School aid for military spouses to be reinstated

Posted to: Education Military
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By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 12, 2010

Nearly a month after a popular military spouse tuition assistance program was suddenly halted, it will be reinstated.

On Thursday the Defense Department announced it would resume the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account program for people who were already enrolled.

“We made a commitment to our military spouses when they established a career advancement account and we will be true to our promise,” said Tommy Thomas, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, in a news release.

Though no new applications will be accepted, the 136,583 military spouses already enrolled will be able to receive tuition assistance again starting at noon Saturday.

Alison Messick of Chesapeake said Thursday she was “ecstatic” when she got an e-mail about the decision. Now she’ll be able to register for classes again in May.

Messick was one of about 30 military spouses who crowded into a conference room with U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye in Virginia Beach last month to talk about how the program stopped and what it meant.

“What we did locally really made a difference,” Messick said.

The program was halted Feb. 16 with a notice on its Web site that it was to be reviewed.

Nye said he learned about the program’s stop from a pair of spouses during an event at Oceana Naval Air Station on Feb. 20.

Most of the spouses told him they learned about the stop in a similar manner; no direct notice was sent to participants.

The only explanation of the halt was that there had been a sharp increase in applications. On Thursday, the Defense Department said it was still working to adjust and meet the demands of the program to develop a long-term solution for spouses who want to take advantage of the program.

Nye, who sent letters to Defense, along with members of the Congressional Military Families Caucus, said he will continue to follow the program’s progress to make sure it’s available to other spouses who qualify.

“Military spouses serve our country in profound ways,” he said. “We need to make sure they get the benefits they deserve.”

Lauren King, (757) 446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com

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Education Benefits

Submitted by Magginkat on Sat, 03/13/2010 at 10:20 am.

The women who are married to these men were left to make do with whatever they could get. Often not knowing where the father was or if he would ever come home. These days the case is often reversed with the mother being the one shipped off to fight these illegal wars while the father stays home and hopes for the best.

Let's talk about something with some real dollars wasted, like the ten fighter jets(?) the congress voted to build that not even the greedy military industrial complex wants. I think their estimated cost is about was over 20 BILLION dollars. Now that is waste that will never be recoverable.

A Little more info

Submitted by mikedlong on Sat, 03/13/2010 at 12:33 am.

MyCAA provides up to 6k in money to be used in certification, degrees, training, etc in PORTABLE Career fields. The reason behind the DoD doing this is so when Spouses move with their husbands they have a career field that they can work upon arrival which helps the local and federal economy because you have another member f THAT state that will HAVE to PAY TAXES to that state and the Feds.

If you're doing Underwater Basket Weaving then it is a NO GO. But the fields are listed that the DoD deems portable through use of education and employment stats.

benefits are for those who actually served

Submitted by ricke69229 on Fri, 03/12/2010 at 6:22 pm.

It's abuse of programs like this that eventually leads to benefits drastically reduced or eliminated for the servicemember. I mean what the dickens?! Thought these spouses were making the big SACRIFICE of staying home and raising the children vice? Hopefully this is for wives who have at least been married to a single military memeber at least ten years of his active duty like is required for a percentage of his retirement pay once he/she gets their degree and dumps thier active spouse.
I think in-state tuition rates without having to change their true domicile is benny enuff. Use the rest of the money to give pay raises.

Then you need to read a little more...

Submitted by mikedlong on Fri, 03/12/2010 at 11:18 pm.

the program called MyCAA is a program that I'm enrolled in. And yes it pays UP TO 6000 and no more. Through this program I wil be able to earn a 6 figure salary by the end of this year. And since I have to be a resident of VA even though I'm a spouse VA will get the benefit of my income via State Taxes and the money that I will spend on our home, purchased in VA that we pay VA Property Tax on, and on the property tax on my vehicle since it is registered in VA.

We will be here at least 10 years so VA will reap the benefits of the 6 grand investment in me and then some.

What six figures $000,000?

Submitted by HereWeGoAgain on Sun, 03/14/2010 at 1:55 am.

What six figures $000,000? Castles in the air? Do you know how many highly educated experienced civilians are seeking employment? Your family already has an income aren’t you being a little self centered taking a job from someone who may be losing their home with no funds for necessities? You have to be a resident of VA? Sounds like you would rather live elsewhere.

Actually I would rather be elsewhere but...

Submitted by mikedlong on Sun, 03/14/2010 at 9:30 pm.

...since my daughter has epilepsy that was just diagnosed last year there are only about 3 places the Navy will station us that has the facilities to treat her. One of them is already out and that would be California. So that leaves us with VB area and Jacksonville. Because of my wife's MOS VB is the winner.

And since you don't know me or what I do you cannot fathom how much I make as it is. I will tell you that with a Clearance I'm already worth a good deal to the company I work for. And through this program I will be worth more and conversely, VA gets to tax me at a higher income bracket.