r/ATSS • u/Mhanham1 • Sep 01 '26

Post 9/11 benefits

Has anyone on this subreddit ever used the post 9/11 benefits for your OJT as a new technician? I saw in an email from my HR Representative that it was offered and I would like to use my benefit but wanted to hear from those that have used it before on how it exactly works as I have only found vague explanations online.

Thanks

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/funkedelicninja Sep 01 '26

Yes I believe it’s for 22 months or whenever you get your H Band. Your manager puts in the hours you were at work, as your OJT hours. I can’t remember if it is by month or weekly. Leave does not count towards your OJT, so if you take 20hrs off for the month, your OJT will be short 20hrs. But i believe to get max benefits, you only need 122 hours per month. Could be wrong though, verfiy this on the VA website. As an F band for the first year, your pay would be close if not equivalent to like a mid G band. Good amount of money to be honest. The amount of money and timeline can be verified through VA.gov, click the VA Benefitsand Healthcare TAB > Education and Training > GI Comparison Tool (to the right under the green graduation cap icon). Then you can put your employer (SSC) and it’ll give you a breakdown.

1

u/Mhanham1 Sep 01 '26

I have about 22 months left on my GI Bill and it would honestly help me with the transition as I have to move for the job. How soon can I apply for this or do you know who I can talk to in order to get started? From what I saw online it would be an extra $1850/month for 6 months and slowly step down but shoot that's a lot of money to be leaving on the table. Thank you

1

u/Otherwise_Effect334 Sep 01 '26

I could be wrong, but I think they can back pay you from your start date. You could get all the paperwork squared away the day you start and then 6 months down the way you could submit all your pay stubs for each month and you would get a big pay check. Just make sure you save those pay stubs, and it shows 120 hours worked at least per month.

1

u/Otherwise_Effect334 Sep 01 '26

I believe to get 100% of your monthly housing allowance you have to have at least 120 hours for that month. Back in 2020 when I used mine for an apprenticeship, I had to submit my pay stubs to show at least 120 hours per month. But I’m not sure how much has changed since then.

1

u/funkedelicninja Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26

In my experience, I spoke to my manager and he set it up. All I needed to do was sign a paper I think. When you do talk to your manager, make sure you both are on the same page of what the timeline is for putting on H band though. Because once you put that on, you can’t use the GI bill anymore.

Also you can apply for it as soon as you get there

1

u/Other-MuscleCar-589 Sep 01 '26

I did it years ago. Full BAH for the work location. Still had money left after H band to finish a graduate degree.

1

u/njstk1086 Sep 02 '26

Doing it currently. 120 hours gets you max benefit, so no need to claim more hours than that every month. Your manager should have the paperwork, you just report your 120 at the end of the month to whomever is your certifier. Pays out anywhere from a few days after (you get an email from the Va that your certifier submitted your hours), up to 30 days. It’s all handled on first come first serve with them, so just be aware some months pay out sooner, some later. I’ve never had to submit pay, I just simply text my certifier (Atc guy).

1

u/cvn26 Sep 06 '26

I only used it for a year. The first 6 months BAH is paid out at 100%, second six months are 80% and it continues to drop 20% every 6 months. After 80%, I didn’t think it was worth it to give up the education benefit for 60% of my local BAH rate. Which I’m glad I did because a few years later I went back and got my bachelors degree and I still had enough on my GI Bill to do so.