The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a decorated veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq after a lengthy legal battle with the government regarding 12 months of G.I. Bill educational benefits. Retired Lt. Col. Elizabeth Kubala, teaching professor and executive director of Syracuse University College of Law’s Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic, shared her thoughts below on the decision. If you’d like to schedule an interview with her, please reach out to Vanessa Marquette, media relations specialist, at vrmarque@syr.edu.
Kubala writes: “Here at Syracuse University, we pride ourselves on being the “Best Place for Veterans,” especially when it comes to Syracuse’s support to veterans who utilize their VA Education Benefits to pursue their educational goals. Today, the Supreme Court ruled that an Army Veteran may use educational benefits that he earned under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The decision is a win for Veterans and allows them to receive the full extent of the benefits they earned. No veteran should be penalized for their continued service by having to choose one benefit when they earned two. Here at the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal clinic we have cases involving education benefits and I’m thrilled to see the Court find that service members who accrue these benefits may use them as they choose.”
