As many of you that read my blog on a regular basis know I am a old veteran and really have a soft spot for our recent vets. In addition many of you may or may not know that I am also the Police Academy Commander at a Police Academy in North Central Florida. Well with that said I got a telephone call this morning that really bothered me and though many of you would find it interesting and maybe a disturbing, like I did.

I was disheartened to get a call from one of my new police recruits and a fellow veteran the morning before his first day of the Police Academy. His name is Timothy B and he was calling me to tell me he had to withdraw from the Police Academy, before it even started. He went on to explain that he was withdrawing because the Veterans Administration Office in Georgia that deals with the GI Bill had told him that he was not going to receive his monthly living expenses and tuition payments for a couple of months because he changed his area of study at College. As Timothy explained it to me, he changed his course of study from getting an AA degree to the Police Academy and because of that, he was not going to get his full allotment of money to pay for food, rent, school and other cost of living expenses. I thought this was what the GI Bill was designed to do?

In Tim’s own words in an e-mail he sent me, and Senator Cliff Stearns, “I have to use this money for uniforms, rent, insurance, books, tuition, food, gas and everything else that is required for myself to attend school and start my career.” The fact that he has to drop out of the Police Academy because the red tape in the VA system fails to keep up with the veterans using it is not only shameful and reflects poorly on the VA, it is hurting the veterans it is supposed to be helping. Maybe they forget that these veterans served them for years, a little help in return is not too much to ask.

I find it amazing that a person sitting in an office in GA can tell a veteran that has earned the GI Bill that they will not be paid, because he is choosing to become a police officer instead of getting an AA degree? Switching your program of study should not in any way cause a veteran to have to drop out of school, move back home with their family and look for other ways to pay bills. That is not what the VA stands for or should be doing to our vets. I am hoping that someone that reads this can help this young man straighten this out. He is not asking for handouts, just what is due him. If anyone can helps straighten this problem out please feel free to post a response and I will put you in touch with Timothy. Our veterans deserve better than this.