11 Active Duty Service Members

11 Active Duty Service MembersGI Bill for Post-9/11 Active Duty Service MembersThe Post-9/11 GI Bill gives education benefits to military members (including active duty, Reserves, and National Guard), who have at least 90 days of active duty tafelgeschirr after September 11, 2001. The program, commonly referred to as the GI Bill for the 21st Century, offers substantial increases in monthly education benefits over the previous GI Bill. It went into effect on August 1, 2009, and includes provisions to pay full tuition, $1,000 per year for books and supplies, and a monthly housing stipend. Eligibility for the Post-9/11 GI Bill To be eligible for the program, you must have served a total of at least 90 days on active duty, after 9/11. If you have a total of six months or more of post-9/11 active duty service, time does not have to be continuous. Active duty service, for the purpose of this new bill, doesnt count active duty time spent in initial entry training (IET), meaning time in basic training, initial job training, service academies, OCS/OTS, and ROTC. Under the previous Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), officers who received their commission through a service academy or an ROTC scholarship were ineligible. There are no such restrictions under the Post-9/11 GI Bill program. Any officer who was previously ineligible will be eligible for this program, assuming they have at least 90 days of post-9/11 active duty service.Similarly, military members who previously declined the MGIB are eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill program. Rates for the Post-9/11 GI Bill The rate depends on the length of your post-9/11 active duty service, your state of residence, and the number of courses you take. Like the MGIB, the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays 36 months of full-time education benefits. So, if you go to school full time, youll receive the full benefit rates for 36 months. If you go to school half-time, youll receive half of your monthly entitlement for 72 months, etc. The Post-9 /11 GI Bill pays up to 100 percent of the full tuition rate set by your state. Additionally, you will receive $1,000 per year for books and supplies, and you will receive a housing stipend equal to the Housing Allowance for an E-5 with Dependents, which varies with where you live. Your actual portion of the above rates depends on the number of months of your post-9/11 active duty service. You will receive 100% - 36 or more total months100% - 30 or more consecutive days with a disability-related discharge.90% - 30 total months80% - 24 total months70% - 18 total months60% - 12 total months50% - 6 total months40% - 90 or more aggregate days *Note Post-9/11 active duty service of 24 or more months includes IET active duty service (basic training and job training) for enlisted members. When computing active duty time for enlisted who have less than 24 months of post-9/11 active duty service, time in IET doesnt count. For officers, time spent in the service academies, ROTC, and OTS/OCS do esnt count. Your tuition is paid directly to the school, while the book/supply entitlement and monthly housing allowance are paid directly to you. Veterans who are attending school through distance learning, and those going to school half time or less, do not receive the housing allowance. Additionally, military members who use the benefit while still on active duty do not receive the housing allowance, as their housing needs are already being taken care of by the military. Contributions Not Required Unlike the MGIB and VEAP, the Post-9/11 GI Bill does not require you to elect, decline, or make monthly contributions. Unfortunately, if youve already contributed to your GI Bill, you wont get your money back unless you use all of your new GI Bill entitlements. If you do, your $1,200 contribution to the MGIB (or a proportional amount, if you used any of your MGIB entitlement) will be added to your final new GI Bill education payment. College Funds If youre eligible for a kicker, such as the Army or Navy College Fund, or a Reserve Kicker, you will still receive the extra monthly benefit under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. This monthly amount will be paid to you, not to the university. College Loan Repayment Individuals who were previously ineligible for the MGIB because they elected the College Loan Repayment Program (CLRP) are eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but only active duty service performed after their initial active duty service obligation count toward the new benefits. In other words, if you initially enlisted for five years and received the CLRP, you would have to reenlist or extend your enlistment in order to take advantage of the new GI Bill. Transferring Benefits to Dependents The Post-9/11 GI Bill allows a member to transfer part or all of his/her education benefits to a spouse or child(ren). To be eligible, a member must have at least six years of active duty or active reserve service and agree to serve for an additional four years. E xpiration Date for Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits The MGIB expires 10 years after your last discharge. The new GI Bill extends this by five years. The benefits expire 15 years after your last discharge.

