Next Friday we're having a workshop I'll be attending about veterans going back to school. For anyone reading this who has gone back, what classroom, financial, and logistical support made your life easier, and what help didn't you receive that you wish you did?

I went back with the assistance of the G.I. Bill. Unfortunately I was under the old Montgomery G.I. Bill because I entered the service in 1996. While the financial part helped greatly, the process for verification was tedious. From what I have heard, though, the new post-911 G.I. Bill is much user friendly.

It hasn't affected me, but both the VA and the school I attended kept telling me how great the job placement assistance was for veterans after graduation. I haven't seen any of that.

This slipped past me.

I qualified for post 9-11 GI Bill after my deployments.

I had big time problems with my GI Bill. So much so that it actually went to a congressional investigation (the conclusion of which was hilarious because they essentially contradicted the testimony of the Staff Sergeant that messed up my orders or lied to me.)

My issues stemmed from a technicality whereby I was brought up on two separate sets of orders for two consecutive deployments, One was a Marine set of orders, the other Navy. Initially it was easy to get the 80% I was awarded, but it was impossible to get the 100% that I actually earned by serving more than two years consecutively.

It did nothing for classroom and logistical support. But it paid for 80% of my $40,000 a year tuition, and books, and gave me monthly basic housing allowance at the 80% rate.

The only thing I wish I had received was the benefits I was promised when I was assured that breaking my orders up would NOT effect my GI Bill.

I had the opportunity to switch to the post-911 G.I. Bill since I was in Afghanistan and Iraq, but at the time didn't think I would even be using it. So I just stayed with the Montgomery. By the sounds of your experience maybe I'm glad I didn't?

My situation was very unique. Most reservists don't do 30 months straight active, and have the orders broken up into two separate sets.

The orders split was what killed me. They forced me off the Marine Corps orders AND to sell all my leave. I fought against my admin office to not do this specifically because I was worried about the GI Bill, I wanted the orders consecutive, I requested mass to the XO, he agreed with my point, and then fought against the Battalion XO, they agreed with my request, but a two star general at 4th Mar Div shot it down because I HAD to come up on Navy orders for the next deployment block. The Navy had taken over the base I was deploying to, so I was getting PAID out of a Navy pot of money, not a Marine Corps pot of money.

I was ASSURED that I would rate 100% post 9-11 GI Bill over, and over, and over again before I left on my second deployment and sold my leave. I SAW my paperwork after I demobilized that gave a special indication that I would get 100% GI Bill. But when I signed up at school, they claimed 80%. Fought, and fought, and fought, and finally went to my congressman. When I saw that ruling exhibited contradictory testimony from the piece of shit admin staff sergeant that fucked up everything and fucked up my promotion to corporal a couple years earlier I basically gave up. The congressman clearly didn't even give a shit enough to read through the ruling his staff had written. I had plenty of cash anyway, but the principle of it really burned me. I lost thousands of dollars because of something I was forced to do, after being promised I would get the full bill. I'd be close to having my loans paid off now if not for this shit.

Every fucking step of the way with the VA on EVERYTHING is an absolute struggle.