Speak Out: What Do You Think About the DoD Cutting Tuition Assistance?

Military.com recently highlighted one effect of the much talked about sequestration -- the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard will no longer offer tuition assistance. (The GI Bill is still in effect, however.)

The government will save around $6 million a year, while over 300,000 servicemen and women could be affected. Those who already receive tuition assistance will be able to keep it, but no additional applications will be accepted. 

"I used tuition assistance when I was in and probably would not have a degree without it," Sgt. Christopher Diaz, director of South Gwinnett High's JROTC program, told Snellville Patch. "This is so unfair to our military members currently serving. They defend our freedoms and this is the thanks they get. I think it is just an attack against conservatives because they are always there to protect our military members."

Other Patch readers commented on Facebook, saying that "our leaders have betrayed this great nation. They have completely forgotten what it means to serve," and "I think every elected official in DC should be impeached."

--Share your thoughts on the cuts to tuition assistance. Do you think this will impact the decision to enlist? Or is it a wise move?

 The American Forces Press Service quoted a Pentagon senior official as calling the cuts a "nightmare scenario." He referred not only to cuts to tuition assistance, but to a 9-10% cut to each line item in their budget. 

“It’s people not flying. It’s ships not steaming. It’s maintenance not being done. … It’s units not being trained to go to war,” said Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. “I think it’s utterly unconscionable to put our people who are so dedicated out there into that kind of position.”

On March 12, Pentagon press secretary George Little said that “the program [tuition assistance] enables the professional and personal development of our service members and facilitates their transition to the civilian workforce.

“Let me be clear," he added. "we’re here because of sequestration. If sequestration were averted, we may be facing a different set of choices on these and other programs.”

While the sequestration forced these cuts to take effect on March 1, the DoD had been talking about reducing tuition assistance since 2011. Increasing demand and the rising price of higher education had put a strain on their budget for a number of years. Chief of Continuing Education Programs, Carolyn Baker said that the growth of the program was "unsustainable."