Seth Topliff, a University of Idaho student and United States Air Force veteran, said veterans who attend UI are proud to serve and proud to be Vandals because the Office of Veterans Affairs and the UI Veterans Center both work to help military students succeed. “They spoil me,” Topliff said. “The school and the professors here really want veterans and students to succeed.”
Topliff served in the U.S. Air Force as a crew chief before attending UI, serving in the UK and certain parts of Africa. After his honorable discharge from the air force, he decided to become a Vandal and now studies mechanical engineering.
“I decided to go to college after watching my family come here, and it was a dream of mine to get a degree,” Topliff said.
Topliff is one of 296 students at UI who use veteran benefits and resources, said Scott Oplinger, UI assistant veterans adviser.
Oplinger said students who receive the educational benefits can be veterans, active duty or the dependents — children and spouses — of a veteran. He said this fall 105 new students started using the benefits.
Topliff said he is receiving support from his earned GI Bill, Disability Support Services and other resources such as the POLYA lab and engineering tutoring from UI.
“I left the military 70 percent disabled,” Topliff said. “So for me I use DSS … and it’s a big thing, it’s very helpful for me with studying, taking tests … with my disabilities it’s hard for me to sit in a big classroom and take a test … so they sit me in a quiet room where I can focus on my test and my test only.”
Oplinger said there is a range of different benefits for veterans and dependents.
Dan Button, veterans adviser, said even though the GI Bill is what both Button and Oplinger mostly handle, the Veterans Assistance Office and Veterans Center have lots of resources for veterans and dependents.
“All of our veterans, all of our combat veterans for sure, are a reflection of our general population of veterans that served 11 now going on 12 years in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Button said. “As many as 20 percent of our combat veterans suffer some type of PTS or PTSD. We don’t specifically screen for it or track it here … but we are alert to any symptoms or struggles a veteran may exhibit and offer referral assistance at the first hint of trouble, often to our own UI Counseling and Testing Center.”
Button said he and Oplinger like to have a general conversation with new student veterans about when and where they served, whether they are a combat veteran and a general frame of reference if they are carrying any disability, as a result of their service.
Veterans who come to UI with a disability due to service have numerous educational resources available to them including DSS and Operation Education — a unique scholarship program created and operated by UI since 2007.
“We’ve only had 19 recipients since 2007,” Button said.
Button said the criteria for Operation Education is mostly geared toward a veteran’s physical disabilities and that physical disabilities include traumatic brain injury. Any students who are disabled due to military service should go to the Veterans Center and talk to either Oplinger or Button about benefits they may be eligible to receive.
“What we do here is that we are a safe office that they can come to,” Button said. “They can discuss questions, concerns or challenges they are facing, while coming back to the civilian world in general or in this higher education environment.”
Button said the U.S. has offered the GI Bill to veterans since WWII, but for the first time ever since 9/11, the GI Bill allows career service members, while still on active duty, to transfer their GI Bill to their children and spouses. These members can also split the benefits however they want to help their personal situation with their family, Button said.
“That’s really important” Button said. “A lot of people who went to war after 9/11 might not use the bill, but their family who supported them and paid a price may be able to go. “It’s a great way for our country to show gratitude for the many sacrifices of not only the service member, but their family as well.”
Oplinger said the GI Bill education benefit payments total about $2 million per semester to UI and the surrounding community. These payments vary from veteran to veteran but are provided to offset the cost of attending college including tuition, fees, textbooks, food, rent and utilities, Button said.
Topliff said that most recipients who use 100 percent of their GI Bill benefits have $966 a month for cost of living.
“One of the best things about the post 9/11 GI Bill is that it covers the cost of SHIP,” Topliff said.
Topliff said he is grateful for both Button and Oplinger, and all the resources and help they provide to veterans like him.
Topliff said UI is one of the best when working with their military members, which has given him a lot of school pride.
Topliff said he recommends that if a student can qualify for these benefits or can use these resources, then they should tap into them.
“When you start looking at the cost of school and what you have to give to succeed, then you see that what the VA offers is so awesome. They don’t want to see you fail,” Topliff said.
Both Button and Oplinger have served in the military and attended college, and Button explained how difficult it can be to transition from military service to being a civilian.
“Veterans come out of what is arguably what is the most highly structured, disciplined, accountable environment that they’ll ever operate in to what is arguably the loosest, least structured and least accountable, at least in contrast, environment that will that they’ll ever operate in, the college environment,” Button said.
Button said many military students make the transition easily, but some struggle a bit to make that transition back into the academic environment.
“There is no one is specifically looking out for them or holding them accountable like in the military,” Button said. “We try to provide our veterans, through the Veterans Center, a place where they can come and ask any questions they have.”
Danielle Wiley can be reached at [email protected]