(a)
(1)
(A)
A person who is entitled to educational assistance under section 2142 of this title and who reenlisted in an armed force at any time after the end of the enlistment which established such entitlement may at any time after such reenlistment elect to transfer all or any part of such entitlement to the spouse or dependent child of such person.
(B)
The Secretary of the Navy may authorize a member of the Navy or Marine Corps who is entitled to educational assistance under section 2142 of this title and whose enlistment that established such entitlement was the member’s second reenlistment as a member of the armed forces to transfer all or part of such entitlement to the spouse or dependent child of such member after the completion of four years of active service of that second reenlistment if that reenlistment was for a period of at least six years.
(2)
If a person described in paragraph (1) dies before making an election authorized by such paragraph but has never made an election not to transfer such entitlement, any unused entitlement of such person shall be automatically transferred to such person’s surviving spouse or (if there is no eligible surviving spouse) to such person’s dependent children. A surviving spouse to whom entitlement to educational assistance is transferred under this paragraph may elect to transfer such entitlement to the dependent children of the person whose service established such entitlement.
(b)
A spouse or surviving spouse or a dependent child to whom entitlement is transferred under subsection (a) is entitled to educational assistance under this chapter in the same manner and at the same rate as the person from whom the entitlement was transferred.
(c)
The total amount of educational assistance available to a person entitled to educational assistance under section 2142 of this title and to the person’s spouse, surviving spouse, and dependent children is the amount of educational assistance to which the person is entitled. If more than one person is being provided educational assistance for the same period by virtue of the entitlement of the same person, the subsistence allowance authorized by section 2144 of this title shall be divided in such manner as the person may specify or (if the person fails to specify) as the Secretary concerned may prescribe.
(d) In this section:
(1)
The term “dependent child” has the meaning given the term “dependent” in section 1072(2)(D) of this title.
(Added Pub. L. 96–342, title IX, § 901(a), Sept. 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1113; amended Pub. L. 97–22, § 10(b)(3), July 10, 1981, 95 Stat. 137; Pub. L. 99–145, title VI, § 673, Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 664; Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XII, § 1231(17), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1161.)