Dual duty puts parents in pinch, a result of new GI Bill

[unhappycamper]

Maj. Sunnie Templeton plays with her children – Sophie, 3, and Jeremy, 1 – after getting home from work at Langley Air Force Base on Tuesday. Templeton tried to get out of the Air Force when she was ordered to deploy at the same time as her husband, a Navy reservist. The Air Force said she must stay in and deploy, leaving their two young children in limbo for six months.


Dual duty puts parents in pinch, a result of new GI Bill
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 28, 2010

VIRGINIA BEACH - ~snip~

Maj. Sunnie Templeton, an Air Force finance officer, was notified in July that she had been scheduled for her second overseas deployment, a one-year assignment in Iraq.

~snip~

The Air Force said no - she must stay in and deploy as ordered.

The problem? A year ago, she had signed up for the new GI Bill, which provides full government funding for four years of college to veterans who have served since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

She didn't need the benefits herself - she already has a college degree - but she took advantage of a provision of the law allowing her benefits to be transferred to her children.

By activating that provision, she incurred an additional four-year active-duty commitment, locking her into the Air Force until 2014.


unhappycamper comment: When Major Templeton found out she was subjecting herself to four more years in the Air Force, she revoked the transfer of benefits. The Air Force's reply? Tough shit, you owe us four more years.

[pipoman]

1. I find it hard to believe

that a Major didn't know all of the nuances of the New GI Bill when she signed up for the transfer of benefits. I would find it easier to believe that she agreed to the four year commitment believing it was unlikely she would be deployed. The military contracts I have seen are pretty unambiguous.