Armed Forces News

Image: edel/Shutterstock.com

Service members who serve more than 16 years and meet eligibility requirements can now hold on to the option to transfer their GI Bill benefits to dependents, under certain circumstances.

Congress blocked a Pentagon plan to stop service members with more than 16 years of service from transferring their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to eligible family members as part of the defense spending bill just signed.

The transferability cap for those who serve more than 16 years has been removed.

Here’s who are ineligible:

* Enlisteds with four years of the high-year tenure gate for their current pay grade.

* Officers who are within four years of the statutory limit for their present rank.

* Service members on limited-duty status, or who are being processed by medical or physical evaluation boards and are found unfit for duty.

Service members who wish to apply for Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) must first complete an online Statement of Understanding, available on the individual services’ education sites.