Three thousand troops from the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team will arrive from Afghanistan this spring. This surge of homebound troops will likely put an increase in the number of veterans attending Oregon University System schools.
Veterans can expect eight to 10 weeks of wait time before receiving benefits. If the influx of veterans returning from the Middle East puts a strain on the already-backed-up system, Portland State student-veterans will struggle to obtain their benefits.
However, the Student Veterans Association sees the wait time as a glitch in the system that will eventually work itself out. On Feb. 4, the Federal Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told the House Veterans Affairs Committee “that a more automated system to process new G.I. Bill claims will be implemented by December.”
As of Feb. 5, of the nearly 167,000 veterans who requested to receive benefits from the Post-9/11 GI Bill, 90 percent got payouts, according to the Associated Press.
Emergency checks for up to $3,000 were issued in the fall term of 2009 for those in dire need. However, in winter and spring terms no checks are available, which means that PSU veterans will simply have to wait out the system’s glitches.
When asked about the status of disbursement, Robert Hindahl of the Office of Veteran Certifications said “it is definitely getting better.”
“Veterans were in a bad position,” said SVA member Josh Fisher, referring to the original Montgomery GI Bill. The bill gave student veterans $1,321 a month to split between the costs of housing, tuition and books.
“The Montgomery GI Bill gave student-veterans enough to live in 1944,” said Dan Mckinlay, former president of the SVA, in October of last year. “But it did not keep up with the costs.”
Compared to the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, which will payout $438 per credit, the updated Montgomery GI Bill gives student-veterans per monthly stipend of $1,200, as well as paying for tuition, $1,333 for housing and $1,000 for books.
“Oregon is really friendly to veterans,” said Nate Bryant, SVA Vice President.
Aside from the wait time for becoming certified as a student-veteran and the distribution of benefits, Oregon is one of the top states for student-veterans.
Another perk to the Post-9/11 GI Bill is the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program. It allows schools to pay for half of the tuition costs of the student-veteran, and the VA will match whatever the school pays. However, this only applies to veterans who served an aggregate of 36 months, or were discharged for a service connected to disability, according to the VA Web site.
The student-veteran benefits can be used for up to 15 years for the Post- 9/11 GI Bill, and up to 10 years for the Montgomery GI Bill, from whenever the veteran is discharged from the military.
Hindahl also said that student-veterans who are eligible for or are already using the Montgomery GI Bill, can also apply for the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, once the benefits for the Montgomery GI Bill stop being disbursed.
Kevin Hershey, SVA president, said that the group has about 150 members, 30 of whom are active. There are about 800 student-veterans attending PSU, although only about 560 are certified to receive benefits.
“We have only been around for three years,” Hershey said of the SVA. “This year our membership has doubled and is expected to keep increasing.”
The group is satisfied with the way things are going for them in regards to student-veteran benefits. Although the wait time is long, the end result will be a fully paid tuition and a stipend.
The group holds bimonthly meetings, programs for the community and veteran outreach sessions. For more information about the SVA, visit their office in Smith Memorial Student Union, room M114, or call them at 503-725-9807. The SVA Web site is www.vikingvets.org.
Upcoming SVA events
On March 3 at the Abu Rasheed restaurant on Southwest Sixth Avenue, the SVA will host a dinner with the Muslim Student Association.
The Queer Resource Center and the Student Veteran Association will host an open forum on April 9 in SMSU at 7 p.m. to discuss the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the impact it has on the military.