Montana Military Family Relief Fund

The Montana Military Family Relief Fund, at Title 10, chapter 1, part 13, makes three kinds of grant to Montana Guard and Reserve members and their families through the Department of Military Affairs. A status-based grant of $250 goes to each family member of a member activated for federal service in a contingency operation for more than 30 days. A needs-based grant of not more than $2,000 goes to a member or family member experiencing a significant emergency that, in the department's discretion, warrants financial assistance. A casualty-based grant of $2,000 goes to a member who, at any time after activation for federal service in a contingency operation, sustained a nonfatal injury in the course of or related to combat as a direct result of hostile action; only one casualty grant is payable for injuries from the same contingency operation. Who counts as a member is set by 10-1-1304(5): a member of the Montana Army or Air National Guard, or a Montana resident in a reserve component who has been on federal active duty in a contingency operation since July 1, 2007. A family member is a person approved as a dependent and enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. DEERS enrollment is the test, not the family relationship. The rank cut-off in 10-1-1306(2) is the condition most likely to disqualify someone and it is easy to read backwards. A member and their family are ineligible for status-based and needs-based grants if the member holds a pay grade of O-4, major or lieutenant commander, or above, or W-4, chief warrant officer 4, or above. Grade is determined at the time of application. Notably the rank bar does not apply to the casualty-based grant, which reaches a major who was wounded. Discharge character can undo a grant after the fact. Section 10-1-1306(1) makes a member ineligible if at any time before the money is disbursed they receive a punitive discharge under the Manual for Courts-Martial or an administrative discharge characterised as other than honorable, and makes the member's family ineligible on the same ground. The casualty grant has its own exclusions: a self-inflicted wound, willful negligence or other misconduct by the member, or an injury sustained when the member was not in an authorized duty status. Every grant is subject to money being available in the account, and awards are made first come, first served with casualty-based grants given top priority. This is a fund rather than an entitlement, and the timing of payment follows the balance.