Tenacious? Check. Persistent? Check. Patient? Not so much. Jim Webb Revisits GI Bill

By: Catzmaw
Published On: 2/6/2008 11:45:58 PM

Yesterday I was listening on C-Span to the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the DoD's FY 2009 Budget Request.  Setting aside for a moment my obvious need to get a life I just wanted to point out that while we are all enthralled by one of the most thrilling political races any of us can remember there are still some matters we should address.

During his Senate run Jim Webb repeatedly said that the first thing he would do when he got into office was propose a GI Bill comparable to the one the Greatest Generation got when it returned from WWII.

Yesterday SecDef Gates and Admiral Mullen appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to testify on the DoD's budget request.  When it came time for Senator Webb to ask his questions, he brought up two things.  

More on the flip:  
First, he noted that we are in a "double strategic mousetrap".  He noted that the first part of the mousetrap was our decision to get involved in a war in which we have been burning up all of our people and materiel while our true enemy, terrorism, remains mobile.  The second prong of the mousetrap is that we have been led into "tying up so much of our attention and so much of our budget in one specific spot, while we were ignoring our strategic interests around the world."  Senator Webb rightly points out that these are problems which were avoidable with "proper strategy."  

Second, Senator Webb noted that is question was about the GI Bill.  He pointed out that

We keep talking about these young men and women as the new Greatest Generation, and yet we are having a very difficult time with this Administration, from what I'm hearing from the Department of Defense, getting an agreement that this is something these people have earned.

Senator Webb went on to talk about the unexpected opposition he has seen from the Pentagon:
what I'm hearing from the Pentagon is that it will affect retention.  I'm an old manpower guy, I spent five years in the Pentagon. My view ... is that it will increase the pool of people to be recruited.  That right now we're burning out this one pool we've been going after with all these bonuses.

Senator Webb pointed out that Senator Warner was able to go to W&L Law School on the GI Bill, which would be impossible if he were trying to attend under the current Montgomery GI Bill's terms.  Both Gates and Mullen seemed a bit surprised by the opposition, and both seemed to agree with Webb.  Gates pointed out that he attended Georgetown on the GI Bill after his Air Force service, and Mullen said that "we need to take care of these people from the moment they are recruited for as long as they are in the system" and afterward.  Not only does he not believe that it will affect retention, but he called education a "ticket to the future whether you're in the service or not."  

Webb made a point of calling on the "other side", including Senator McCain, to get the legislation passed, saying that it was not a political issue.  Here's the link if you would like to listen:  Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.  The part with Webb picks up at 1:46:12 on the clip.  

Did I mention how proud I am of our Senator for not letting this go and persisting in his attempt to get some relief for our military?

Comments



Budget not for our troops (Hugo Estrada - 2/7/2008 8:20:40 AM)
One thing that drives me crazy is how the media talks about the military spending as money for "our troops." Our military spending is not money for our troops; it is money for military contractors.

Our soldiers constantly get ignored and treated as secondary by Bush and his enabling congress minority. Why do our soldiers must beg for medical treatment? Why shouldn't they get a decent G.I. Bill? Haven't they given enough of their life that we can pay them back with an education?

Bush must believe that our soldiers live on magnet ribbons and empty rhetoric alone.

Thank God that Senator Webb is there to actually represent them.