MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
The U.S. military's decision to suspend tuition
assistance that thousands of active-duty service members rely on to pay for
college classes was a
blow most military men and women didn't see coming. This is especially troubling as the
promise of tuition assistance for many in the military was an important element
in their consideration to serve our country. These
tuition assistance programs pay up to $250 per semester hour for active duty
personnel, or as much as $4,500 per year.
Military.com reports
$373 million is being cut from the 201,000 Army soldiers taking advantage of
the program. An additional $47 million is being cut from the 29,000 Marine
personnel using the program. The Coast Guard
and Air Force announced their cuts last week, though the amount of those
respective cuts was not immediately available. All told, the amount reduced from military tuition
assistance program will likely land around $500 million dollars.
I went
looking for areas to fill this gap and quickly landed on U.S. foreign aid. Just a thought, but I wonder if a reduction
in spending abroad ever came up during the debates in Washington. Last year
alone we gave Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan (the top three countries to
receive U.S. aid) $7.5 billion dollars. Why don't we "Sequester" this foreign
expense and give our own country some "aid" and carve out $500 million and not
break the promise made to our military.
Let's pay ourselves first this time around.
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