Lawmakers are taking another look at updating the veterans education assistance bill, with an eye toward equality for reservists. “The Montgomery GI Bill, as good as it is, does not reflect the realities facing today’s servicemembers, especially in the Guard and Reserve,” said Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Buyer added, “We must modernize the GI bill.” At a committee budget hearing earlier this month, he cited the efforts of a group of veterans organizations, jointly called the Partnership for Veterans Education. The partnership plan—Total Force MGIB—would, among other things, consolidate active and reserve programs under the VA.
House lawmakers are moving to keep the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail development program alive after the Pentagon announced plans to wind it down in the coming years.