Peters Applauds Defense Department Move To Begin Implementing His Provision To Ensure Guardsmen And Reservists Receive Benefits Theyve Earned
Change in Defense Department Policy Was a Result of Peters-Led Bipartisan Provision in Previous National Defense Bill Will Ensure Guardsmen and Reservists Receive a DD-214 Following Completion of their Service
WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Senator Gary Peters applauded the Department of Defenses announcement it will take steps toward standardizing service records across U.S. military components. This move by the Defense Department means that DoD will begin implementing a provision Peters passed to provide National Guardsmen and Reservists with the official documentation granted to other servicemembers following their retirement or completion of service. Currently, Reservists do not receive a separation document detailing their service and Guardsmen do not receive the same forms as Active Duty servicemembers after completion of service. The DD-214 form is often required by the Department of Veterans Affairs and other private sector institutions to certify qualification for benefits. Under the announced DoD policy, Guardsmen and Reservists will receive DD-214-1 forms, which will more accurately document their complete time of service and ensure they receive the military benefits they have earned.
Veteran Benefits For Members Of The National Guard And Reserves
All 50 states and the District of Columbia offer benefits for members of the National Guard and reserve component, with a total of 295 applicable benefits nationwide. Missouri offers the greatest number of National Guard and Reserves benefits at 16 Idaho and the District of Columbia each offer only one. After Missouri, the states of Oregon, Kansas, and New York were the most generous with National Guard and Reserves benefits, with Oregon offering 13 and Kansas and New York offering 10. The average number of benefits available to guardsmen and reservists was six.
Veteran Meaning Understanding The Difference Between Types Of Military Service
There are a larger variety of services an individual can be a part of than is generally believed. As you will see, the veteran meaning may change based on the type of military service you do. The following are descriptions of each to help you steer your way through:
Full-time
Active-duty service is simply full-time. Active-duty members are available for duty 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, with the exclusion of leave or pass . Active-duty members fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Defense and can serve in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
Remember:
If an individual served active-duty service, it is credible toward length-of-service requirements when qualifying for veterans benefits.
Part-Time
Performing duties one weekend per month, plus two weeks of training per year, members of the Reserves and National Guard are considered part-time, though, since the Gulf War in 1990, theyve spent exponentially more time called to full-time active duties. In fact, National Guards and Reserves generally spend two years of their six-year enlistment performing full-time active duty.
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Veteran Definition How Long Do You Have To Be In The Military To Be A Veteran
You have seen from the title 38 definition above that there is no minimum time of service required to be considered a veteran so long as you served on active duty.
But the real question is to what purpose you want to be called a veteran. If it is to receive veteran benefits, as we have seen, the requirements may differ from whether or not people will call you a veteran.
Also note that active duty service members differ from reservists and the National Guard, as we will see below.
These groups must have served on active duty for a period of 180 days or more to be considered a veteran .
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What Is Active Service In The National Guard Or Reserve
Defining the term active service is critically important to determine VA benefits eligibility for National Guard and Reservists.
Why?
Because VA benefits for Guard and Reserve members largely depends on the number of days spent on active duty orders.
Active Service in the National Guard or Reserve includes members in the following two categories:
- Active duty : Full-time duty in the Armed Forces, such as unit deployment during war, including travel to and from such duty, except active duty for training, OR
- Full-time National Guard duty : Duty performed for which you are entitled to receive pay from the Federal government, such as responding to a national emergency or performing duties as an Active Guard Reserve member.
Us Guard And Reserve Members Are Officially Veterans
Posted in Uncategorized on February 9, 2017 Tags: military, VA programs, veterans
How do you define a veteran? Its a question many of us probably never considered. But for millions of retired National Guard members and Army Reservists, it is a matter of great honor. Up until recently December 2016 to be exact they couldnt officially call themselves veterans unless they had served at least 180 days of active duty on federal orders. Regardless of how much time you devoted to honorably supporting the Armed Forces, how many hours of training or deployments they experienced, there always remained a delineation line between full-time soldiers and reservists.
For many reservists, this felt like a bit of a slight, since they had willingly volunteered countless hours of their lives to prepare to serve if needed, to fill any empty roles left when full-time servicemen and women were deployed, and to basically complete any task asked of them. It was understandably strange to have dedicated so much of ones life to the U.S. Armed Forces, and yet not be entitled to call oneself a veteran.
