Troops with 16 or more years of service will no longer be permitted to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child starting next year, Defense Department officials announced Thursday.
Currently, troops who serve a minimum of six years and commit to serving an additional four years are eligible to transfer the education benefit to their dependents. Some who agree to the four years but are barred from completing it, such as troops who are injured and medically discharged, are permitted to keep the transfer. Others who start the process after getting injured can request a waiver so the transfer can go through.
But starting July 12 of next year, troops will need to start the GI Bill benefit transfer process between six and 16 years of service, the policy update states.
Thanks for Gordon Lau and two other Retiree News readers for sending in this article. Guardmembers who earned GI Bill benefits during deployments should insure they understand these changes.
From the Historic Hawaii Foundation
Planned Kakaako development. -click on the photograph to enlarge
The City describes Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as “a pattern of different uses-housing, jobs and services–surrounding a transit station that takes advantage of the convenience and affordability of transit.”
Maj. Gen. I.G. Brown asked Air Defense staff and four Air Guard instructors to provide two trial NCO academy classes, 67-1 and 67-2, for 200 students on McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Tennessee.
Classes began in the base’s aircraft hangar. Sometime later, the base gym converted into eight classrooms and a small library.
In the late 60s and early 70s, many Hawaii Air National Guard members attended the NCO Academy. Younger HIANG airmen started attending the ANG Leadership School when it started in 1970.
The Professional Military Education Center was later renamed the I.G. Brown Air National Guard Professional Military Education Center.
Have questions about your TRICARE benefit? Here’s your chance to get some answers. Join TRICARE on Thursday, July 26, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET (7 to 8 a.m in Hawaii) for the “Ask TRICARE” webinar. The Q&A webinar will include a panel of subject matter experts to answer your questions about TRICARE health care, pharmacy, and dental programs.
Our panelists include representatives from major TRICARE offices and programs, including:
The July 26 webinar is one of many TRICARE resources to help you get answers to your questions about your TRICARE benefits. Visit TRICARE Publications for a look at more resources, from handbooks and brochures to fact sheets and newsletters.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to ask questions directly to TRICARE experts. Bring your questions and register to join us on July 26. Registration is limited.
You must be registered and in the webinar platform to submit a question electronically. If you call in by phone, you’ll only be able to listen to the webinar.
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across America. Each summer since 2010, Blue Star Museums have offered free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. See the map below or select from the list of states for museums that are participating in the Blue Star Museums 2018 summer season.
From the 154th Wing Facebook page
This past Sunday we celebrated Hawaii Air National Guard Family Day. Mahalo to all the ohana, friends, and the dedicated volunteers who came together to make Family Day an overwhelming success. Let’s do it again gang!
This article is from the LifeLock website – no endorsement is implied or made.
Identity theft is a growing crime in the United States. Who’s most at risk? That’s hard to say. Reliable statistics on identity theft targets are few. So, we’ve identified four groups that may have a higher risk of ID theft. We’ve ordered them chronologically, starting at birth and ending in old age.
Who is vulnerable to identity theft? Here’s what our list of identity theft targets looks like:
Children
Mega social media users
High-income earners
The elderly
Do you fall into one of these groups?
If so, it’s smart to take steps to help protect against identity theft. But even if you don’t fall into these categories, these tips are still applicable to everyone to help protect against ID theft.
From the Kiplinger Magazine website
How to best leave IRA assets to heirs has long been a popular topic among Kiplinger’s Retirement Report readers. And the response to our recent cover story, “How Heirs Can Maximize an IRA”, left no doubt that the topic has staying power.
The story, which looked at the rules that spouse and nonspouse heirs need to know to make the most of an inherited IRA, generated a number of questions from readers.
From the Airman Magazine website
Airmen from the Hawaii Raptors conduct an end of runway inspection of several F-22 Raptors as they return from a six-month deployment to the Central Command area of responsibility, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, April 8, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Aaron Oelrich/released)
The F-22s based here are one of the smaller Raptor contingents in the Air Force, tasked with responding to homeland threats and being the tip of the spear for any engagements in the Pacific. And, the Raptors face that mission with limited support.
To stay sharp and be ready for any operation in a contested region, the pilots are getting creative and drawing on recent real-world combat experience.
If you’re an infantry platoon sergeant, it doesn’t matter if you’re 25 or 55; all will be held to the same fitness standards with the future Army Combat Fitness Test. The new test does away with age-specific standards and sets requirements based on job demands instead, Army officials said.
click on photograph to enlarge – believe this is a photo of a “R” vice an “A” model
Beau and Peni, and Micah
A retirement ceremony for TSgt Epigene “Peni” Sabagala was held on Saturday , July 7, 2018 at the 154th Wing Dining Facility.
Exerepts from the ceremony program:
TSgt Epigene “Peni” Sabagala was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in Tripler Army Medical Center. She is a military brat, her father retired from the United States Air Force in 1992.
A month prior to her high school graduation she enlisted in the Hawaii Air National Guard. Her military career began when she departed for Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. After successfully completing BMT, she attend the Information Management Apprentice course at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.
Returning from training, Peni would serve in various assignments as an information manager in the 154th Wing Plans Office, the 154th Operations Support Squadron and the then-154th Mission Support Flight.
In July 2002, Peni retrained into the 154th Misson Support Flight Base Training Office as the formal schools technician. She completed her career is the now-154th Force Support Squadron.
While retiring militarily, Peni will continue in her technician position as a Title 5 employee.
Peni is married to MSgt Beau Sabagala and they have three children, AIC Micah (154th Security Forces Squadron), Kaianne, and Nicholas.
Happy retirement to an outstanding HIANG member. Thank you for your service!
From the Military Times website
The United States Army turned a ripe 243 years old today (June 14, 2018),a festive occasion made all the more exceptional because of another special designation occurring on the same day.
No, not Flag Day — National Bourbon Day, one of the many nectars as critical to the military’s sustained success as 5.56 ammunition and marriage annulments.
Not all whiskey, of course, is bourbon, but those variants produced in America happen to be, and since we’ve decided to delve into whiskey’s deep-seated relationship with American patriots, the adjacent existence of dark drink and duty to country must be recognized.
From the Everyday Health website
Books, magazines, and advertisements sing the praises of coconut oil, claiming that it has heart benefits and contains healthy fat that can even help with weight loss. But that’s not necessarily true, according to a review published in March 2017 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
