Veterans and ROTC programs are experiencing changes as a result of the recent federal shutdown, which began Oct. 1.
Most of the changes are minor, and essential services like tuition and housing benefits remain. Despite this, some transition and career readiness resources for veterans have been suspended, and active-duty service members and students risk missing paychecks or stipends.
Services for veterans and families
For veterans and other students receiving education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, benefits will continue to be processed and delivered, according to a Facebook post from the UA Office of Veteran and Military Affairs.
However, the post provided updates for students receiving Chapter 35 benefits, monthly payments that are given to children and spouses of certain veterans or service members. These students will not need to verify enrollment for the month of September, and payments will be delayed but automatically released.
“Really not much has changed from a student veteran standpoint,” said Jordan Golden, a Marine veteran and a senior majoring in accounting.
VA’s GI Bill hotline is also closed, though Golden said that he has found the hotline “mostly useless” in the past because callers are typically pointed to an online portal. He said automation behind benefits dispersal has helped shield veterans somewhat from the shutdown.
Amid the shutdown, transition program assistance and career counseling will also be paused. Golden said that a VA employee who works in the VMA office with VA’s Chapter 31 Veteran Readiness and Employment program was furloughed as a result of the shutdown.
Blake Schickel, an Army veteran and a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said that since the shutdown, he has been unable to receive certain additional benefits that VA Chapter 31 provides in addition to tuition and housing allowances. He has also been unable to reach his Chapter 31 counselor.
“It’s not the worst thing that could happen,” Schickel said. “But for example, my laptop recently broke, and Chapter 31 benefits offer me the ability to go get a laptop. I can’t go get a laptop because my counselor is not available.”
Instead, Shickel has borrowed a laptop from the Student Veterans Association.
In an email statement, Andrew Newby, director of UA VMA, said the office has been in “continuous communication” with military-affiliated students about the shutdown’s effects, including through social media posts and emails.
“We will continue to share information if we learn of updates,” Newby said.
Army and Air Force ROTC payment delays
The University’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs are still running during the shutdown. Active-duty staff, like other active-duty service members, will not receive pay and will be backpaid for any missed paychecks.
“We’re in a training pipeline here, and you can’t really shut down or stop a training pipeline, because that then has second- and third-order, long-lasting effects,” said Lt. Col. James Lambertsen, commander of the University’s Air Force ROTC detachment.
Active-duty staff will likely miss their Oct. 15 paycheck, Lambertsen said. The roughly 50% of students in the Air Force ROTC program that are on contract may not miss payments, as their stipends come at the end of the month, he added.
Banks like Navy Federal Credit Union and USAA are offering interest-free loans to help active-duty service members during the shutdown. Lambertsen said that he can provide resources for any ROTC active-duty service members who face financial hardship.
“We’re still here. We’re still working, and that’s what the public expects for us, and so that’s what we’ll do,” Lambertsen said.
Schickel said he was “irritated” at service members’ lack of pay.
“They’re like, ‘you’re going to work, you’re going to train, you’re going to deploy, but you’re not going to get paid,’” Schickel said, adding it was a “violation of a good handshake agreement” service members make when sworn in.
Golden, who served during the 35-day shutdown that began in December 2018, said he did not feel the effects much as a service member. Now, he feels much the same, viewing the shutdown as a “waste of time” and a way for politicians to show they were “doing something.”
“It doesn’t matter at this point who gets hurt in between that,” Golden said.
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