For military veterans who hope to continue their education after leaving active duty, as well as for those who were disabled while serving, the Veterans Administration offers a variety of vocational rehabilitation, employment, and educational benefits to make higher education and job training possible.

Putting the GI Bill to use
On the campus of Worchester Polytechnic Institute in central Massachusetts, Peter Moore is one of 2,800 undergraduates enrolled in this premier, small university rooted in the study of engineering and science. What makes Moore unique among his classmates is not the fact that he is an aerospace engineering major with an associate’s degree already to his credit, but rather that he is the only undergraduate on the entire campus in a wheelchair. As a disabled Navy veteran, Peter Moore is also one of only a few undergraduates whose enrollment is partially made possible through the Montgomery GI Bill.

“The GI Bill was one of the main reasons I enlisted in the Navy in the first place,” explained Peter Moore, 27. “It was my plan to take advantage of the Bill and go to school all along. What I didn’t anticipate was that I would be doing it in a wheelchair.”

Peter Moore sustained a spinal cord injury at the T-4 level in a motorcycle accident in 2003 shortly after being discharged from the Navy where he served for four years on a submarine. When his injury occurred, he had been in college for less than a month. After completing his spinal cord injury rehabilitation, Moore earned his associate’s degree from Quinsigamond Community College before enrolling at WPI as a junior. He hopes to graduate in 2009.

The Montgomery GI Bill is an educational benefit that may be used while the service member is on active duty or after separation from active duty with a fully honorable military discharge. Eligibility generally expires 10 years after the service member’s discharge. All participants must have a high school diploma, equivalency certificate, or completed 12 hours towards a college degree before applying for benefits.

Not only does Moore believe that the GI Bill is making college possible, he also credits it for making his lifestyle more accommodating. “Getting injured caused me to lose a year of school and look more closely at my major,” he explained. “After school, I’d like to go to work for an aerospace company in some space capacity. The discipline I learned in the military has helped me deal with my injury and balance my workload better. Since it is tricky for me to go to school and have a job to help cover costs, the GI Bill helps me with my cost-of-living expenses.”

Vocational rehabilitation in action
Meanwhile, just outside of Boston Thom Reid, a C6 quadriplegic, is attending classes at the University of Massachusetts at Boston for his bachelor’s degree. A U.S. Army veteran who was injured in December 1990 while serving at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Reid is enrolled in the VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program.

He hopes to become a writer and a teacher after earning his degree. “College is the place I’d like to be,” said Thom Reid. “I want to teach people who want to be there,” he added.

The VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program assists veterans who have service-connected disabilities with obtaining and maintaining suitable employment. Through this program, VA pays the cost of all approved training including on-the-job training, work-experience programs, and two- or four-year college or technical programs. Other benefits might include supportive rehabilitation and counseling, assistance with résumé writing and an evaluation of interests, aptitudes, and abilities.

Reid believes that the VA works hard to make this program flexible for each veteran. “The VA has worked with me to make the program what I want and need. They have been flexible with me over the years and followed me on my change in course,” Reid explained. “They took into account a few medical conditions that came up; when I needed to reduce my course load and change classes, it wasn’t a problem.”

Reid noted that the VA bought him first a desktop computer than a laptop when it became necessary to make the change.

To learn more about eligibility for both the GI Bill and the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program, please visit your local VA Regional Service Office or check out http://www.va.gov/.