Veterans' Benefits
By CWO4 Lewis Tolleson, USCG-Ret., Director; Lt. Col. William A. Pierce, USA-Ret.; and Capt. Bud. Schneeweis, USCG-Ret.

Are Guard and Reserve members eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits?

If a Guard or Reserve member is called to active duty, he or she will be eligible for the same VA benefits as any other veteran, including those for dependents and survivors. The member must meet certain length-of-service requirements.

Eligibility for most VA benefits is based on discharge from active military service under honorable conditions for a minimum period specified by law. For most members, completion of two years of active duty or the full period of initial service obligation is sufficient for eligibility.

However, certain VA benefits and medical care require wartime service. For medical care benefits, a federally activated member of the Guard or Reserves must serve the full period of time he or she is called to active duty by the president. Members completing the period of service will qualify for issuance of a DD Form 214, the military discharge form issued by the Department of Defense, which identifies the veteran's condition of discharge. Honorable and general discharges qualify a veteran for most VA benefits.

Inactive duty

If a member has no active duty service, are any VA benefits available?

A Guard or Reserve member who never served on active duty still may qualify for the following benefits.

• Compensation: Monthly benefits may be payable if a member has a disability that resulted from a disease or injury incurred while on active duty for training or an injury, heart attack, or stroke suffered during inactive duty for training. Additional benefits also may apply.
• Medical care: The VA will provide medical care only if the member has a service-connected disability.
• Home loan guaranty: A member must have completed six years in the Guard or Reserve with an honorable discharge. If he or she was discharged due to a service-connected disability, then the required time could be less. (Note: This eligibility expires Sept. 30, 2007.)
• Burial flag: A member who completes at least one enlistment in the Guard or Reserve and is discharged due to a service-connected disability or whose death is related to his or her service is eligible to receive a flag.
• Burial in a national cemetery and headstone or marker: These benefits are available to any member whose death is related to his or her Guard or Reserve service; who, at the time of death, was eligible for retirement pay based on Guard or Reserve service; or who would have been entitled had the member reached age 60.
• Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) - Selected Reserve (Chapter 1606): A member may be entitled to receive up to 36 months of education benefits. Benefit entitlement ends 10 years from the date of eligibility for the program or on the day the member leaves the Guard or Reserve. Read on for more information about the MGIB.

Montgomery GI Bill

Are there any special requirements to use MGIB benefits?

To qualify, a member must:

• incur a six-year obligation to serve in the Selected Reserve. Officers must agree to serve six years in addition to the original obligation;
• complete iadt (initial active duty for training);
• meet the requirements for a high school diploma or equivalency certificate before applying for benefits; and
• remain in good standing while serving in an active Selected Reserve unit and receive an honorable discharge.

Reserve component members should contact a veterans' benefits counselor to determine eligibility.