The U.S. Army Reserve provides operational capability and strategic depth to the larger Army, accounting for 20% of the Armys maneuver support and delivering significant Army mobilization and expansion capability. When not on active duty, reserve soldiers typically perform Battle Assembly training/service once a month and for two continuous Annual Training weeks at some time during the year.
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Is National Guard Considered Military Service
The Army National Guard and the Air National Guard are reserve components of their services and operate in part under state authority. The largest and oldest service in the U.S. military, the Army provides the ground forces that protect the United States.
What Is Veteran Status For National Guard And Reserve Members
Veteran status is defined by federal law as a person who: Served in the active military, naval, or air service AND Was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
- For VA disability compensation and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation the term veteran includes a person who died in active service and whose death was not due to the veterans own willful misconduct.
- For VA death pension the term veteran includes a person who died in active service under conditions which preclude payment of service-connected death benefits, provided such person had completed at least 2 years honorable military, naval or air service, as certified by the Secretary concerned. and 3.3).
Qualifying service is any type of service that qualifies or potentially qualifies a claimant for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits.
Types of qualifying service are listed in 38 CFR 3.6 and 38 CFR 3.7 and include, but are not limited to:
- Active duty military service
- ADT when a claim for service connection is based on a disability or death resulting from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, and
- IADT when a claim for SC is based on disability or death resulting from an injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty or myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, or a cerebrovascular accident which occurred during such training.
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Character Of The Discharge
The requirement that a valid discharge from service must be other than dishonorable in order to qualify for VA benefits seems rather simple on the surface. In reality, there are a variety of different discharges that are characterized between an honorable discharge and a discharge that uses the word dishonorable. In some cases, VA will consider these other than honorable discharges as dishonorable even though the word dishonorable is not used. In other cases these discharges are considered as other than dishonorable.
As a general rule, discharges that are classified as general discharges are considered as other than dishonorable. But a general discharge is still a blight on a serviceman’s application for civilian work. General discharges that reflect negative aspects of military conduct will jeopardize a veteran’s ability to use education benefits or to be able to reenlist after discharge. Education benefits specifically require an honorable discharge and any other discharge will disqualify for those benefits.
A discharge carrying the words “dishonorable” is very rare as such a discharge can only be handed down to an enlisted member by a general court-martial.
The following discharges are specifically mentioned in the regulations as barring the payment of benefits and would thus be classified as dishonorable.
Who Qualifies As A Veteran For Compensation Pension And Benefits
Most people understand that those who served in the military are veterans.
But what they actually need to know is what type of veteran status qualifies them for various benefits, such as Tricare or pension benefits.
References:
- Definition of the Term Veteran For purposes of compensation, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation , and death pension, see38 CFR 3.1, and Paulson v. Brown, 7 Vet.App. 466, 470 , and
- Groups approved for Veteran status under Public Law Please see 95-202 and 106-259, at the following link, M21-1, Part III, Subpart iii, 2.K.3.
- Veterans Pensions We also have an article explaining who qualifies for a pension.
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Are The Reserves And National Guard Veterans
- Deployed on federal active duty for at least 180 days, and
- Received a discharge that was higher than dishonorable or bad conduct, OR
- Served at least 20 years, and
- Received a discharge that was higher than dishonorable or bad conduct.
- 05 July 2022
This website has been prepared for general information purposes only. The information on this website is not legal advice. Legal advice is dependent upon the specific circumstances of each situation. Also, the law may vary from state-to-state or county-to-county, so that some information in this website may not be correct for your situation. Finally, the information contained on this website is not guaranteed to be up to date. Therefore, the information contained in this website cannot replace the advice of competent legal counsel licensed in your jurisdiction.
Va Burial Benefits For Guard And Reserve
VA Burial Benefits provides burial and memorial services to honor our Nations deceased veterans.
Eligibility for VA Burial Benefits requires a National Guard or Reserve Member to have served on active duty, or that your death was due to an injury or disease that developed or was aggravated during active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training.
The National Cemetery Administration offers veterans a gravesite in any of the national cemeteries with available space, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a Government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family of the deceased veteran.
Some veterans may also be eligible for VA Burial Allowances.
