Iowa National Guard Reduces Tuition Assistance Program: This Injury is Personal and Un-American
Iowa’s finest enter the Iowa National Guard first and foremost out of patriotic duty, honor, and legacy. While most Iowans would prefer to conveniently stay home with their families and jobs while keeping out of harm’s way, Iowa Guard Members signed up for the most grueling and challenging test they could put their bodies, their minds, and their families through. Iowa Guard Member would not have it any other way; for Iowa Guard Members, it would have been easier to join the Guard and risk their most prized possession–their own life–than to stay on the sidelines at home.
These brave men and women did not do this for money. They did not do this for glory. They did not do this for attention. They did it for love of country, knowing that they might not come back to their loved ones, and that even if they did return, that there was a good chance that they would come back with less than full body or mind.
No amount of compensation or treasure could ever reward these Iowa National Guard members for their sacrifice; no amount of appreciation could ever adequately convey nor repay the state or the nation’s debt of gratitude to these brave men and women.
The State of Iowa in 1998 enacted the National Guard Education Assistance Program in which Iowa Guard Members were to receive a stipend to cover 90% of the cost of their education.
Because the Iowa legislature has not adequately funded this program, the Iowa National Guard was left no alternative but to recently reduce the 90% stipend to 50%.
So while Iowa Guard members enlisted out of honor and legacy and not for any compensation which could be paid in this lifetime, Iowans made the decision to provide these guard members with a small token of their appreciation by providing each guard member with a 90% education stipend, much in the same way the United States offered the GI Bill following World War II. In essence, the people of Iowa have entered into a social contract–and even a legal one–with guard members: Enlist in the guard, and we’ll cover 90% of your education.
This is not charity. This is not welfare. These benefits were already earned by (and owed to) the Iowa Guard. Iowa contractually owes this to these Iowa Guard members and how dare the State Legislature put Iowa’s finest men and women in the position of having to suddenly come up with tuition money when the second semester starts in a couple weeks.
Write and call your state legislators. Let the state and national media assembled for the Iowa Caucuses know what is happening. Let the members of the Iowa Guard know that the state legislature is not doing this in the name of Iowans. It is ironic that many of the state legislators on both sides of the aisle have received campaign donations from the big business that have profited from these wars (while staying comfortably at home counting their profits) while at the same time, the state legislators could not find it in their hearts (or in the budget) to pay the 90% educational stipend to those men and women who actually fought the wars abroad and earned the stipend.
This is not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing; its an American thing. Just fix it. Now.
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