Veterans, are you using all your benefits?
I separated from the United States Army 20 years ago. Prior to leaving active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I attended TAPS (Transition Assistance Program). At TAPS, I searched monster.com, Career Builder, with hopes of finding a job when I left active duty. The issue was that no one spoke to me about what it meant to becoming a veteran, and what resources were available for me once I left active duty.
Different Levels of Government Benefits
Veterans of the United States armed forces may be eligible for a broad
range of benefits and services provided by the U.S. Federal government. Some veterans are aware of these federal benefits, but what about the other government benefits.
Federal Benefits include:
- Disability claims for the Department of Veteran Affairs
- Veteran preference for Federal employment
- Ability to purchase military time in service and add that your federal agency time in service for retirement.
Outside of the Federal goverment, veterans also have access to state benefits. The type of benefits a veteran receives will be dependent on the state that they are a resident of.
For example in Florida, veterans get the following State Benefits:
- Access to Veteran Nursing homes provided by the state.
- Homestead exemption
- Discount to driver’s license fee
These are just a few, other states may or may not have the same benefits. Please visit Military.com’s Veteran State Benefits checker.
Veterans will also have benefits at the county level, and just like at the state level, your mileage may vary, in other words it depends on where you reside.
For example, here is the site for Harris County, TX Veteran Services site which lists benefits and resources at the county level.
VCSO — Harris County, TX Veteran Services Website
Some benefits and resources that are available for veterans include:
- Completes forms for benefits that may be payable through the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Completes forms and notifies the appropriate branch of service of the death of a retiree
- Informs survivors of procedures regarding military benefits
- Obtains supporting documents for claims by veterans, their spouses and dependents
- Records original discharges (DD214) with the County Clerk’s office
Again what the county/city office can do for you is going to be different from county to county, same for city benefits which will differ from city to city.
Are you a new veteran?
If you recently were released from active duty and are looking for help, reach out to your local operator or VA hospital and they can assist you in getting your benefits setup, and get you situated.
Be mindful that for a lot of veterans, this can be a frustrating process. My recommendation is to just stay calm. The old montage “Hurry Up and Wait”, still exists out here in the civilian sector,.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I will continue add more veteran and doctoral student resources.
Stay Safe,
Will
