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Drill-status Air National Guardsmen would have a permanent federal tuition assistance program under bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate last week.
Army Guard soldiers have long had access to federal TA, but the Air Guard has only in recent years been authorized to have even a limited trial program.
The Air Guard Standardizing Tuition Assistance to Unify the Services, or STATUS, Act (S. 3513), sponsored by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., would make every Air Guardsman permanently eligible for TA.
S. 3513 would require the secretary of the Air Force to provide TA to drill-status Air Guardsmen that's consistent with the program that's currently available to Army Guardsmen.
"Our Air National Guard provides invaluable service to communities across the nation, and also performs critical missions alongside their active-duty counterparts," said Hoeven, a 2019 recipient of the NGAUS Harry S. Truman Award, the association’s highest honor.
"With the recruiting challenges facing our military, it’s vital that we have a strong tuition assistance program in place to help our Air Guard attract and retain the best and brightest," Hoeven added.
"All those serving in the Air National Guard deserve access to the educational benefits they deserve so we can continue attracting and retaining elite talent," said Shaheen, a co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus.
NGAUS strongly supports the legislation.
"This bill corrects a long-standing gap in National Guard benefits and will empower our airmen to reach new heights in knowledge and skill," said retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, the association's president. "We thank Senators Hoeven and Shaheen for their efforts and continued support of the National Guard."
The STATUS Act adds to the efforts Hoeven and Shaheen have taken in recent years to provide a TA program for the Air Guard.
In 2020, the two senators helped the Air Guard stand up a federal TA test with the expectation that it would be expanded incrementally until the benefit was available to all drilling Air Guardsmen.
The program has been a success, according to Hoeven and Shaheen, with 974 Air Guardsmen using it in fiscal 2021 and 838 in fiscal 2023.
In October, the two senators wrote Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall a letter requesting the program be made permanent and include at least $4 million in funding in the service's fiscal 2025 budget request.
S. 3513 is Hoeven and Shaheen’s attempt to ensure a federal TA program is established for drill-status Air Guardsmen, one way or another.
— By John Goheen
