§16163 Eligibility for Educational Assistance

Summary

Gives educational help to certain reserve members who served on or after September 11, 2001. A member is eligible if they served on active duty supporting a contingency operation for 90 consecutive days or more, or if an Army or Air National Guard member performed full‑time National Guard duty under section 502(f) of title 32 for 90 consecutive days or more when the President or Secretary of Defense ordered it for a national emergency with Federal funds. If a member had to leave before 90 days because of an injury, illness, or disease caused or worsened on duty, they still get assistance at the rate in section 16162(c)(4)(A). Before leaving active service, each eligible member must get a written summary of the program and a clear notice about section 16165. If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs asks, the military Secretary must send a notice of entitlement to that Secretary. A member cannot count the same service under both this program and the program in chapter 30 of title 38; they must make an irrevocable choice in the form the Secretary of Veterans Affairs requires. Also, except for the rule in section 16131(i), a person who is eligible under this program and under chapter 1606, chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, or 35 of title 38, or the Hostage Relief Act of 1980 may not receive benefits from more than one of those programs and must elect which one to use in the form the Secretary of Veterans Affairs prescribes.