Iowa Guard general:  Tuition plan key to recruiting

The Iowa National Guard couldn?t have met its deployment demands without a state program that pays most of the tuition for returning veterans who enroll in college, the general who heads the organization told lawmakers Wednesday.

Maj. Gen Timothy Orr said in his annual speech to the Legislature that Iowa National Guard deployments have been the largest since World War II, and that nearly 15,000 Guard members have been mobilized for overseas assignments recently. The tuition program, he said, was vital to recruiting volunteers.

?Without it, we couldn?t have mustered the necessary personnel to meet all of our overseas and in-state mobilization requirements over the last 15 years,? Orr said.

Demand for the program has soared. During the 2010-2011 school year, just over 800 soldiers returning from deployments took advantage of it, but in the 2011-2012 school year, more than 1,400 people applied for the aid ? outstripping funding for the $3.1 million program, said Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, a Guard spokesman.

The popularity of the program forced the Guard to move ahead with plans to reduce tuition awards from 90 percent to 50 percent for the 2012 spring semester, but Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, introduced a measure that would spend $1.3 million to close that gap.

The Senate unanimously approved the measure Wednesday, and Olson predicted it would quickly be approved by the House and be sent to Gov. Terry Branstad.

?We don?t want any of them to leave school because of this,? said Olson. ?We?re willing to get the bill to the governor?s desk this week.?

Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for Branstad, said the governor supports the tuition program but wouldn?t guarantee Branstad would sign the legislation.

?Obviously, the governor recognizes the importance of this program, as it is one of the few areas of the governor?s budget that saw an increase,? said Albrecht. ?If the Legislature passes additional funding for this program in the current fiscal year, the governor will give serious consideration to the bill.?

Besides providing tuition assistance, Orr said the Guard helps returning veterans with skills such as writing resumes.

?Many of our members come back from deployment and return to what they were doing before they left,? said Orr. ?However some find this transition difficult. Whatever the reason, nearly 10 percent of our returning warriors are looking for work and we have an obligation to help.?

In addition to the overseas deployments, Orr noted that the National Guard was called upon to help with spring and summer flooding along the Missouri River. Guard members helped evacuate hundreds of people and helped watch over and rebuild levees.

?While not our largest response mission, it was by far our longest, lasting more than 100 days,? Orr said.