by Michael Skinner

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: August 01, 2009

Since the GI bill is a program used by thousands of veterans, you can get information about the GI bill on the official government website: http://www.gibill.va.gov/. One thing to note here is the last three letters on the URL of the main site: namely gov. This is an indicator that the site is an official government site. Never trust a site that claims to be an official government site unless it has a government Internet designation like .mil or .gov. .Net and .Com are commercial designations and such sites should only make claims that can be made by non governmental entities.

On the government GI Bill site you can look up the current benefits and look at the procedures for applying for benefits. There are question and answer links as well as links that will give you information on how to contact agencies of the federal government.

The website tells you the next period for payment processing and displays details about how much money you could get for which period as well as what the money can be spent on.

One of the more useful things on the site is information on how to request archived copies of military records. Retirees from the military are familiar with the form DD214 which is a document concerning the retirement of military personnel. If a military member has lost this document, or misplaced it or if it was destroyed then getting the military benefits to which he is entitled could be much more difficult. This website lets a retiree know step by step how to replace the DD214.

On this government website you may apply for your GI benefits online via this page: http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp

The site has advanced search capabilities that allow a retiree to search the website by Title, Subject, Keywords and URL.

The website contains information on how a veteran can apply for health benefits. You can apply for a job using a drop-down menu and hyperlinks. You can also look into the vocational training that can be supported by the GI bill.

Other services are links for contractors interested in business opportunities, statistical information about how the Department of Veterans affairs spends money as well as information on the impact of government stimulus money on the VA.

Any large educational institution will have a person or a department dedicated to prying cash out of the government. A wise veteran would either search these folks out online or walk into the administrative offices of the educational institution of your choice and ask to see the veteran's affairs counselor. If the institution does not have someone skilled and knowledgeable about how the university can get and spend GI Bill money on your behalf, do an about face and get out of there. They are not nearly smart enough to educate you. In these difficult times, government funding may be the only game in town. Any place that claims to educate people but does not have this basic knowledge is too stupid to live.

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