VT Guard alone in Northeast without free tuition for members
COLCHESTER - There was little question Micah Paroline would join the military. Members of his family have served their country for generations, and Paroline, of Essex, would continue that tradition.
He joined the Junior Air Force ROTC at Essex High School and began to plan with his buddies where they eventually would serve.
Most of those who opted for the National Guard signed up with Massachusetts and New York units, Paroline recalled. Why would Vermonters leave the Green Mountains for Guard service, when the state has its own well-regarded Air and Army National Guard units?
Because National Guard members receive higher education tuition waivers in exchange for their service in every other state in the Northeast — and in 39 U.S. states and territories total. One of the exceptions: Vermont.
"The only reason I stayed in Vermont when looking at the education benefits was for the Mountain Brigade, trying to be part of that particular mission," Paroline, a 23-year-old sergeant, said during a recent interview at the Guard's Colchester headquarters, Camp Johnson.
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Paroline had to weigh whether to join a prestigious unit or receive financial aid so he could go to college. Now, Vermont National Guard leaders are working with state lawmakers so future soldiers and airmen won't face that dilemma.
But the effort is not going smoothly. Measures to provide a full tuition waiver at state colleges and universities received broad support in the Legislature this past session but stalled over concerns about how to pay for them.
The Guard estimates a full education benefit would cost about $750,000 a year to start and eventually climb to about $1 million annually — an increase from the roughly $250,000 yearly appropriation for more limited tuition assistance that's currently available. And the program must be an entitlement, commanders say, so the Guard can promise the benefit.
"We had tripartisan support. We put together a good coalition," said former state Rep. Job Tate, R-Mendon, who sponsored a bill this year that would have created a tuition-waiver program for the Guard. "The money just wasn't there."
Meanwhile, neighboring states tout full education benefits as a key inducement for new recruits, and to retain current members. And that leaves the Vermont Guard at a significant disadvantage, commanders say.
"It makes it more challenging when you're struggling to figure out how you're going to pay for college," said Army National Guard Capt. Brian Williams, Vermont's education services officer.
"You're willing to serve, you want to serve, but if you're looking at New Hampshire or Massachusetts or any of the surrounding states, you're like, 'I can stay in Vermont and maybe get some money, or I can just drive an hour south and be fully covered.'"
That speaks to a larger issue, as well: Vermont political and economic leaders often speak about "brain drain," the departure from the state of young people in search of better opportunities elsewhere. Helping those who want to join the Guard pay for education in Vermont can encourage them to remain in the Green Mountains, said Guard commander Maj. Gen. Steven Cray.
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"We need to offer them some type of a benefit for their service. We can offer them some benefit, but we can't offer a competitive benefit in the form of education," he said. "The state of Vermont needs to offer our young men and women a path to service and to get them an education and hopefully get a job, a good-paying job, raise a family and stay here in Vermont."
The benefit as it stands today provides interested soldiers and airmen with $3,500 to apply toward tuition. In return, Guard members are expected to provide two years of service. If they don't, they have to pay back the money.
At the University of Vermont, for example, full tuition runs about $15,500 a year for in-state students. At the four residential schools of the Vermont State Colleges System — Castleton University, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College and Vermont Tech — the average yearly in-state tuition is $11,400.
Under a full waiver program, the service requirement would remain the same, two years. But the payoff for soldiers and airmen like Paroline would be significant, he said.
'A little piece of freedom'
Once he decided to join the Vermont Guard, Paroline thought he would have to forego higher education. But he began taking free courses offered through Community College of Vermont, he said, and then got a full-time job with the Guard. His income, combined with scholarships and state and federal education benefits such as the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, allowed him to pursue a degree.
He's now a sophomore at St. Michael's College, where he's studying international relations, economics and Russian. Paroline, who works in military intelligence, said he hopes to become a commissioned active-duty officer after he graduates.
Receiving a full tuition waiver, Paroline said, "would be a little piece of freedom" as he works to balance numerous elements of financial aid with his expenses, including tuition, housing, books and more.
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Cray, the adjutant general, said 70-90 soldiers and airmen — out of the Guard's 4,000 members — use the tuition offset currently available. The Guard projects that number would increase to as many as 500 if the full waiver were in place.
"For the money, this is a good investment, a wise investment in Vermont's future," he said.
1st Sgt. Derek Laferriere, 35, is using currently available state and federal tuition assistance as he studies nursing following two tours with the Guard in Iraq as a flight medic. He knows he'll graduate with debt and said he wishes the full waiver were available.
"It would definitely take a little stress off," he said. "I would look at taking more classes."
The benefit in action
This is how neighboring National Guard units view their tuition-waiver programs: "an investment in the future of not only our organization, but our communities," as Connecticut National Guard spokesman Maj. Mike Petersen put it.
He said 550-650 Connecticut Guardsmen and -women take advantage of the tuition waiver annually, from a total of about 5,000 members. "The in-state tuition waiver is a benefit that often serves as the crux of the Connecticut National Guard's recruiting and retention efforts," Petersen said.
In New Hampshire, about 175 of the Army National Guard's 1,600 soldiers use the tuition waiver, said Sgt. 1st Class Brian Gordon, the state retention NCO. He said education assistance not only is one of the main benefits that recruiters push, but also a primary selling point for keeping soldiers in the Guard.
"It's one of the major reasons people stay," Gordon said.
Spc. Christopher Demain is one of those student/soldiers. He's studying business management at Granite State College in Manchester.
"Using the tuition waiver has been a huge help in my studies. It takes away that anchor effect from the stress of, 'Oh my God, I have to pay back my student loans,'" said Demain, who worked in the Guard as a mechanic before recently becoming a recruiter. "I joined for many other reasons, but then I took advantage of the benefits that were offered.
"Literally the only thing I have to worry about is making sure I do my homework on time," he added.
Vermont effort continues
Vermont Guard leaders and lawmakers intend to renew their push for a full tuition waiver during the legislative session that begins in January.
Tate, the former legislator, said the issue is one not only of offering a reward to Guard members that is widely available elsewhere, but increasingly is becoming a necessity to keep the ranks from dwindling.
"We have to talk about what is the mission of the National Guard: to be there at the ready in the case of a national or state emergency. We have a readiness problem," Tate said during a recent interview from Djibouti, where he is on duty as a heavy equipment operator with the Navy Seabees. He resigned his legislative seat when he was deployed earlier this year.
Tate described himself as a fiscally conservative Republican but said investing in a program to benefit the Guard's "big three R's: recruiting, retention and readiness" is a worthy use of taxpayer dollars.
"You tend to think of that as a reward for service," he said, "but in Vermont, being able to have something like that to keep young people living in the state, the best and brightest, people who want to serve — those are the type of people we want to invest in."
The waiver has drawn support, too, from independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a frequent champion of military members and veterans. Asked about the issue by the Burlington Free Press, Sanders said he understands the Vermont Legislature must contend with competing spending priorities and tight budgets.
"That said," Sanders continued, "offering state tuition assistance for National Guard members who attend state colleges would create another path to higher education for Vermonters, strengthen our state college system and help students stay in Vermont after graduating. I strongly believe we must do better as a nation connecting education and employment opportunities, and hope that the Legislature can find a way to address this issue."
The chairwoman of the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs, Rep. Helen Head, D-South Burlington, predicted the measure would find traction again in 2018. She suggested some tweaks, such as providing Guard members a way to use tuition money at in-state private schools, too.
"Given the committee's receptivity to it this year, I suspect an even stronger bill will get our support," she said.
Paroline is hopeful. Like other Guard members who receive the current education benefit, he would be transitioned to the full waiver if it becomes law.
Contact Adam Silverman at 802-660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wej12.