As it stands today, any veteran wishing to become a pilot using their GI Bill has one significant hurdle to overcome: Their Private Pilot's License. The following information is from the VA education benefits website:

Can I use the GI Bill to pay for flight training?
You may be eligible for flight training benefits if you meet all of these requirements.

All of these must be true:

You qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill, and
You have a private pilot’s license, and
You have a second-class medical certificate valid for second-class privileges—or a first-class medical certificate if you want to pursue the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate
Note: You can’t qualify for flight training benefits through Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA).

When I asked a VA representative about why a veteran would have to pay for their private pilot's license in order to pursue flight training with the VA, the paraphrased answer I was given was "the VA doesn't want to pay for people to get their private pilot's license, stop there, and use it as a hobby." They want any education benefits to be pertinent towards their career.

I have some questions:

1. What if I already have my career and no longer require anymore education to achieve those career goals? Do I just not get to use my benefits I earned now?

2. If I earned the education benefits by fighting in a war overseas, why is it the government's business if I decide to use those benefits for personal fulfillment rather than career development?

3. What about scuba diving certifications? The VA will pay for me to get my dive cert and I don't need to use that towards my career.

4. How can you expect veterans to shell out around $10,000 in order to use their benefits towards a career in aviation? There are no other careers I could find where this was the case. 

Allowing veterans to do what THEY WANT with THEIR BENEFITS seems like common sense to me. We are dealing with a pilot shortage in this country, and have been for a long time now. This would go a long way towards alleviating that problem. On top of that, there apparently is a way to get your PPL with VA benefits AS LONG AS IT IS PART OF A 4 YEAR DEGREE PROGRAM. However, many veterans with leftover education benefits have gone to college, gotten their degree, built a successful career, and now can't give those remaining benefits to any family members. They have no interest in going back to college full time. 

The bottom line: Flight training is a form of education. Aviation is a form of education. Being a pilot is a valuable skill to have in any circumstance. Allowing the Post 9/11 GI Bill to assist a veteran in ALL STAGES of becoming a pilot would eliminate significant financial roadblocks towards a career in aviation. If I can pursue other certifications and training that could be used as a hobby rather than a career, then flight training should be no different.

Congress should vote to REMOVE this requirement immediately and eliminate these arbitrary roadblocks that stand in the way of veterans using benefits THEY FOUGHT FOR AND EARNED to secure an education in aviation.