I am going to be scrambling this next week- and you might as well you might be if you are a veteran of a certain age and vintage.

I know- I should not read email in the morning when it might upset me. This particular bright and beautiful morning I got one of those Vet newsletters in the email haul this morning from the people at the Administration. If you are like me, you stay as far away from those folks as you can. I have heard nothing good about them, and thank the Lord have been lucky to get some bennies from the civil sector over the last almost fifteen years.

But that is excatly the point, as my eyes widened this morning with a sudden adrenaline rush. My civilian career is starting to wind down. Fifteen years is how long the educational benefits last from active service- the length of time I have been off active duty, which is to say, September 1st 2003.

So, the flyer says the law is that benefits expire fifteen years from transition. Yeah, I did the counting on my fingers. This September I lose the entitlement to my Freshman Beanie. If I don’t do something about it before then. I have heard that the Global War on Terror Education benefit covers textbooks, most of tuition, and a living allotment. Sounds good to me, and worth some investigation.

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017, commonly referred to as the “Forever GI Bill,” was signed into law on August 16, 2017. It made several changes to GI Bill benefits, one of which was an extension of the time limit to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Of course, that only applies to Vets who left active duty after 2013, and old farts such as myself will not be entitled to the extension.

This new legislation is the largest expansion of veterans education benefits since the creation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill itself in 2008. Back in the day, my recruiter told me there was no big deal about coming down to Detroit after the New Year for the swearing in, back in 1977. Well, no big deal except for losing the original GI Bill entitlement. What followed was a watered-down Montgomery entitlement that we were expected to fund ourselves through payroll deduction, and which I never used.

The Colmery bill removes the 15-year time limit on using the benefit, awards Purple Heart recipients GI Bill eligibility regardless of active duty time served, ensures National Guard and Reserve Members get the same benefits as those they served on active duty with, and restores the GI Bill entitlement of individuals who were forced to discontinue their studies due to the permanent closure of their school, among other improvements.

But the fifteen years will expire, and they are not cutting any slack. Hence, it behooves me to get my butt in gear in the next few weeks and find out what the Real Deal might be. And what school? Georgetown? Northern Virginia Community College? Germanna down in Culpeper? Community colleges don’t have football programs, right? What are students supposed to do on Saturday afternoons?

There is a lot to think about. I am going to go consult with Edgar and Edwina. They seem pretty hip to this stuff. And for any of you other gnarly vets, check when you retired. There might be something you are leaving on the table.