There is a three-tiered service requirement to qualify for incentives under the National Call to Service program:
- First, after completion of initial entry training, individuals must serve on active duty in a military occupational specialty designated by the Secretary of Defense for a period of 15 months.
- After this, and without a break in service, these individuals must serve either an additional period of active duty as determined by the Secretary of Defense, or a period of 24 months in an active status in the Selected Reserve.
After completion of this period of service, and also, without a break in service, the remaining period of obligated service specified in the agreement will be served as follows:
- On active duty in the armed forces
- In the Selected Reserve
- In the Individual Ready Reserve
- In Americorps or another domestic national service program jointly designated by the Secretary of Defense and the head of such a program
Any combination of the service referred to above may also be approved by the Secretary of the military department concerned pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense and specified in the agreement.
Individuals who participate in this new program have a choice of incentives as follows:
- Cash bonus of $5,000
- Repayment of a qualifying student loan not to exceed $18, 000
- Entitlement to allowance equal to the 3-year monthly chapter 30 rate for 12 months ($1,034 effective Oct 1, 2005)
- Entitlement to allowance equal to fifty percent of the less than 3-year monthly chapter 30 rate for 36 months (Fifty percent of $840 effective Oct. 1, 2005)
GI Bill Quick Links
- GI Bill
- The Post-9/11 GI Bill
- GI Bill-Active Duty (MGIB-AD)
- National Call to Service Program
- GI Bill – Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR)
- Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP)
- Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
- Survivors’ and Dependants’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA)
Education Topics of Interest:
- How To Use Veterans Administration Education Benefits
- Veterans Education Benefits: Where to Go and What to Take
- What Do Veterans Need to Remember as They Think About College
- Use Your AARTS To Obtain College Credit
- Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC)