Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All South Dakota benefits
otherstate

The Veterans Bonus — Up to $500, and You Can Draw It Twice

A cash bonus of up to $500 for qualifying service in the first Gulf period, and up to $500 again for qualifying service from 1993 onwards. The eligibility test changes shape across four date windows: two of them take any active service, two of them take only medal-qualifying or combat service.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

A cash bonus of up to $500 for qualifying service in the first Gulf period, and up to $500 again for qualifying service from 1993 onwards. The eligibility test changes shape across four date windows: two of them take any active service, two of them take only medal-qualifying or combat service.

What it's worth: Up to $500 for qualifying service 2 August 1990 to 31 December 1992, and up to $500 again for qualifying service from 1 January 1993

  • The four windows are: 2 August 1990 to 3 March 1991, where all active service qualifies; 4 March 1991 to 31 December 1992, where only Southwest Asia Service Medal-qualifying service counts; 1 January 1993 to 10 September 2001, where only service in combat operations counts; and 11 September 2001 onwards, where all active service qualifies again.
  • Residency is tested before service, not after: you must have been a legal resident of this state for at least six months before the active duty.
  • Active duty for training does not count for bonus purposes.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge characterisation is within the range these programmes run on.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Pull your DD214 and read the dates and the medals together. Which of the four windows your service falls in decides whether the bonus turns on dates alone or on a specific medal.
  2. 2Check the six-month residency test, which runs BEFORE the active duty and not after it. A veteran who moved here after service does not meet it however long they have lived here since.
  3. 3Rule out training time. Active duty for training is excluded outright, so a reserve or guard record needs the mobilisation orders, not the annual training record.
  4. 4If your service spans both halves — the early 1990s and the period from 1993 — apply for both. They are separate bonuses of up to $500 each, not one payment.
  5. 5If you now live elsewhere, contact the department directly rather than looking for a local office; the department names a specific staff contact for out-of-state applicants.
Form
Veterans bonus application
File with
The state veterans department, through your county or tribal veterans service officer
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThe middle window is the one that catches people out. Service between 4 March 1991 and 31 December 1992 only qualifies if it earned the Southwest Asia Service Medal — being in uniform in that period is not enough.
CorrectionThe residency test is a pre-service test. Six months of legal residency before entering the active duty is what the department states, so this is a bonus for people who left from here — not a bonus for people who settled here afterwards.
Known gapThe department's page does not publish a filing deadline, the survivor rules, or the SDCL section for the bonus itself. Ask the county or tribal service officer whether a deadline applies to your window before assuming the door is still open.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.