Additionally, long-serving reservists and Guard members no longer have to worry about whether or not they can officially call themselves “veterans,” but instead accept this gesture as confirmation of how important their roles have been in global conflicts for decades. While there is no financial benefit associated with this change – retired Guard members would already be collecting their reserve component retirement benefits after 20 years of service – many feel this change exhibits the government’s understanding of and appreciation for the role that Nation Guard members and reservists play in supporting the larger infrastructure of the U.S. One measure included in the bill changed the guidelines for who could be officially called a “veteran,” expanding the government’s definition to include Guard and Reservists who have honorably served for at least 20 years. Armed Forces, and yet not be entitled to call oneself a veteran.Īll this changed at the end of 2016, when President Barack Obama signed into law the Miller-Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Act, a bill aimed at improving veterans’ access to health care, disability benefits, education, and homelessness assistance, among other important benefits for U.S. It was understandably strange to have dedicated so much of one’s life to the U.S. Regardless of how much time you devoted to honorably supporting the Armed Forces, how many hours of training or deployments they experienced, there always remained a delineation line between full-time soldiers and reservists.įor many reservists, this felt like a bit of a slight, since they had willingly volunteered countless hours of their lives to prepare to serve if needed, to fill any empty roles left when full-time servicemen and women were deployed, and to basically complete any task asked of them. Up until recently – December 2016 to be exact – they couldn’t officially call themselves “veterans” unless they had served at least 180 days of active duty on federal orders. But for millions of retired National Guard members and Army Reservists, it is a matter of great honor. How do you define a veteran? It’s a question many of us probably never considered.
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