Federal Tuition Assistance
Members of the Air National Guard are not able to receive Federal Tuition Assistance because the U.S. Air Force (USAF) does not allocate funds for members of the Air National Guard (ANG). In October 2015, an Associate’s degree became a mandatory prerequisite for promotion to the ranks of E-8 (Senior Master Sergeant) and E-9 (Chief Master Sergeant) in the Air National Guard. EANGUS believes the Air Force should change its policy to allow members to receive TA after making a degree mandatory for promotion to E-8 and E-9. EANGUS working hard to get this changed.
Student Veterans
The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the U.S. (EANGUS) recently provided a story to Inside Higher Ed concerning Student Veterans. On September 28th, the Department of Education ceased all data collection necessary for calculating graduations rates, total costs, and expected earnings. The decision to cease data collection has made invaluable Student Veteran aids obsolete, and even crashed the GI Bill Comparison Tool website. We at EANGUS recognized this as a step in the wrong direction, and have raised the alarm that this will negatively impact our nation’s Student Veterans.
Reserve Component Coalition Building
The National Guard Association of the U.S. hosted staffs of the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the U.S. (EANGUS), Reserve Officers Association, Adjutants General Association, National Governors Association, and Association of the United States Air Force for two, half day roundtable discussions at the National Guard Memorial Building. Numerous topics were discussed to include modernization and recapitalization of legacy platforms, consistent National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account (NGREA) funding, TRICARE reform and continuity of care, tax deductions for drill travel, and many other Reserve Component priorities. The goal of these discussions is for numerous, independent Military Service Organizations to find common ground on key issues and organize and communicate effectively to elected officials and Congressional staff, in Washington, D.C. While each of the aforementioned associations will not agree on everything, the goal is to provide policy papers and letters of support for the items where we can agree, and advocate those issues to the 116th Congress ahead of its consideration of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. As always, the EANGUS National Office staff will continue to advocate for EANGUS-passed National Resolutions independently, and will disseminate Legislative Calls to Action accordingly.