That's not quite right. If you have 10 years and cannot, due to statute or service regulations, obligate for another 10
(4?) years, then you must obligate for the max time allowed. If you have 10 years and can obligate for another 4, then you must.
#1 Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces on the date of election and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election.
or
#2 Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or selected reserve) on the date of election, is precluded by either standard policy (service or DoD)
or statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute,
I recall reading that same verbiage, in a NAVADMIN I think, and while I wasn't sure if I read it correctly it just doesn't sound right. From my initial understanding if you were entitled to benefits under the post 9/11 GI Bill and you had either served, or obligated yourself to, 10 yrs then you could transfer the bennies to your family. From that policy it sounds as though even if you have already done the full 10 yrs you have to commit to another four in order to make the swap. I hope I'm reading it wrong.
While it may be a "good" way of squeezing a few extra years out of someone who was on the fence, it sounds like its going to really screw some guys who may not be clear on the rules and don't plan ahead. In my personal situation, I have been in almost 11 yrs and just submitted the paper work for a bonus that will keep me in until my 16-17 year mark (a large part of which will be a concurrent payback for grad school). At this point I'm going to do 20, no question. However, if I fail to plan ahead and make the transfer at my 16 yr point, it sounds as though I may owe uncle some extra time if I want to transfer the bennies to my children.
While I can understand asking for a minimum of a 10 year commitment to qualify for such a generous benefit, I don't see the logic in requiring an extra four years to from the point that you swap them over. Are they really going to charge people 4 years just to sign a page 13?
Man, I thought my phone company sucked trying to charge me a BS activation fee on my new phone. At least with them I could talk to a manager and get the fee waived.