I solemnly swear to defend the constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic...

This semester opened not unlike the others. A bit of class shuffling, some text book haggling, and as usual for me (one of Uncle Sam's), the filling out of Army, tuition-assistance paperwork. I am very grateful for this tuition assistance, for it wipes my bursar's slate clean, leaving only zeros and decimals for me to ponder where thousands once appeared.
With this routine building semester upon semester, my surprise was not small to hear that for this semester in particular, my Uncle is not going to pay my tuition. That is, the Army Reserve, funded by our federal government, is not going to wipe my slate clean.


A few quick calls traced the matter back to one man. A man who happens to command my division and who also happens to wear two bright, silver stars upon his collar for the world to see.


Simply stated, there were $4.1 million doll hairs alloted for education in Fiscal Year '05 within my division. I'm told this money ran out sometime in August. This is not the first time a shortage of this kind has happened, though. It happens nearly every year, so I'm told.
In the past, Two Stars has alloted more money for the fund, keeping the little people (like me) content and happy with our tuition paid.
This year, however, there was no additional allotment and thus the tuition assistance, or TA, was in short supply.

It is interesting in all this to think that I made "the oath", thinking all along that these benefits were inherently etched in stone. Apparently I didn't read the fine print that said "We will offer TA no matter what...........(1 point font) as long as funds are available."

So, be careful what you oath for. That's my lesson learned. And read the fine print at all cost. There's always some Tom Foolry about.

Sincerely,

Sgt. Stuart