Now let's tackle the Veterans

[CoolBreeze]

A friend of mine wrote the following about the "Veterans" who are camping outside of Charleston on Coopers Creek in tents, and have been for some time now:

To set the record straight:

A person who has served in the military or naval forces is not "a veteran" unless he or she serves during a wartime or conflict period, as designated by the Congress. The member does not have to be on duty
in a combat theater or serve in combat. He or she just has to serve during the period.

Those are the people who qualify for veteran's benefits.

I have worked with people who were "in the service" who didn't qualify for veterans benefits because they DID NOT serve during such designated periods. The G.I. Bill, student loans, health care, etc., are not available to somebody just because they happened to serve in the armed forces.

You are welcome to check this with anybody on active duty in the armed forces or any recruiter.

The guys living in the tents up Coopers Creek can get a job and work like the rest of us. There are plenty of homeless shelters where they can stay. Most of these so-called "homeless" have relatives. The "homeless" just don't want to live with the relatives, for some reason. I'm sure any restaurant manager would give them a nice free meal if they would just clean up the particular restaurant's parking lot.

I get a kick out of listening to these ads on the radio about organizations that help combat veterans apply for benefits. This is nice but shouldn't existing Veterans Administration or military personnel be doing this? Also, these ads imply that the combat veteran or family are too stupid to know what to do. Is it that complicated?

Why is it?

Of course, these organizations want your donations.

Bottom line: It's time to grow up, be a man, and get a job.

[Lester]

Might want to fact check that assertion about veterans status. It's wrong.

Your veterans benefits may sometimes vary based on conflict, but 6 months of active duty time and an honorable discharge is all that's required.

[CoolBreeze]

I was wondering about that myself. Figured he knew... as he's a Vet.

[Lester]

Maybe he is, maybe he isn't.

For example, you are not a veteran for national guard or reserves until you A) Retire with 20 years of service or B) perform 6 months of active duty service (as in: deployed). If you are a member of the National Guard for 6 years, and managed to skirt any deployments to the middle east, you are not a veteran and do not receive any veteran's status.

[genlock]

Lester is correct about Reserve and National Guard.
ANACDUTRA and ACDUTRA do not count as active service.
That's basic training, advanced individual training (MOS school) and annual training (summer camp).
I think only Presidential Activations are counted. I do not think flood duty counts.

[Lester]

I think only Presidential Activations are counted. I do not think flood duty counts.

Correct. Only Title 10 orders (Federal activation) apply. And it must be 180 days of consecutive activation. It does not accumulate.