This office is located at the Navy Personnel Command, Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tennessee. PERS-311 centrally manages all of GI Bill Programs for the Navy. We maintain liaison with the Department of Veterans Affairs in regard to any policy or legislative action affecting educational benefits. We also are responsible for policy on GI Bill Programs and providing information to Navy active duty and veteran personnel in regard to their educational entitlements.
***NEW*** UPDATED JULY 2023 ***
VERY IMPORTANT: Department of Defense Instruction 1322.16, Montgomery GI Bill Program, which implements Sections 1003 and 1004 of PL 116-315, announced changes to the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) enrollment process. Effective 5 January 2023, eligible active-duty members are no longer automatically enrolled in MGIB during their first two weeks of initial entry training. Please see below:
Effective 5 January 2023, new accessions have a 90-day period in which to elect enrollment or dis-enrollment from the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB).
• The 90-day election period begins after the Sailor’s 180th day on active duty.
• Sailors will be counseled on the MGIB Program at least once within 270 days of active duty and have until their 270th day to dis-enroll. If a Sailor does not dis-enroll, their status in the program will default to “enrolled” effective on the 271st day.
• If no action was taken to disenroll from the MGIB program, the basic pay reduction of $100 per month for 12 months will begin the month following the 271st day after the date the Sailor initially entered training.
This process heavily involves command participation in ensuring members are accurately counseled and provided the opportunity to opt out of MGIB enrollment, if desired, within the allotted timeframe.
MGIB counseling and disenrollment guidance can be found here.
For information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), click here:
TEB Obligation End Dates:
Members who currently have an obligation for transferring their Post-9/11 GI Bill to their dependents, who request separation or retirement prior to their Obligation End Date (OED), will have to revoke all benefits from dependents and relinquish transferability. Member will then be required to upload a screenshot of the revocation from the milConnect site in order to continue processing the separation/retirement request. If any dependent has used ANY months of entitlement, the member will NOT be able to separate or retire prior to the completion of the OED. There are currently no waivers for this requirement.
Members going from one Navy component to another (Active to SELRES or SELRES to Active) will be required to upload a copy of their resignation letter (officers) and check the block regarding transitioning from one Navy component to another). Member CANNOT take their obligation to another branch of service at this time.
***Enlisted members who were authorized to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their dependents between 6/21/19 and 7/11/19 without having the required time on a contract are responsible for understanding their OED and must incur sufficient obligated service (OBLISERV) to ensure they remain on active duty or in the Selected Reserve to meet or exceed their (OED).
Important changes IRT Transfer of Education Benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill below:
***Any policy changes to the TEB process do not effect members who already have an approved TEB request***
Effective 1 October 2018, ALL members (officers AND enlisted) requesting Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) are required to complete a statement of understanding (SOU) in the My Education website BEFORE submitting a TEB request. To date, the number one reason for TEB rejections is due to failure to complete the SOU. Please read and follow the guidance in the milConnect “Message from Your Service Component” (the large paragraph to the right of your name and rank once logged into the TEB portal) in order to secure a TEB approval. If your request was previously rejected due to a missing SOU, you MUST resubmit your TEB request after completing the SOU. **THE SOU CAN ONLY BE SUBMITTED ONCE IN A CAREER AND IS NOT REQUIRED FOR MEMBERS WHO ALREADY HAVE AN APPROVED TEB REQUEST**
Step-by-step guide on how to complete SOU
Four-year retainability:
Effective 7/12/19, all members MUST be retainable for four additional years in order to transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to dependents. The Exception to Policy (ETP) outlined in NAVADMIN 020/19 has expired. Members who are no longer retainable for four additional years due to High Year Tenure, Statutory Limit, or medical separation, etc., who did not secure an approved TEB request prior to 7/12/19 are no longer eligible for transferability. This is based on DoD policy (DoDI 1341.13) and there are no waivers or exceptions to this policy regardless of rank or how many years a member has been in the Navy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Post-9/11 GI Bill and Transferability: click here.
MyNavy Education Website to complete the required Statement of Understanding
DoDI 1341.13, Post 9/11 GI Bill
DoD Q&A: click here
Transfer of Education of Post-9/11 GI Bill Briefing Card and Q&A: click here
GI Bill Education Benefits Programs Instruction
BUPERSINST 1780.1A