VA Loan Updates

WASHINGTON — Rep. Bruce Braley said Wednesday that Congress will investigate an error that left thousands of Army National Guard soldiers without full educational benefits.

A significant number of the approximately 640 soldiers of the Iowa Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry — a unit that served nearly 22 months, 17 in Iraq — are scheduled to receive educational benefits usually reserved for those who serve less time on active duty.

The issue has received wide media attention, and politicians and military officials have vowed to fix the problem, including an Army official Braley recently spoke to.

“I’m confident that they’re focused on fixing the problem,” Braley said. “But I also made it very clear that I expected that promise to be fulfilled in time for the spring semester.”

Despite such assurances, Braley said an investigation is necessary to ensure a similar mistake won’t happen again. He also wants Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to publicly assure troops that they will receive the full benefits in time to start school next semester.

“It does nothing to correct the institutional problem,” Braley said. “What we want to do is try to get to the bottom as to why this happened.”

The Congressional investigation will result in, at the very least, a preliminary report. Whether or not it makes it to a committee hearing will depend on the investigation’s findings, and Braley said that likely won’t occur this year.

Lt. Col. Ben Corell, commander of the 1/133rd from Strawberry Point, said the problem is due to an administrative error that listed the wrong date of deployment on soldiers’ paperwork.

He estimated more than 50 percent of the 1/133rd soldiers will take advantage of the GI Bill educational benefits. He didn’t know how many were mistakenly given lesser benefits.

When the community welcomed the troops home at University of Northern Iowa earlier this month, Corell told the Courier, “This is not right. To the kids who want to go to school, they did everything they were asked to do.”

He said officials have known about the problem for months.

“This educational piece was bubbling for awhile,” he said.

To receive the full benefit — $894 per month available for 10 years after leaving the service — a solider must serve 730 consecutive months on active duty. Despite fulfilling the requirements, some Guard members were told they will receive $660 per month that expires when they leave the service, a benefit available to all soldiers.

Corell said the soldiers he’s spoken to know the problem is being addressed, and they haven’t expressed much anxiety over not receiving the benefit. To correct the problem, Army officials are processing soldiers on weekends when they make stops in towns across Iowa on a welcome tour.

“As I’ve talked to soldiers the last couple weeks, they know it’s been identified and that it’s being worked on,” he said.

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