The secret to getting the life youve always dreamed of

The secret to getting the life youve always dreamed ofThe secret to getting the life youve always dreamed ofWe are going to do something kind of risky. For the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you 10 lessons Ive learned about life, dreams, and pursuing work that matters. I hope it helps you set better goals for your life and encourages you to be grateful. Lets begin.Lesson 1 Find your whoRecently, theres been a lot of talk about finding your why thanks to the efforts of the very smart Simon Sinek. But in my experience, thats not the first question you should ask.If youre trying to live a life of purpose and meaning, the first thing to ask is not why or even what but who.Do you know who you are?I mean, really know? fruchtwein people dont.Theres a reason this is the theme of all great stories from Star Wars to The Lion King to Harry Potter to Moana.We are lost. And we know it.The trappist monk Thomas Merton calls this your true self. So many of us hide behind the false selves of achievement and status, because we are afraid for the world to truly see us for who we are. People might not like us, after all.Once you know you who you are, you will know what to do.Activity follows identify, as I like to say.I learned this relatively early in my life when a friend asked what my dream was and I said I didnt know.He said he thought I would have said be a writer. As soon as he said that, my heart leapt, and I knew thats what I wanted but was just too afraid to admit. I guess I did want to be a writer, I admitted. But that would never happen.My friend looked me in the eye and said,Jeff, you are a writer. You just need to write.The next day, I started writing and never looked back. That one conversation changed my life. Not because those words were magical, but because I was waiting to find out who I was before I knew what I was supposed to do with my life.Maybe you can relate.Right now, there is a gemeinsame agrarpolitik between your true self and your false self, be tween your soul and your sole, and its up to you to fill it.This is true for all of us, by the way, myself included. We are all - hopefully - becoming truer versions of ourselves, those selves that step into the light and do not hide from who we really are.But to do this well, you need insight. You need a way to recognize your blindspots. Because we as human beings are really terrible at self-awareness, and so we need the voices of others to point out what were missing.Every year, I reflect on what Ive done with my time and how it complements or conflicts with the things that I say are important to me.Do I call myself a writer but do very little writing?Do I say family is first but often come home late at the end of the day?Do I think of myself as intelligent and creative but give myself very little time to think and play?There is a gap between who we say we are and who we really are.And it is the mission of our life to bridge the two. We must be whole, integrated people.And findi ng our who - that true self we were meant to be - begins with understanding who we are right now, good or bad, warts and all.So, I dare you to do this one small thing I do every yearTake a quick assessment that forces you to grade yourself on your life.Are you like George Bailey and secretly living a wonderful life?Or are you like Walter Mitty and youre missing out on the adventure just beyond your comfort zone?You have a true selfThis may be one of the most important messages and ideas in my life this idea that you have a true self and you need to find it. Im so passionate about this topic that I wrote abookon it.I am often asking is this really me? and I hope you ask yourself that, too. It really matters, I think.Thisarticlefirst appeared onGoins, Writer.

How to Turn Work Accomplishments into Stories for Your Job Interviews

How to Turn Work Accomplishments into Stories for Your Job InterviewsHow to Turn Work Accomplishments into Stories for Your Job Interviews16Youre in the middle of a job interview for a position that you really, really want. Youre nailing all of the interview questionsuntil your boss-to-be asks you, Tell me about a time when you helped your company. The question throws you off, and instead of delivering a polished answer, you stumble and stammer your way through a rocky response. How can you create good stories for your job interviews?Job seekers should always have a few stories that they can pull out of their pocket during their job search. You may need one to personalize a cover letter, for a blog post on your LinkedIn profile, and yes, especially during job interviews. Turn your past triumphs into great stories that can help you land a job with these tips.How to Turn Work Accomplishments into Stories for Your Job InterviewsReview your work history.If you think that you dont have a story to tell, think again. During each of your jobs, there have been memorable moments. The moments may vary, but you definitely accomplished something that you- and only you- can claim credit for. It may have been something big (you found a way to save yourself and fellow staffers time by implementing a more modern program), or it may have been small (you found a small, but potentially embarrassing typo on your companys press release). So take the time to reflect on your work history to uncover your successes and write them down. When you have a few on paper, you can determine which are more important- and impressive- than others.Stick to the facts. Sure, you uncovered a mistake that helped save your company a lot of money. But it would be wrong to say that due to your keen observations and superior skills, you managed to keep your company afloat and prevent them from going bankrupt. So while you want to paint yourself in the best light possible when you give one of those tell me about the time answers, you also need to ensure that your storytelling skills dont stretch themselves out into outright lies. After all, a potential boss can confirm the validity of your story, and you dont want to lose a position based on a tall tale.Make your stories relatable. You never know what kinds of questions you might be asked during a job interview. So it makes sense that you should have at least 2-3 stories prepared for those just-in-case questions. For example, you should have a story that relates to overall work successes that youve had with previous employers. Youll also need a working well with others story, and an answer for the infamous tell me about yourself question. So be sure to listen very carefully to what the hiring manager is asking of you before you whip out of one your stories. And be sure to personalize it to the company youre interested in working for. Youll need to customize your story in buchen to find a way to make it relatable for your new employer. Practice, practice, practice.It might make you feel awkward to talk about your previous work accomplishments. You might feel like youre bragging. To get over your shyness, you should practice telling your story a few times. Not only will it help you keep the facts straight in your head, but hearing yourself can help you determine if your story is too long (or too short) or needs more details. And all that practice will pay off when you deliver your story more smoothly during your job interview.Turning your work accomplishments into stories you can tell during your job search is important for any job seeker. By taking the time to gather stories for your job interviews, youre ensuring future job search successReaders, do you have an arsenal of stories for your job interviews? Let us know in the comments section below