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luly 28. 2010
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EDUCATION
S /T R O N
ENLIST IN THE ARMY AND
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Enlistment Bonuses up to:
$40,000 for 6 years
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530,000 for 4 years
$20,000 for 2 years
Up to $65,000 to repay qualifying student loans
Up to $4,500 per year in tuition assistance while serving
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Ron Kincaid helps recently returned soldiers access their educational
benefits during regular office hours at each Portland Community College
campus, including Cascade in north Portland.
High school seniors in the Future Soldier Program can receive up to $1
per month while still In school with the Deferred Enlistment Bonus.
More than 150 career fields to choose from.
Vet Helps with Tuition Benefits
Rose City Army
Center
Goal is college
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I am
Sharing
my culture
‘What sets OSU
apart is the learning
opportunities I have
outside of the classroom.
I teach a Bollywood
dance class on campus,
and I’m happy I can bring
something from my
culture to people who
are really interested.”
Iam
P o w e re d
b y O ra n g e
Neha Neelwarne I Student
College of Business
Mysore, India
Oregon State
U N IV E R S IT Y
oregonstate.edu
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With 3,000 members of the
Oregon National Guard’s infan
try combat team recently returned
from Iraq and eligible for college
tuition under the G.I. Bill, there is
pressure to provide quality edu
cational and benefits services.
This spring, Portland Commu
nity College welcomed Oregon
Department of Veterans’ Affairs’
Ron Kincaid, who is holding regu
lar office hours at each PCC cam
pus, to do just that.
Kincaid, a combat vet in the
first Gulf War, is spending the
first and third Wednesday o f ev
ery month at the Rock Creek
Campus from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.;
and at Sylvania Campus from 8
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the second
and fourth Tuesday o f every
month.
At the Cascade Campus in
north Portland, he is available the
second Thursday of the month
from 8 a.m. to noon and at the
Southeast Center on the third
Thursday, also from 8 a.m. to
noon.
The work is part of Veterans’
Affairs reaching out to local col
leges to help guide veterans as
they enter college. As part of this
outreach, Kincaid also holds of
fice hours at Clackamas, Clatsop,
Columbia Gorge, and Tillamook
Bay community college as well as
Portland State University and Or
egon Health & Science Univer-
sity.
Though he has a home office at
PSU, Kincaid carries a mobile
office a laptop with WiFi and a
phone to the 10 campuses. He
advises veterans on benefits for
education, disability compensa
tion and pensions, health care
benefits, home loans and more.
He also can assist vets in appeal
ing claims that the VA has denied.
“Vets (in college) are so busy,
and many have families, so they
put o ff exploring b en efits,”
Kincaid said.
He has worked with the Or
egon Department of Veterans’
Affairs for 14 yeqrs and his cur
rent position resulted from a 2009
state initiative to place state vet
eran services officers on Oregon’s
college campuses to assist re
turning combat veterans and ac
tive duty personnel. Kincaid
know s w hat they are going
through as he attended PCC in the
1980s and earned an associate’s
degree in construction beforejoin-
ing the U.S. Navy.
“When I came back (from the
Middle East) I didn’t know I had
benefits other than education and
home loans,” Kincaid said. “Deal
ing with benefits while trying to
succeed in college is one of the
biggest challenges facing veter
ans today. The VA is trying to
make it as easy as possible for the
veterans really pulling out all the
stops to help them.”
To make an appointment with
Ron Kincaid, call 503-559-3247,
e-mail kincair@odva.state.or.us
or visit the PCC Veterans' Ser
vices
O ffice
Web
site:
w w w .pcc.edu/vets.