At the time, the Pentagon was telling National Guard and Reserve members that they would lose eligibility for continued GI Bill benefits once they stopped drilling - a policy that differed from the Department of Veteran's Affairs interpretation of the eligibility laws.

The problem stemmed from a Pentagon misinterpretation of the Reserve Education Assistance Program laws. Also known as REAP, this GI Bill program makes Guard and Reserve troops returning from combat service eligible for education payments similar to active duty troops.

Through discussions with VA officials, National Association of Veterans Program Administrators president Jack Mordente discovered that REAP recipients are eligible to revert back to the original Reserve GI Bill - known as MGIB-SR - upon discharge from paid drill status. This allows such troops to use their MGIB-SR entitlement for the number of months they were activated, plus four additional months. Mordente also found that multiple periods of activation could be added together to increase the extension.

"State and unit-level military leaders and school veterans' counselors don't know the facts because the VA and the Department of Defense have not made the legal rights of these war veterans widely known," Mordente said. Mordente's efforts helped bring the issue to light and prompted the VA to change its website to reflect the correct information. However, the Pentagon was steadfast in their interpretation of the law, leading Selected Reserve members to believe they lost GI Bill benefits when they stopped drilling.

Military.com has learned that on February 15, Tom Bush, DoD General Counsel, stated that the DoD now concurs with the VA's interpretation the MGIB-SR extension rules. In addition Keith Wilson, Director of Benefits for the VA, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on February 27 that "there is no current disagreement" between the Pentagon and the VA's interpretation of the policy.

It is still unclear if Defense officials plan to contact the thousands of veterans who lost their benefits as a result of the Pentagon error.

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