National Guardsmen mobilized on homeland security missions since the 2001 terrorist attacks would have that service credited toward earning Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits under a bill introduced Thursday in the House of Representatives.The National Guard Education Equality Act, HR 3554, would fix what its chief sponsor calls a “technical glitch” in GI Bill eligibility rules that provides no credit for instances when a National Guard member is called to active duty for homeland security roles.As a result, Guard members mobilized for border security, security at airports immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S. airspace protection, counterdrug missions and responses to natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, receive no credit toward the education benefit.Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, the chief sponsor, estimates that 30,000 National Guard members would be able to use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits if full credit were provided. His bill has 22 cosponsors.“The benefits under the landmark Post-9/11 GI Bill are a reflection of our gratitude to those who have served our country since the 9/11 attacks and will help make this generation of veterans part of our nation’s economic recovery,” Loebsack said in a statement. “Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, over 30,000 members of the National Guard are not receiving the benefits that they have earned.”Congressional aides who helped write the Post-9/11 GI Bill legislation said the lack of credit for what is known as Title 32 mobilization, after the pertinent section of the U.S. Cocde, was not was not a technical oversight but a decision based on the precedent of how other defense-related benefits are awarded.The fact that several important veterans groups — including the American Legion, Veterans of foreign Wars, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — support the measure makes it likely to get a close review, aides said. The National Guard Association of the United States and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States also endorse the bill.The bill was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has been collecting ideas for changes in the new veterans education benefit but is not expected to pass new GI Bill-related legislation until next year.