Soldiers who want to transfer Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits need to visit their career counselors

By U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs OfficeJune 7, 2016

HEIDELBERG, Germany -- It takes more than just logging onto a Web site for U.S. Army

Europe Soldiers to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits to a family member.

Signing up is the first step. The

second is letting a career

counselor know about it, say

USAREUR retention officials.

Soldiers can start the transfer

process by logging into the

Department of Defense

Transferability of Education

Benefits Web page and filling

out the transfer form. Soldiers

will need to log in with a DoD

Common Access Card or

Defense Finance and Accounting

Service "myPay" PIN number.

Family members listed under the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System are eligible to

receive education benefits under the program.

The next step is even easier, said Sgt. Maj. David Best, USAREUR senior career counselor.

"The first thing the Soldier has to do after transferring his or her benefits in the TEB Web site is

to contact their career counselor," he said. "We are the certifying officials for all enlisted

Soldiers in Europe."

The career counselor verifies that the Soldier meets the eligibility standards required by the GI

Bill program.

The basic requirement is that the Soldier must have at least six years of military service and not

be subject to any adverse personnel actions, explained Sgt. 1st Class James Hatfield, USAREUR

retention operations NCO.

Most requests are easy for counselors to certify, because most of the Soldiers requesting to

transfer benefits have enough time remaining to their enlistments and are in good standing, Best

explained.

However, some Soldiers may need to reenlist or extend to be eligible to transfer benefits. If

Soldiers do not get in touch with a career counselor to make arrangements to reenlist or extend,

their requests will be rejected and they must reapply after reenlisting or extending, he said.

The Army goal is to take about three business days to complete a transfer, Best explained. "Our

goal in USAREUR is one business day."

Since Aug. 1 -- the day the transfer program became active -- more than 400 USAREUR

Soldiers have logged onto the TEB site and signed their family members up for education

benefits, Best said.

"This is one of the number-one requested benefits that has come out of the Army Family Action

Plan," Best said. "It is a benefit that Soldiers and Family members have requested over the years,

and they are taking advantage of it."

"It has been wildly popular," he said. "Soldiers and Family members are very interested in it."

Best stressed that career counselors are not education counselors, and do not dispense education

advice, but said career counselors will help Soldiers who need assistance with the application

process.

Once a career counselor certifies a request, the Soldier's family member should apply to the

Department of Veterans Affairs.

Soldiers with questions about their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, eligibility to transfer those benefits

and other questions can contact their servicing career counselor, local education services office,

or visit the VA Web site at www.gibill.va.gov.

The DoD Transferability of Education Benefits Web page is available at

https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/

General polices for TEB are available at www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2009/0409_gibill/

About us: The U.S. Army in Europe, with NATO and other coalition partners from throughout its 51-country area