already. Who even knows if federal loans would be available? We will manage as we always do, "adapt and overcome" right?

And to your response earlier, this downsizing that is currently occurring in the military will absolutely have negative consequences for civilian communities that are largely supported by the military. I've seen the military presence in the Hampton roads/Norfolk area and it's massive. I have seen this exact same thing occur many times over in Europe when the BRACs went into effect. The area were I originally come from is very military dependent, the ripple effect of this is just beginning. Service members already have a hard time transitioning to civilian jobs...what will happen when there are no civilian jobs for them? It's already happening, this will not help the situation either if these cuts become permanent. My husband says wait and see what goes down in the next 6 months, but I am too jaded at this point to be optimistic.

Being a former Marine who took advantage of TA almost my entire time serving, I feel horrible for the men and women who are busting their ass for their country to be betrayed like this. Money is wasted is so many ways that it's nearly impossible to keep track of it all, yet they are going to let our military suffer.


It's important to keep our military happy and fulfilled. Not everyone is meant to go to college right away or even at all; the reason why so many people with bachelor's degrees can't find jobs is because too many people are going to college. Since EVERYONE can get a student loan since they just want more ways to make us debt slaves, it's common knowledge that these days in order to get a GOOD job with good $$$ you need a post Masters/PhD.

That all being said, if kids no longer feel like the military is a good option then even more and more people will take out their student loans and go to college clueless and unmotivated.

When I was 18 there was no way I was ready for college. I didn't start going til I was 21, with 3 years of discipline that I received from the Corps under my belt and ready to kick ass in school. I didn't need to put myself in debt with student loans either cause TA paid for it.

This really is a sad moment in our history.

...and Michelle Obama is busy planning her GRAND 50th. birthday extravaganza with Beyonce...at taxpayer expense.

First Lady Michelle Obama turns 50 in 10 months, which means that planning has already begun for a big White House bash that sources say is slated to include performances by British sensation Adelele and one of FLOTUS’s favorites, Beyonce. The birthday party is sure to be packed with bold-face names, as well as family and friends of the First Lady from her hometown of Chicago. Obama turns 50 on Jan. 17, 2014.

atlantablackstar.com...

Tuition Assistance Suspended for our servicemen and women but we have 250M to send to the terrorist muslim brotherhood Gov in Egypt. What does that tell you about Obama.

Originally posted by knightrider078
Tuition Assistance Suspended for our servicemen and women but we have 250M to send to the terrorist muslim brotherhood Gov in Egypt. What does that tell you about Obama.

This is not Obama's doing... it's the lack of Congress adequately forming a budget for FY 2013 for the DoD. He's proposed a budget to Congress that only slightly reduced the DoD budget and increased taxes for the wealthy. Congress turned it down. The real issue is Congress here...

Originally posted by SilentKillah

Originally posted by knightrider078
Tuition Assistance Suspended for our servicemen and women but we have 250M to send to the terrorist muslim brotherhood Gov in Egypt. What does that tell you about Obama.

This is not Obama's doing... it's the lack of Congress adequately forming a budget for FY 2013 for the DoD. He's proposed a budget to Congress that only slightly reduced the DoD budget and increased taxes for the wealthy. Congress turned it down. The real issue is Congress here...

The Budget of the United States Government begins as the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress and for 5 years he has not proposed one.

Originally posted by knightrider078

Originally posted by SilentKillah

Originally posted by knightrider078
Tuition Assistance Suspended for our servicemen and women but we have 250M to send to the terrorist muslim brotherhood Gov in Egypt. What does that tell you about Obama.

This is not Obama's doing... it's the lack of Congress adequately forming a budget for FY 2013 for the DoD. He's proposed a budget to Congress that only slightly reduced the DoD budget and increased taxes for the wealthy. Congress turned it down. The real issue is Congress here...

The Budget of the United States Government begins as the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress and for 5 years he has not proposed one.

Again... you have no clue what you're talking about. The President has proposed a budget consisting of an increase in taxes on wealthy and smaller cuts on programs. Congress keeps denying them because they refuse tax hikes on the wealthy. The President then developed Sequestration as a means to make things so bad that Congress would either have to give in or propose something better. They did neither. So we are now faced with the President's budget... which he attempted to avert numerous times, called "Sequester". This was in fact his second budget (and law) if Congress didn't act on their behalf by approving his budget or coming up with something they considered better. So if he never proposed a budget, then who came up with this budget we currently face (sequestration)? Get your facts straight.

reply to post by CodeRed3D


No, it has been cut for all the services.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

The Army, Marines and Coast Guard announced last week that their personnel will not be able to sign up for tuition assistance as part of the services' budget cuts. The Navy and Air Force followed suit this week.

www.dailynews.com...

reply to post by TheMadVet


Please stop referring to yourself as a "warrior"

You are an empire builder. You help build empires for powerful men under the guise of "liberation" and "freedom from dictatorship"

You need only look at history to be shown how the emperors treat their pawns. You strike me as someone who overstates their importance in the military, their role in society and their purpose in the world.

Im sorry they cut your tuition mate but please wake up and smell the coffee.

Originally posted by SilentKillah

Originally posted by dave_welch
I sure hope they leave the MGIB alone. I don't understand why they always go after the enlisted guy's wallet first..

Gi Bill is VA... not DoD. DoD has no control over VA budget... separate department of the government.

Thank God (Allah, Buddha, Ba'al, or whomever you believe in) for small favors.

reply to post by jimmiec


Do you get the contradiction of you complaining about the government cutting tuition assistance so we will go along with their nefarious plans to set up a more socialistic state?

How are the evil guys going to do what you fear they are doing by cutting one socialistic program to start another?

Darn them socialists trying to help more people and their plans for less economic suffering!

Just a theory, but you don't really want intelligent people to fight for your insane plans across the world. The less intelligent and educated, the less they question your commands.