Our leaders have put into play, via their sequestration rulings, massive cuts in education benefits for our active duty military personnel. The tuition assistance program allows active-duty military personnel to obtain vocational training, college education, and high school equivalency programs on their own time. Consider these points brought up in The Huffington Post on 3/4:
- Each year, active duty members of the U.S. Military, National Guard and Reserves take more than 850,000 college classes while serving our nation.
- Since the end of World War II, the federal government has recognized how essential advanced education has been to providing a strong defense. This has been especially true since the end of the military draft in 1973.
- Our soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors, and Guardsmen know how important educational benefits are. It is one of the reasons they enlist and risk their lives for their nation.
We owe it to our servicemen and women to stop this madness. The military will be downsizing - we already know this, but as pointed out in the same article from The Huffington Post "that means an increasing number of veterans will return to civilian life looking for jobs. And while the number has declined in recent months, veterans still have a higher unemployment rate than the general population. Nothing better predicts how successful veterans will be in finding work than their level of education and professional training."
Please sign our petition to bring education back to our soliders!