Burial benefits available for spouses and dependents buried in a national cemetery include burial with the Veteran, perpetual care, and the spouse or dependents name and date of birth and death will be inscribed on the Veterans headstone, at no cost to the family.
Eligible spouses and dependents may be buried, even if they predecease the Veteran.
Heres a list of 5 VA Burial Benefits for National Guard and Reserve Members:
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How To File A Va Claim For Guard Or Reserve
Before separating or retiring from the military, active duty service members to include full-time National Guard or Reservists, can apply for VA disability benefits with the Pre-Discharge Claim program.
If you have an illness or injury that you believe was caused or made worse by your active duty service, you can file a VA claim for disability benefits 180 to 90 days BEFORE you leave the military.
This can help help speed up the VA claim process so you can get your benefits sooner.
To use the VAs Pre-Discharge Claim program, ALL the following must be true:
- Youre a service member on full-time active duty , and
- You have a known separation date, and
- Your separation date is in the next 180 to 90 days, and
- Youre available to go to VA exams for 45 days from the date you submitted your claim, and
- You can provide a copy of your service treatment records for your current period of service when you file your claim.
However, at VA Claims Insider, we recommend using the VAs Fully Developed Claim program right on the new VA.gov website along with these useful tips from VA Raters to increase your VA rating.
Reserves Are Reservists Veterans
Many people ask if Army Reserves are considered veterans or in general, if reservists are veterans.
The objective of the Reserves is to deliver supplementary support to active-duty forces when obligated. All of the different military services have a Reserve branch under the patronage of the Department of Defense: Army Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve.
Though it doesnt count as active-duty time for most veterans benefits, when an individual joins the Reserves, they attend basic training and military job school full time. After completion of basic training and military job school, those considered Reserves resume civilian life, except for training called inactive duty training which takes place one weekend per month.
Reserves, however, do complete 14 days of full-time training once a year. The training is categorized as active duty for training . Neither IDT nor ADT counts toward service requirements for veterans benefits.
The president and secretary of defense can request those in the Reserves to active duty at any time in order to increase efforts on certain military projects. Approximately 65,000 Reserves are performing active duty in support of military contingency operations at any given moment.
This type of active duty counts toward veterans benefits.
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Even After Years In Uniform Some National Guardsmen Dont Get Veterans Benefits
National Guardsmen who respond to domestic missions – such as providing disaster assistance or working along the southern U.S. border – may not qualify for V-A benefits.
In April 2018, President Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to aid Homeland Security.
During a tour on the border last October, Border Patrol spokesman William Rogers complimented the California National Guard troops who were working inside the Border Patrol station in San Diego, acting as dispatchers and monitoring cameras.
“What’s most important about it to us is the fact that prior to the National Guard soldiers filling these spots, we had to have sworn agents filling these spots,” Rogers said.
But despite the positive words, some of those guard troops who worked along the border in uniform may never meet the federal definition of a veteran.
To qualify for Veterans Affairs benefits – like health care or GI Bill education benefits – troops must serve 180 days continuously on active duty. That means being requested by the federal government under specific circumstances, said Daniel Elkins, a California National Guard Special Forces operator with a unit based in Los Angeles.
“This affects many of the National Guard. For example, currently there is a federally declared border crisis that’s going on,” said Daniel Elkins, a California National Guard Special Forces operator with a unit based in Los Angeles.
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A recently signed law gives official veteran status to National Guard members who served 20 years or more. Previously, Guard members were considered veterans only if they served 180 days or more in a federal status outside of training.
Contents
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Benefits Available To Those Who Are Not Veterans
There are certain circumstances under which a person who never served in the military might be eligible for some veterans benefits. For instance, the spouse or child of a veteran who died during active service receives a number of the benefits that wouldve been available to the service member, had he or she survived.
Who Is Eligible For Veterans Benefits
To be eligible for veterans benefits the applicant must meet the definition of a veteran, meet specified requirements for active duty and must have a discharge other than dishonorable. Reserve and Guard members are generally not eligible for benefits except under certain circumstances.
Here are the basic eligibility requirements for receiving VA benefits which we will discuss in more detail below.
- Must meet definition of a veteran or considered as a veteran
- Must meet active duty requirements
- Must meet the period of active duty service requirements
- Service-connected disabilities cannot be a result of willful misconduct
- Pension is not available if discharge was due to willful misconduct
- Must have received an other than dishonorable discharge
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